Clear The Clutter: Make Space For Your Life

by Inge Van Der Ploeg

Why do you never have clean clothes when you need them?
Why do you never know where you put something for safekeeping?
And why does your life feel so out of control?
Whether you need to know how to organize your laundry, weekly shopping, office computer files or your ten-year backlog of family photographs, this book can help. Full of no-nonsense advice, practical exercises, handy tips and checklists, it can be used to address a specific problem or as an overview for clearing up your life.

Sorting out your surroundings has other benefits, too: the practical experience of ordering a home or work space leads on naturally to rethinking other aspects of life. Clearing out the clutter really can make space for your life, and offer greater emotional and personal stability.

Contents: Hearth and Home: A Genuine goddess Lends a Helping Hand
Juggling with Five Balls: The Foundation of Housekeeping
Migrating Objects: The Road Things Travel in Your Home
To Have and to Hold: How Things Are Acquired and How to Give Them a Place
To Save or Discard: Decision Making and the Concept: Fulfilling Goals
The Art of Saving: The Difference Between Storing Systems and Finding Systems
Making a Clean-up Plan: Looking Ahead and Liking It
Remaining Odds and Ends

Genres: Nonfiction

125 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Annelies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Het meeste wist ik al wel maar toch heb ik enkele dingen voorgelezen en had ik al zin om heel mijn huis binnenste buiten te keren (alhoewel de schrijfster niet zo streng is ... als je twijfelt of je iets zal houden of niet, dan kreeg je nog enkele maanden respijt)
ik ga alvast starten met mijn zwervende spullen een thuis te geven.

En ik onthoud hoe een olifant eet ... beetje per beetje.

[Alette J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this cover to cover over the weekend and enjoyed it, which is a somewhat unusual thing to say about a book concerning housekeeping. It's a slim volume, which is its strength and its weakness, but it did reframe my approach to clutter and cleaning. I'm not exagerrating, when I say that learning to see a house in terms of flows and rhythms, rather than walls and things, has been revolutionary. I've already instituted some changes, and rather than feeling like a chore, these changes make me feel more aligned with the natural patterns within my flat. I would recommend this to anyone feeling that stuff is taking over their lives, having a hard time keeping up with the daily, weekly and monthly chores, or just wanting to get along better with their living space.

[Kaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inge van der Ploeg offers something unique in the arena of clutter books. She offers exercises that help you to cut right to the core of where your problem areas are in your house without taking 400 pages to do it, or using an overly familiar style. If you, like me, have a life-long relationship with clutter, you have picked up a book or ten promising to help you get organized. One thing that is often so off-putting to me about these books is the author’s tendency to “talk” to me like a cheerleader, which I personally find unappealing. In contrast, this author offers all of the good thinking, while feeling professional and capable, and using a friendly voice (without any “go-girl” kind of talk). For the rest of this review, visit: http://www.waldorfbooks.com/item_153.....

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very weird to me. I think because she talks about cleaning in a flow pattern. You need to get in a rhythm and then it will help you with your clutter and household processes but I just could not find any flow to the book.