Unstuff Your Life!: Kick the Clutter Habit and Completely Organize Your Life for Good

by Andrew Mellen

The Wall Street Journal bestselling guide to decluttering and organizing for good. Let the "Most Organized Man in America" help you!

Dubbed "The Most Organized Man in America," Andrew Mellen has helped over half a million people and businesses simplify their lives and break free from the physical and emotional toll of clutter. In Unstuff Your Life!, Mellen goes beyond surface-level organization and tackles the real obstacles holding people back-what he calls "the stuff behind the stuff"-while delivering a no-nonsense, step-by-step guide to getting and staying organized.

Now in this fully updated, enhanced second edition, Mellen addresses modern clutter challenges including digital overload, social media distractions, and the rise of paperless environments, while still providing his timeless systems for conquering physical clutter. With new insights, expanded techniques, and actionable steps for tackling everything from email management to decluttering your workspace, this version gives you even more tools to reclaim your time, space, and peace of mind.

His foolproof proven methods, paired with humor, honesty, and tough love, make decluttering achievable for anyone. With this guide, you'll not only learn how to organize your home but also transform how you think about your possessions-whether you're chronically losing keys or facing a house full of chaos.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Audiobook, Personal Development, Productivity, Reference, Psychology

434 pages, Paperback

First published July 22, 2010

About the author

ANDREW MELLEN is a speaker and coach, and the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller and #1 Audible book Unstuff Your Life!, as well as The Most Organized Man in America’s Guide to Moving and Calling BS on Busy.

He is the creator of the De-Stress Your Mess Challenge and the Unstuff Your Life System—virtual programs that have helped over half a million people and businesses worldwide change their relationships with stuff, time, and clutter for good.

Mellen has been a student of mindfulness and meditation since 1989. In a previous career, he was an award-winning actor, director, and arts administrator who toured the United States performing improvisational theater in prisons and penitentiaries. He splits his time between New York City and Treasure Island, Florida.

Reviews

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars!

I was really excited to read this one as one of my goals for 2018 is to declutter my condo (I made great strides in my closet today :D). Unstuff Your Life! had some tips that may be helpful to some, but the majority of the book either 1- wasn't helpful to me specifically or 2- things I already do.

The main point of the book is that 'everything has a home'. This was said sooooo many times! Most things in my condo already have a place, so the repetitiveness wasn't helpful for me. The one chapter i really did like was the kitchen chapter. I liked his ideas on organizing the kitchen and I'll be using those when I get to decluttering that room!

Overall, this was an okay read for me, but I think it could be really helpful for some!

[Cori · Rating 2 out of 5]

Attention: Spoiler Alert!
I don't know exactly what I was looking for when I picked up this book... perhaps it was just some inspiration. I have been fairly organized my whole life, but I was also a stay-at-home mom. Now I am out in the workforce and finding it more difficult to stay organized, but deep down, I know what it takes. Mr. Mellen spends a verbose, albeit sarcastically witty and encouraging, 373 pages stating what could be said in a few sentences. His motto is Everything Has a Home and Like with Like, i.e., put your keys in their home when not in use and keep all desk supplies in the same vicinity as all other desk supplies. The second message is to stop materialism, over-purchasing without a clear need, and to stop hanging onto things because of guilt and/or sentimentality. Two and one-half chapters into this book I realized that I don't need intricate sorting instructions. Rather, I need to get off my duff and just DO! Therein lies my greatest problem, which no amount of organizational advice from Mr. Mellen can help. I'm glad I checked this out at the library instead of purchasing it.

[Jennifer Oldroyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read and/or listened to this book three times (so far.) Once straight through, and then each chapter a couple of times again as they correspond with the room I am organizing. I could write a dissertation on its merits, but sufficeth it to say that Andrew Mellen is a genius.
It is completely intuitive-nothing radical(crazy) here, just common sense presented in a very reasonable, step-by-step way with a healthy dose of humor.
Somehow the author knows exactly which pushback I would have at every turn, and helps talk me out of my misgivings.
I am learning as I "unstuff" my home, one space at a time, that this Herculean task CAN be done and it truly is changing my life!!! No, I am not being overly dramatic. I am implementing his "program" exactly, which I highly recommend if you want results. I love feeling more organized, less stressed out, and having more time for the things that matter.
This is one book I do recommend listening to, as it is read by the author and therefore is more convincing (I use my hard copy as a reference/workbook.) If you're going to get serious about this, do both.

[Marnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading a book about organizing your house is probably as useful as reading a book about losing weight. Everyone knows how to do it- it is a question of whether you are motivated enough to take the necessary steps.

Listening to Andrew Mellen describe the steps to an uncluttered house can be boiled down to two phrases..." Everything should have a home" and " like with like." He has an entire chapter on getting your mail sorted for goodness sake. Sounds like a complete waste of time- right? Except it wasn't.

I followed his steps for reorganizing my kitchen and am really pleased with the results. With just a few tweaks I took from the book my kitchen is certainly less cluttered and more efficient. I also found $ that I had tucked into a cabinet so it was profitable too :). I'm going to tackle my office next.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little concerned when I saw the size of this book (it's thicker than the average de-cluttering/organizing book) and I was more concerned when I saw that the type is also quite small. Indeed, this is an author who definitely likes the sound of his own voice.

In terms of actual advice, he espouses two main ideas: like with like, and everything has a home. In and of themselves, they are good, useful ideas. However, there's only so much to say about them before one starts repeating oneself, and this book contains a LOT of repetition.

I'd say read the first three chapters and then skim the rest for useful sections. For me personally, the section on mememtos and memorabilia, and the section on photo organizing were both useful, but the rest somewhat less so (once you read the kitchen chapter, all the organizing chapters are much the same).

2.5 stars.

[Joseph · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book started out with a great and energetic introduction and made a promise to explain the whys behind its strategies and suggestions. It also seemed to indicate that the book would delve into the psychology behind why we collect and sometimes hoard as we do. Unfortunately, the book fell woefully short on each count.

Instead, the book contained a litany of "to dos" in order to achieve the author's idea of organization. There was a lack of flexibility and the phrasing often resembled orders. Also, the audience appeared to be the suburban housewife, as certain assumptions were made about home size, type of clutter, etc. There were some suggestions for those with smaller kitchens, no study or dining room, etc. but rarely did the suggestions scale, prove adaptable or get fully addressed.

The strategies, while very specific, were difficult for this particular reader to relate to and apply to one's life. At best, this book merely contained a list of ideas, most of which didn't apply and only a few of which came out pretty useful.

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

His attempts at humor are kind of annoying and I feel like spends too much time telling me to calm down and stop panicking way too often. But, that is just me. And maybe there are people who do start having heart palpitations at the idea of getting rid of some of their "stuff," but I'm guessing if a person is willing to sit down and read the book, they are willing to throw some crap out.

Anyway, besides the tone and style of the book, I LOVE IT. He starts with having a place for your keys/wallet &/or purse and a place to put your mail until you are ready to deal with it. (Which has worked WAY better than hurriedly opening it and then leaving it sitting on a kitchen counter to then be covered by the next days mail until forgotten).

He does room by room through the house, except for bathrooms and bedrooms and has systems in place to assist the reader in knowing what to keep and what to toss. And then how to best store what is kept. I am still in the process of going through my house, but so far it has been WONDERFUL. I hate to use the word "life-changing" but it really is one of those books.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book for people like me who need step by step directions when it comes to organization! I followed his instructions almost exactly and my kitchen has been organized for months! I also used his guidelines for setting up a filing system and it's working really well. He also discusses why we get attached to "stuff" and how to let it go - great read.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book ranks supreme for its kind. It's thorough without being dry. I adopted simple, but quite helpful, changes suggested that made the book's value obvious. I loved reading this author. What a great personality/writer from start to finish!

[Sylwia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why I Recommend Bumping This UP On Your TBR:
- Mellen's process of decluttering is realistic for folks with different body abilities/disabilities, as he provides a relaxed timeline and guides us through our things in a way that isn't as physically painful.
- He even covered fatpositivity in one of his chapters, which I especially appreciated. I got a lot of of this book.
- The portion about finding a permanent spot for my purse was life-altering; the section about the kitchen made me feel great about the state of my home; shredding outdated documents led me to reducing a lot of unnecessary papers; and he encouraged me to discuss the storage of cables with my partner.
- I appreciated his healthy and encouraging attitude and while I skipped a couple of the chapters, I still enjoyed this as both a reading experience and as a guide with new-to-me information.

What Didn't Work For Me and Either May or May Not Work For You:
- Mellen encourages us to think about why we're attached to certain things and why we live in certain ways. I've been decluttering for years, so this analysis didn't provide anything for me. I've already gone through these types of psychological self-analyses and I personally no longer value objects, so this didn't work for me, however I think these self-explorations could benefit a lot of people, especially beginners to the organized lifestyle.
- He actually doesn't encourage you to purge as much as you can. I purged a significant amount more than he instructed me to.

Why You Might Bump This Down On Your TBR:
- I only needed 4 of these 11 chapters.

[Adam R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that requires action, and my personal experience with any book that requires taking action (especially action you've neglected to take for years) is that you're inclined to push off reading the book to a later date (the 'when I have the time to follow the advice in this book' date). Do your best not to fall for this trap.

Here is why you should read the book (without being inclined to take action right away):

- You will get familiar with the methods, so when you do have time to take action, all you'll have to do is review concepts.

- You will get a sense of how much time you need to set out throughout the week/month to do what you wish to do (some things can be done in an hour, while other things need a couple of days). Having read the book, you'll know that you can take action according to the time you have available.

- You'll know which parts of the book are relevant to you. (Andrew includes a ton of useful tips in this book, but some - or many- might not be relevant to your needs. So on your second read-through, the general 400 page book that requires a lot of action will turn out to be a very useful 75 pages that require less action).

- You'll minimize (or completely avoid) 'analysis paralysis' because having done the reading you'll know where and when to start.

- You'll feel better and you'll chase that feeling. Many times just reading about being organized gives you a glimpse of the joy of being organized. After getting that small glimpse, you're much more likely to make time for getting organized.

I read the whole book once. All I did (and no, I didn't originally plan to) is organize my closet. That's it. (And yes, I do love my new 'useful' closet much better than the previous 'everything goes in here' closet that I had). I think I'll take care of my office space next.

[Sunshine Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is only useful if you need lists of where things belong in your home. For example, he will tell you to put pasta and rice in the pantry. Uh, really? He has some good general pointers at the beginning, to train yourself to put your keys, wallet and purse in their "home" every day. But I guess I am not as disorganized as I thought, because there was not much useful for me in this book.

[Colona Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good book for those in the cleaning mood. The chapters were nicely organized and well thought out. Had tons of GREAT TIPS on everything you can imagine. Some of the tips were to place your mail and keys in the same spot everyday. For your kitchen, you should place everything you need in and around your workstation so that everything you need is in reach. Eliminate things that are not cooking relate to out of the kitchen. For Office, create a filing system that works for you and your system so that you will use it. For Clothes, you have to be ruthless and get rid of everything that does not fit. There were other chapters that involved how to clean out your basement, garage, attic, and car. There were also chapters on how to deal with collectables, memento, and sentimental items. The author also had chapters on how to deal with email and social media and well as tips to use so that you won't buy what you don't need.


~April

[Amanda Setasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of useful information, but you have to get through even more un-useful information to be able to get to it. The author has a habit of going into stories to try and relate to what you're trying to do instead of actually helping you organize.
This was the first one I found with in detail information about digital cleanup (email, files, etc) and shopping; so I gave it an extra star for that at least.

[Heidi (MinxyD14)]

"Hope opens the door to possibility and allows us to envision change, particularly change that we desire. But hope alone will not affect change—that requires movement." - Andrew Mellen, “UnStuff Your Life”

[Pastels Passions · Rating 4 out of 5]

a lot of good advice even if you don't own those particular areas (looking at you offices and cars lol)

[Holli Keel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author was so overconfident in his methods that it really put me off. Especially when he talked about basements, and garages, and all kinds of space I don’t have. Limit yourself to 3 sets of sheets per bed in your house?! I can’t even imagine the kind of space to keep that many sheet sets. I have less than 1200 square feet to work with, so i have to make some hard choices about what to keep, and I didn’t feel this book was helpful enough in that area. There were some helpful ideas for dealing with mail, and for looking at your stuff in a different way. But overall, I wasn’t impressed.

[Anton Nikolov · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is well structured and informative. It is a bit outdated in the technology chapters like photography and computer management but I guess that's normal considering how fast things are changing.
Apparently, I am more organized than I expected, so the book wasn't very useful in my hands.
However, I can imagine some people could benefit a lot from it, so I would recommend it for people who are lacking basic organizational skills.

[Lady of the Lake · Rating 3 out of 5]

If this wasn't audio I more than likely would not have finished it.
No magic happened... My house isn't any more organized than before I started! LOL. Didn't motivate me into being fabulously organized the humor was def. Better because it was audio I can see how reading it would be annoying didn't tell me anything I already didn't know, sadly.

[Jenny from Ukraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Not the best on the subject but definitely worth reading.

[Charity · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mother adores decluttering books so I wind up reading whatever she has laying around and -- this one is good. Nothing that I haven't learned a thousand times before, except for his flashes of philosophical brilliance. Stuff like the first step toward growth is being WILLING to change, even if you can't do it overnight. How true. I skim-read it, skipping the sections that aren't relevant to my home, but the whole thing is worth a read for someone overwhelmed by Stuff. One thing though -- don't read it at night. I wound up thinking about how to organize my computer files in the morning rather than going to sleep! ;)

[Bice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a lot of these types of books. I must say this is one of the better ones. ( I did almost quit reading when he referred to God as She——totally unnecessary). Like the “Everything has a home” and “Like with Like”. I am happy to say I have not misplaced my keys, phone, or purse in the 2 weeks since finding a home for them! As with all books like this. One takes what one can use for their life situation and leaves behind what doesn’t.

