Real Life Organizing: Clean and Clutter-Free in 15 Minutes a Day

by Cassandra Aarssen, Peter Walsh (Foreword)

Organizational expert Cassandra ‘Cas’ Aarssen, the guru from YouTube’s ClutterBug channel, reveals her tips, tricks and secrets to a clean and clutter-free home in just fifteen minutes a day. Cas spends her time organizing other people’s homes, teaching college workshops on organization, and creating weekly videos and blog posts. In this book, she walks you through the steps to creating a beautiful, storage-smart, clutter free, and (almost!) self-cleaning home.

You don’t have to get rid of all of your things, be a yoga loving minimalist, or radically change your lifestyle or personality. The truth is you don’t need to actually be an organized person to live like an organized person—former slob Cas is proof of that. After you’ve read Real Life Organizing, you too will be able to live a more organized life without having to give up your sanity. Learn how to:

· Create a Household Management Binder
· Make a “Kids Cupboard” in your kitchen
· Create an IN/OUT system
· Organize paperwork based on your unique style
· Carry out a painless purge
· Create a Kitchen Command Center
· Organize your holidays with a gift closet
· Build a great toy organizing system
· Stop wasting time hunting for lost items, and more

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Audiobook, Reference, Personal Development, Adult, How To

250 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 18, 2017

Reviews

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are so many books about decluttering and organizing out there, so why is this one worth reading? Because this is the first book that I've read, and I've read many, that gives many real, specific solutions to clutter. One of my favorite things about this book is how she has you analyze each room in your home asking, "what's not working here?" I've never approached decluttering using that method and I highly recommend it. Because it has you solving the reason that clutter is happening in the first place. Example: What's not working in the kids room? They throw their clothes in the same spot on the floor instead of in the hamper in the closet. Solution, move the hamper. duh. So spend some time thinking about what the problem is, cluttered dresser top, shoes piled by the door, junk mail on the counter, and think of a solution to the problem rather than clean it up and hope you'll do better next time. Read this book, it's definitely worth it.

[Phoenix Perpetuale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Real Life Organizing by Casandra Aarssen, Peter Walsh, Audible edition narrated by Ann Richardson received a three-star review from me. I liked this book because it summarises all other types of books. How to organise and how to maintain. She has a lot of personal experience, also experience from working with clients of her own. Good tips and suggestions on how to keep the house tidy and to live easier once anyone could imagine spending only fifteen minutes a day on cleaning and with that routine enjoyable.

[Citra Citra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Functional decluttering tips for busy people. I love how the writer explains the ideas without being judgmental, I feel like she's a friendly mentor who actually wants to help. I have tried some of her advices and it really works! Definitely a must-have for productive people who want a more functional living space.

[Mallory Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good tips, but not really any full formed plans. Lots of editing mistakes and the second half of the book is pretty much straight from the FLY lady website. It's also clearly written to women who spend most of their time at home. The title is 15 minutes a day, but the assumption is that you will spend 15 minutes a day organizing plus an hour a day cleaning.

[Andrew Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m going to get my complaints out about the writing style now. The author, of course, isn’t a professional writer so I don’t expect amazing literature. But there is something that really grinds my gears when a (supposedly) edited book uses the phrase “ah-inspiring.” Maybe it’s because I’ve never inspired “ah” in anyone myself, or that slip-ups like this happen throughout.

But content-wise, there is a lot of good stuff in here. I especially appreciated the focus on functional organizational systems in your home. The book really asks you to think about why your house is cluttered and provides simple remedies. One example that I took away from this book: my biggest cleaning sin is leaving day-old clothes on my bedroom floor. The clothes are in clothing purgatory, not too clean to put away but not dirty enough to get washed. The book suggested that I make it as easy as possible to organize these clothes. So I put a simple set of hooks up in my room and bang, no more floor clothes.

Typically I shy away from self-help books. But after reading Goodbye Things earlier this year, I think I actually like self-help books about cleaning.

[Zibbernaut · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the amount that the author mentions her editor, I would have expected the book to be meticulously edited. However, that is not the case. This thing has a LOT of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes (but mostly grammatical errors) that drove me crazy. As a writer myself, I can't imagine even handing this over to an editor, let alone them missing the mistakes. There must have just been THAT many that these ones got through. Yikes!

