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Declutter Your Life: From Chaos to Calm
Clutter can damage your health and affect your wealth. Think we're exaggering? Here's the thing: everything you own needs to be kept clean or you're breathing in dust and creating an environment loved by icky pests. The more useless things you have, the more useless stuff you have to clean. Clutter also affects you financially because if you don't know what you have because it is hidden in among the clutter, you go out and re-buy it. Plus there's the hidden value in junk (defined as something you don't love or need) that's not in your pocket because you haven't gotten round to selling it. Clutter can also lead to despair. Instead of feeling like you're home, you feel like you're in a stranger's (messy) home because you haven't had the courage to make decisions about your things and really put your stamp on your own home. It seems like such a mammoth task that you get exhausted before you even start. Clutter saps energy and makes you feel overwhelmed. But before you hire a skip and chuck everything away, do bear in mind that clutter isn't just having a lot of things. So getting rid of stuff is an important activity, but where do you start? Declutter your life is here to help. It will help you to make the commitment today to tackle your clutter, make those vital decisions about what is to go and unlock the brilliant new stress-free life you want and deserve.
- GenresNonfictionSelf Help
Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
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175 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 20, 2025
Declutter Your Life by Infinite Ideas (2012)
85-page Libby Ebook
Genre: Nonfiction, Declutter, Organization
Featuring: 20 Tips Well Drawn Out, Assess and Evaluate, Nothing Bad Will Happen If You Toss It, Paper, Books, Food, Kitchen, Bathroom, Clothes, Projects, Art, Your Stuff Has Lost Its Value, Emails and Other Electronic Clutter, Gifts, One-In-One-Out Rule, Organization Clutter, Significant Other's Stuff, Handbag, Desk, Avoid Filling in Space, Keeping It Clutter Free, More From Infinite Ideas
Rating as a movie: PG
Books and Authors mentioned: Banish Clutter Forever: How the Toothbrush Principle Will Change Your Life by Sheila Chandra, The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential...in Business and in Life by Leo Babauta,
Memorable Quotes: In fact cleanliness can be a big clue as to your clutter bugbear. If there are parts of your home that you can’t get at to clean then it could be that you have too much of a particular thing. If you have hundreds of paperbacks and they aren’t neatly on shelves, being dusted on a weekly basis, then you really need to ask yourself if they are in the clutter category. Ask yourself how often, if ever, you will re-read them? If they aren’t valuable first editions, are you drowning in books you’ll never need or do you derive a sense of satisfaction and pleasure from seeing your collection? The important thing when doing this evaluation stage is to ask yourself how you feel about each of your possessions.
The biggest cliché in decluttering literature is that William Morris quote about not having anything in your home that you don’t ‘know to be useful or believe to be beautiful’. The reason it is so oft repeated is that it surmises in a sentence what the purpose of a home is: it is a place where you feast your eyes upon possessions that give you pleasure or make the task of living easier. It remains a pretty good mantra to repeat to yourself as you embark on your decluttering mission.
2. Nothing bad will happen
For years I kept a box of miscellaneous ‘man stuff’ under my bed gathering dust. What is ‘man stuff’ I hear you tentatively ask. Well, it was just sandpaper, Allen keys and bits of electrical wire. In over a decade in my home I never had cause to go into that box. I don’t like sandpaper because it ruins my nails. I don’t like self-assembly furniture as I always think it isn’t as sturdy as stuff made by a craftsman and let’s not even go there with electrical wire. There are women who are wonderfully practical and for them a box such as this would just be ‘useful stuff’ rather than ‘man stuff’ but that isn’t me. So why was I keeping this box? Just in case.
Here is a great argument for not having clutter in the first place: things depreciate. The second you drive a car off a lot, its price is affected. The same is true for just about everything you have in your home, apart from some highly desirable antiques, artwork or wines.
If you are a book hoarder, have a think about this logically. Will you re-read all those paperbacks? Have you read all of them? If you haven't, stop buying new books until you catch up with your reading. I am not advocating getting rid of sentimental things like the love poetry book your husband bought you on your first wedding anniversary or anything, just the latest horror or crime fiction thriller (unless it is in hardback from a collectible author) won't be re-read by you within your lifetime. Why keep it? Is it to let others know what your taste are? You can do that by telling them and chatting about the books themselves, you don't need to 'prove' you like that author.