[Evelyn Petschek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but not groundbreaking. I learned a few techniques I will use going forward.

[Huda Al-Anbar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to have an organizing audiobook while I do major spring cleaning, this time, Unstuff Your Life!: Kick the Clutter Habit and Completely Organize Your Life for Good was the lucky winner. Everyone knows how to organize more or less,the question is whether one is motivated enough to take the necessary steps, REGULARLY!!

As organizing books go, this book had rules to follow: "One home for everything, and likes with likes" that the author applies to everything in your life.

I liked that this book had chapters for everything, while other organizing books focus on general rules, this book had specific tips for each room, each "space" in your home. From "Keys • Wallet • Purse • Mail" to "Kitchen • Pantry" and even "E-mail • Organizing Computer Files • Social Networking Sites". This book left nothing out.

My two areas of problems are my office and my closets, I already apply somewhat the same rules to my other areas, these two chapters were my main interest, I listened to the chapters about organizing my kitchen or car or photos just to feel on top of things

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good ideas and a good reference section. I enjoyed the author's writing style. The only quibble I had with his approach was that one does not remove one's winter kit from the car in summer (ever!) in Colorado! :-)

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the years I have read a number of "clutter" books, all encouraging the de-cluttering of life. It has been years since I read one and since this was on sale at Audible I decided to give it a shot. After living in my home for 20 years, there are closets/cabinets/drawers, etc. that have become overwhelming. This is the most methodical, hands-on, this-is-how-you-do-it guide I have ever read. He covers everything from organizing your closet to your garage. I gained a number of pointers here that I have never heard before and am beginning to successfully implement. He even goes into how to get your computer files organized.

I wouldn't say I particularly "enjoyed" this book but found it very practical and the author presented step-by-step, easily followed directions for attacking each and every room/drawer/closet in my home. I found the "calm down, don't panic" a bit excessive but I gleaned quite a bit of useful information.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this book for encouragement and ideas as I faced sorting out my house after 20 years of acquiring, including a husband and his stuff. My husband passed away suddenly and I'm feeling the need to unstuff as part of my grieving process. Mellen narrates his own book and I love his snarky sense of humor and the simplicity of his message. Boiled down it is "one home for everything and like with like." But don't miss this book if you need to bring organization to your life and if you need to break up with "acquiring stuff." Waking up in my late 40's, I'm now wishing I had the money that I've spent on stuff. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a hoarder but as my husband used to say, I'm a woman who likes to have my things around me.

An added bonus is that he offers great tips for organizing your computer files and emails. This has the potential to help me tremendously at work. Many of his ideas are not new but I really enjoyed the refresher.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book actually changed both my perspective on organization and my organizational skills. He's very good at anticipating/debunking all of your excuses. For example, keys should ALWAYS go in a designated spot when you aren't using them...no excuses. Keep non-kitchen stuff out of the kitchen (this was a great one for me - my kitchen is far more clean now). Set up a mail center with different file folders for sorting (my husband and I LOVE this and it helps prevent miscommunication between us & lost bills). The list goes on. He's thought of it all, and if you're willing to follow his instructions, and read a chapter at a time, it's a great, life-changing read. I borrowed this from the library, but it's definitely one of the few books I wouldn't mind owning, since I can see myself turning to it frequently.

[Kathy Steffen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read tons of stuff about uncluttering but this book beats them all. I liked it so much I bought the book after listening to the audio. Fun, engaging, and this really changed the way I approach my cluttered life. I am working room by room (as the book is organized--you can reorder the way you go through your house/life which I am doing) and have been through the first part about keys/mail and purse, but already I'm having an easier time navigating my life. The book is simple, to the point, doesn't have loads of lists that complicate instead of simplify the process. I also loved the beginning where the author helps the reader decide what is important in life. You end up convincing yourself to unclutter. Now my biggest challenge, my office. We'll see how that goes :) Terrific book!(less)
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[Billie Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend the audiobook. Just listen to it and start bagging all that stuff! I didn't follow each chapter in order but instead just plugged in my Ipod and listened as I worked. Every chapter has something good for any room of your house.

If you spend more time looking for what you need rather than doing what you want then it's time to get rid of a few things - the stress is not worth that junk!! Among many other things that I have misplaced, I found 7 tape measures and 9 hammers! I use to fight with my closet and run late for everything. I now walk into my closet stress-free and find what I need. No more spending 10 minutes looking for the other shoe!