My house is rather well maintained, so this was just a read for interest's sake, not because I needed it. That being said, I don't think there is a whole lot of great advice in here. I much preferred Marie Kondo's approach in Spark Joy, which this book kind of tries to call out as being impossible? And then this book focuses on purging your items as if that isn't the same thing as Marie's philosophy.

This book heavily focuses on organizational bins and labeling everything--two things that I totally hate. Not a fan!

[Weronika · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a nice, quick book if you've made a New Year's resolution to rearrange/ declutter your home. Beyond that motivational aspect, however, it was a poor fit for me - a bulk of the book is dedicated to childrens' items, with very little advice on other areas of the house, especially kitchen, bathroom or the home office.

[Sonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stumbled with Cass's YT channel by accident, and was totally hooked. Her funny and irreverent style and her positive attitude actually makes me to go home and *glup* clean.

So, buying and reading her books was a matter of time. I basically read it in two sittings. It stays true to her channel, and basically is a written manual of all the things and tips she posts there, with lots of templates and cute resources.

Is it extensive and detailed how-to-guide? No, it isn't. And it totally makes sense. Clean, purging and tidying up is a very personal thing, and you need to find your own way. It gives you a direction to go, a overall guideline. How to make it work for you, it's your decision. It has to be. Otherwise the process will not stick and fail.

It makes us start purging? It does. It makes us want to do it? Yes. Which is the purpose of the book, IMO.

It also helped me realize that sometimes, is our perspective on things that has to change for a more efficient and happy us.

[Teresa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Useless
A useless book by a person who asks useless questions to tell you that you are a butterfly at organization
Utter rubbish

[Miri · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's only so much that can be said in the world of minimalism/tidying-up/organising/cleaning. I'm happy if I can find one new useful thing, which I did: using baking trays/ clear pantry tubs in my pantry so I can pull out sections for easy access to items at the back- this is great and I hope it helps our pantry stay tidy as it's the one spot that always devolves (we have deep shelves and it's impossible to see or reach everything, leading to mess).

I will say this: for me, keeping a tidy, minimalist-home doesn't have much to do with a specific method or book. I have incorporated various tips and tricks from books, and the first book I read- the joy of less- was transformational, but not because the book is unique in the minimalist world, it's because it was my first exposure to the ideas and strategies that are commonplace in minimalism. For me, the BEST way to keep my home clean, tidy, and minimal is to always read a book from this genre. It doesn't matter if the ideas are the same or if I don't agree with everything being said, the point is, for me, the best motivation is always having one of these books on my "currently reading" list. There's something about just reading/listening to these books (even for a short time every other day) that motivates me. When I'm not reading these types of books, I will stay motivated for a while, but eventually things slip. So, that's my strategy :)

[Snonono · Rating 2 out of 5]

All advice seems targeted at stay-at-home mothers. What about your teenagers, your young adults living on their own for the first time, your widower whose wife used to do all the cleaning, your couples without kids, pet owners maybe? Disabled people, full-time workers, full time students, literally anyone else?

The 15 minutes a day idea is tossed aside as quickly as it is introduced, but there are two good ideas in this book. I will list them now to spare you from reading this.

1. Declutter your stuff before buying organization containers and
2. Move stuff to where you actually use it instead of where it's "supposed to be".

Other than that, I had to roll my eyes at the author saying the house with three bedrooms she bought with her husband is too small for them and their two kids.
I can't imagine a single country but America having this attitude.
All in all should have been a half an hour audiobook, most certainly not four hours. Two stars.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

I, too, read the Life Changing Magic Art of Tidying Up and jumped in with both feet. I did wonder how long-lasting that method was and found it not to be long lasting at all. It did help me let go of things easier, but it just wasn't practical for family life. I found this book because I was feeling like I was drowning. We have 7 people and 2 large dogs living in an 1800 square foot house with no garage and everywhere I look is cluttered up with stuff. I loved finding the identities of the clutter bug and knowing what works for our family that has every kind of clutter bug in it. I'm applying Cassandra's methods and actually seeing improvement! Once an area is cleaned, it is staying clean and tidy! Even my kids love it! I highly recommend this book to anyone who needs a long-lasting practical approach to making the most of the space they have.

[Jacqueline M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

As others have mentioned, this author's editor did her a disservice but it's not so awful as to be distracting and she's not a writer by trade so I give her some grace. I appreciated the breakdown of the 4 types of "clutterbugs" and how to organize for each. But the majority of the rest of the book is regurgitated Fly Lady mantra. They are good mantras and guidance, but not new. This was my biggest beef: The helpful information is available for free either on the author's own youtube channel or on the Fly Lady's website. I would recommend this for a library read, not one I'm super happy I paid money to buy.

[Jennifer Hoots · Rating 5 out of 5]

Covers the Basics

I read this book because I love the author’s HGTV show Hot Mess House and wanted to know more about the “clutter bugs” organization styles. This book covers a lot of useful and encouraging information to get your house in order.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was very inspirational!! I want to hang all! The! Things!! She helps you see which type “clutter bug” you are & how to deal with it. Clutter mountains and losing things are a constant stress in our big family, so this was a great tool!

[Tommie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m excited to start organizing in the new year. The plan is to start with my now defunct office so that maybe it will become useable again. This book had a lot of great tips and tricks that I’m excited to try and even had a quiz to help me figure out what type of organizer I am. All in all, a helpful read.

[Dani Morrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty much exactly what you’d expect. Spend small minutes daily to keep yer crap organized, and then you won’t be all messy and shit.

[Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took notes on this one because it actually seems doable. Only time will tell! Recommended for friends looking to declutter and organize.

[Sammy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing new here and not very neurodivergent friendly.

Also American, so assumes your house is massive.

[Olivia Chapé · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best organizing book I've come across so far!

I highly recommend listening to this book. Unlike some other books, this doesn't contain a whole list of items, or DIY cleaners, like in "Clean my Space". Instead, Cass takes you through her journey, in such a way that feels helpful and inspiring.

My favourite part was how she described her dream house, by a lake. It reminded me of a happy ending of a romantic fiction novel. A perfect, yet realistic ending to a lovely book.

This book is so motivating, you won't be able to put it down until you've tossed out your 21 items! I didn't count how many things I threw away, but I was certainly not expecting to find as much as I did to toss out!

Last year, I read the Marie Kondo method. I prefer her Netflix show than her book. Although it's fun to watch, it's not fun when you feel like you have to dedicate the next month to it. Instead, Cass has broken it down into bite-size manageable chunks, which are very practical and less scary!

The only negative is that the beginning of this book sounded very similar to her other book, "Clutter Connection", so much so I thought it was the same book. In this section, Cass asks you to discover which clutterbug you may be, from her questionnaire. However, after listening instead of reading this part, I was able to think about my current situation, without over-thinking about it too much.

Even though Cass doesn't read her own book, her sense of humour still comes across in her writing! The narrator, Ann Richardson, was far better and a lot easier to listen to than the audiobook, "Craft a Life You Love", by Amy Tangerine.

As someone who doesn't have kids, I can find it annoying when some authors, like Steven Covey, hark on and on about the relationship and conversations with his son, which feel irrelavant to someone like like myself. This book doesn't get annoying like that! I actually found her stories about her kids to be quite entertaining!

It's realistic, yet written in a positive light. A light and easy read, which can be picked up as often as every Thursday, when it comes to decluttering my home a little bit more!

Awesome book! Very inspiring! 😁🤗

[Amanda K · Rating 2 out of 5]

A simple ( if poorly edited) cleaning and organization book. Nothing really new out side the beginning section on organization styles. With the other styles that don’t fit mine and the entire sections on things irrelevant to me (I.e. kids rooms or getting kids involved), I ended up with good amount of skipped content. But the stuff I did read seemed like the same stuff you could just as easily get in a blog post. And some of it rubbed me wrong.

The author has a fixation on purging, purging a set amount of items each month. She even says that if she doesn’t have enough of her own stuff to meet her quota, she’ll steal things from her husband or kids in an attempt to reach her goal. Why are you so compulsive with your purging of things that you feel this impulse to find things to trash even when you have nothing to spare. It seems to miss the point, especially because she criticizes the Marie Kondo method as too extreme. And if you still have excess stuff after so many years of regular purging, shouldn’t your focus be on decreasing impulse buying? She also says to get rid of the books you have because you’ll never read them again. Weird for the author of a niche single read book to call out books as useless clutter that should be disposed of? Why write a book if you see no value in owning books?

[M. Bayoush · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was very cheesy and at least twice per chapter sounded like ads on tv "try it today!". The book is also aimed for americans that live in houses, everything else was seen as "uncommon". i want to give it a two star but it did give some helpful suggestions. If i hadn't listened to the book, I'd probably would've given up on it.

What made me not give it a lower grade was partly because she tried to not give a generic "one seize fit all" answer (but still ended up saying "you MUST do--(her way)" several times). The best advice l got out of it was the fact that all the things one have should have a spot where the thing is being used to minimize "I'll put it way later"-impulse. I don't usually try to move things from different rooms in hope of improving picking up after myself. And that realization was helpful.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are tons of books on this subject; if you enjoyed Marie Kondo’s book, you may want to skip this one. The author not-so-subtly makes some pretty strong statements about her feelings on Marie Kondo, which is why I bring it up, not to mention the methods presented are very different. Aarssen writes about organizing by using bins, labels, and practical locations. The book begins with identifying the different types of clutter personalities, which got me excited about perhaps finding a method that works for my style; in the end it felt more like Aarssen was forcing each type into the same methods. I always enjoy this topic and didn’t feel like this was a waste, but I wouldn’t pick it up again.

[Kath T · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book cost me $7 on Amazon and was the catalyst for helping me change my non-existent organization skills. I've started implementing small bits of what Cassandra suggests in this book and I can say that I've see huge changes in my cleaning habits. After a few months of trying her tips, I find that my space is constantly clean and it feels like a space I can finally enjoy. (a nighttime cleaning routine is single handedly saving my life). It helped me understand what kind of organization works best for me and that not all people organize the same.
For $7, this book is amazing. The way Cassandra Arsen writes feels as if a friend is giving me advice, it's not intimidating at all. I highly recommended this read. ☺️ (Also her podcast is amazing, definitely worth checking out)

[Abbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good book for someone just learning how to organize. I guess I learned I'm pretty organized. I only took away two suggestions from this book. Everything else was common sense or things I've learned along the way. The two new ideas were the garbage bag purge and the 21 item purge. Take a garbage bag around and just throw away junk. I think I could easily do this in each of my kids bedrooms and bookbags. For the 21 item purge you set yourself to get rid of (donate) 21 items. Having a set limit helps keep you from getting overwhelmed and so you are more likely to do it. But it also feels significant enough to motivate you to do more.

[Dallas Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good book except she insulted Marie Kondo then proceeded to give some of the EXACT SAME advice as Marie Kondo… why so negative?? You can both be great organizing gurus! It would’ve been a much more pleasant read if the author had complimented MK and said “I’ve interpreted some of her methods in a way that works better for some people” instead of mocking how MK “claims her methods are life changing” and then proceeds to claim her own organizing methods as life changing… like why? So competitive and negative!
Other than that, it had some great information, organizing tips, and would’ve been a fabulous book.

[Anne Ahrens · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me this book gave a few decent tips but not really better than reading a few organizational articles online. This book is not very well written but she’s not a writer so I can forgive that. She also states from the beginning to stop reading if you’re already organized so that was part of my problem. But I like to read organizing books for new ideas and can’t really put them down. If you’re overwhelmed with organizing or are just starting this journey this could be a good place to start.

[npaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book ever on home organization. She loves Peter Walsh as much as I do and thinks Marie Kondo blows (maybe not as much as I do but still). Practical advice that is totally doable, great ideas, a view that is new but not crazy (not all ways work for all people, tweaks here and there makes things work for me in ways that are just different enough that it fits for my needs) while giving ways to maintain and make me want to keep at it. Excellent fit for me. Good writer too.

[Karly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow this is motivating! Great tips and tricks in here! I really liked the way the author spoke so causally about cleaning and made everything feel very attainable. My favourite tips are: 1) Eat the frog first, 2) 21-item toss, and 3) Your inner lazy child. Definitely tricks I think I will use around my own home.

[Ben Denison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This small book was enlightening in that it describes 4 different types of folks in their organizing which jumped how my wife and I are different types and that creates some of the conflict on where and how to organize our space.

Good book. We started purging yesterday and I have full trash cans AND many bags of clothes headed to goodwill. Sometimes just need a little kick in the butt.