There was a recent wonderful episode of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory in which one character gave her best friend, who she has a massive crush on, a hideous huge painting of the two of them together. The whole episode was predicated on the attempts to get rid of the painting.
My rating: ⭐️⭐️½👝📧👔👜🗑🚮
My thoughts: 🔖Page 7 of 85 [Chapter] 1. Assess and evaluate - It's okay, but so far, it reads more like an article than a book.
🔖15 [Chapter] 3. Climbing paper mountain - Meh. I don't have a lot of time right now, and for some reason, this short book is long-winded.
🔖31 [Chapter] 7. Clothes, clothes everywhere and not a stitch to wear - There is a lot of clutter in this book, the author doesn't stay on topic and the advice is not the best. You know how you are learning a new job, and in the midst of getting instructions, your trainer is gossiping about the job and telling you about their family? That is this book.
The idea of Amy being in love with Penny is news to me, I didn't get that vibe at all. I thought she was just thrilled to be hanging with a cool girl. Anyway, This book was basically someone who read other decluttering books and decided to write a shorthand guide but instead of making a long book short, they gave you behind-the-scenes, commentary, deleted clips, and bonus scenes, often that had little to do with tidying up. I have been busy but I think if this book was more interesting I would have finished sooner. For such simple topics, they were long-winded. There are better books out there. This book is like the teacher who shares a lot during class, so you leave with only half the lesson, but you could pass a test on their life. Once I got a good stride, the book was over. The advice is pretty common, they get off-topic and some of the advice is against the common advice, like don't store bathroom cleaner in your bathroom, then how will you use it as soon as you step out of the shower like Fly Lady says?
Recommend to others: Probably not.
85-page Libby Ebook
Genre: Nonfiction, Declutter, Organization
Featuring: 20 Tips Well Drawn Out, Assess and Evaluate, Nothing Bad Will Happen If You Toss It, Paper, Books, Food, Kitchen, Bathroom, Clothes, Projects, Art, Your Stuff Has Lost Its Value, Emails and Other Electronic Clutter, Gifts, One-In-One-Out Rule, Organization Clutter, Significant Other's Stuff, Handbag, Desk, Avoid Filling in Space, Keeping It Clutter Free, More From Infinite Ideas
Rating as a movie: PG
Books and Authors mentioned: Banish Clutter Forever: How the Toothbrush Principle Will Change Your Life by Sheila Chandra, The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential...in Business and in Life by Leo Babauta,
Memorable Quotes: In fact cleanliness can be a big clue as to your clutter bugbear. If there are parts of your home that you can’t get at to clean then it could be that you have too much of a particular thing. If you have hundreds of paperbacks and they aren’t neatly on shelves, being dusted on a weekly basis, then you really need to ask yourself if they are in the clutter category. Ask yourself how often, if ever, you will re-read them? If they aren’t valuable first editions, are you drowning in books you’ll never need or do you derive a sense of satisfaction and pleasure from seeing your collection? The important thing when doing this evaluation stage is to ask yourself how you feel about each of your possessions.
The biggest cliché in decluttering literature is that William Morris quote about not having anything in your home that you don’t ‘know to be useful or believe to be beautiful’. The reason it is so oft repeated is that it surmises in a sentence what the purpose of a home is: it is a place where you feast your eyes upon possessions that give you pleasure or make the task of living easier. It remains a pretty good mantra to repeat to yourself as you embark on your decluttering mission.
2. Nothing bad will happen
For years I kept a box of miscellaneous ‘man stuff’ under my bed gathering dust. What is ‘man stuff’ I hear you tentatively ask. Well, it was just sandpaper, Allen keys and bits of electrical wire. In over a decade in my home I never had cause to go into that box. I don’t like sandpaper because it ruins my nails. I don’t like self-assembly furniture as I always think it isn’t as sturdy as stuff made by a craftsman and let’s not even go there with electrical wire. There are women who are wonderfully practical and for them a box such as this would just be ‘useful stuff’ rather than ‘man stuff’ but that isn’t me. So why was I keeping this box? Just in case.
Here is a great argument for not having clutter in the first place: things depreciate. The second you drive a car off a lot, its price is affected. The same is true for just about everything you have in your home, apart from some highly desirable antiques, artwork or wines.
If you are a book hoarder, have a think about this logically. Will you re-read all those paperbacks? Have you read all of them? If you haven't, stop buying new books until you catch up with your reading. I am not advocating getting rid of sentimental things like the love poetry book your husband bought you on your first wedding anniversary or anything, just the latest horror or crime fiction thriller (unless it is in hardback from a collectible author) won't be re-read by you within your lifetime. Why keep it? Is it to let others know what your taste are? You can do that by telling them and chatting about the books themselves, you don't need to 'prove' you like that author.
There was a recent wonderful episode of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory in which one character gave her best friend, who she has a massive crush on, a hideous huge painting of the two of them together. The whole episode was predicated on the attempts to get rid of the painting.
My rating: ⭐️⭐️½👝📧👔👜🗑🚮
My thoughts: 🔖Page 7 of 85 [Chapter] 1. Assess and evaluate - It's okay, but so far, it reads more like an article than a book.
🔖15 [Chapter] 3. Climbing paper mountain - Meh. I don't have a lot of time right now, and for some reason, this short book is long-winded.
🔖31 [Chapter] 7. Clothes, clothes everywhere and not a stitch to wear - There is a lot of clutter in this book, the author doesn't stay on topic and the advice is not the best. You know how you are learning a new job, and in the midst of getting instructions, your trainer is gossiping about the job and telling you about their family? That is this book.
The idea of Amy being in love with Penny is news to me, I didn't get that vibe at all. I thought she was just thrilled to be hanging with a cool girl. Anyway, This book was basically someone who read other decluttering books and decided to write a shorthand guide but instead of making a long book short, they gave you behind-the-scenes, commentary, deleted clips, and bonus scenes, often that had little to do with tidying up. I have been busy but I think if this book was more interesting I would have finished sooner. For such simple topics, they were long-winded. There are better books out there. This book is like the teacher who shares a lot during class, so you leave with only half the lesson, but you could pass a test on their life. Once I got a good stride, the book was over. The advice is pretty common, they get off-topic and some of the advice is against the common advice, like don't store bathroom cleaner in your bathroom, then how will you use it as soon as you step out of the shower like Fly Lady says?
Recommend to others: Probably not.
February 14, 2013
This book was so very unhelpful. Most of it was common sense. I decided to borrow it because I have a few areas of my house that need to be organized/decluttered and I am really unsure how to start. I hoped that this would give me some ideas but nope. All of it is common sense. I am paraphrasing here but 'when going through papers get rid of junk mail, envelopes and anything else that is uneeded.' Like really? UGH! (not that there really is any other way to go through paper stuff but still.) At least it was short!
December 9, 2018
Great ideas,funny text,and spool practical!Really inspiring!!!
I am so happy I have finally got around to read this book.I found most of the ideas simple,and most of all doable.I have started to declutter,as I finally felt I COULD do it!!!
I am so happy I have finally got around to read this book.I found most of the ideas simple,and most of all doable.I have started to declutter,as I finally felt I COULD do it!!!
January 5, 2018
A refresher for declutterers. At 82 pages, this reads like a long magazine article than book really.
January 6, 2017
This book did not offer me any new insights into decluttering. It was a collection of ideas I have read about previously. I found this book to be of limited use in decluttering but this could be due to having read several books on this subject previously. If a reader was new to the topic then it might be a good introductory text.
December 29, 2014
Handy tips
I found this book to be a quick read of conversational tips about tidying up. I only learned a few tips but it reinforces some things I already think about clutter. This is the first book I've read front to back in a while so I have to say it held my attention
I found this book to be a quick read of conversational tips about tidying up. I only learned a few tips but it reinforces some things I already think about clutter. This is the first book I've read front to back in a while so I have to say it held my attention
October 18, 2015
What a waste of 45 minutes. If you want to know WHY you should Declutter your life, this book is great. If you want to know HOW, search for something else. I'll start my decluttering by deleting this book from my kindle.
October 20, 2012
good tips to get organized
August 10, 2013
Good to start you off & keep you focused.
January 31, 2014
I could write a better book...thank goodness I borrowed it from the library. Too much common sense, especially if you have been decluttering for awhile. Not worth the read.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews