Declutter Your Life: How Outer Order Leads to Inner Calm

by Gill Hasson

You have too many commitments in your life and too much stuff in your home. It's no wonder you feel overwhelmed and stressed out. You don't need to just throw out a few bits and bobs; you need to declutter your life!

Our homes and workspace are a mirror of what's happening inside us, Declutter Your Life explains how you can change your relationship with the things you own. Instead of being weighed down with objects and possessions that keeps you stuck in the past, you can learn to think about your things in a new light; in a way that's constructive and helpful to you.

There are plenty of ideas, advice, tips and techniques to help you. You'll discover how outer order leads to inner calm. Declutter Your Life explains how the principles and steps taken to clear and simplify your living space can improve not just your home but also other aspects of your life; your work, relationships and general well-being.

An ordered environment leads to ordered thinking. When you stop allowing your life to revolve around things that don't matter, you instantly gain the time, space and energy to focus on the things that do. Declutter Your Life will help you to:

* Let go of guilt and get rid of the emotional baggage that keeps you stuck in the past
* Feel less overwhelmed and stressed
* Clear out your unnecessary commitments
* Simplify and improve your work life
* Declutter your relationships

Simple living doesn't end at home. Declutter Your Life shows you how to reclaim your space, your time and your mind to achieve the life you want to live.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Productivity

163 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 6, 2017

About the author

Gill Hasson is the author of Mindfulness: Be mindful. Live in the moment works with people from diverse backgrounds and situations. Her key motivation is her belief in the ability of people to positively change their way of thinking - about life, other people, and themselves.

She is a freelance journalist and writes articles on personal development and relationships for a variety of magazines, including Psychologies and Take A Break, and for a number of websites.

As well as delivering adult education courses in personal development, she is an associate tutor for the University of Sussex where she teaches career and personal development and academic study skills. She delivers training in child and adolescent development to preschool, youth and social workers, teachers and parents.

Reviews

[Emma Sea]

This was totally not worth it. It's Marie Kondo without the Shinto.

Saying that, it does have a chapter on 'declutter your friendships' which helped me a lot releasing a drama-filled, toxic, old and moribund 'friendship' that was not serving me, and without guilt, too!

Still, I'm an idiot for buying this, and it was not value for the cover price. This is one I'm going to release to my Little Free Library tomorrow.

[Ezgi T · Rating 1 out of 5]

Konuya tamamen yabancıysanız, "ya bu iş nasıl yapılıyor ki?" düşüncesiyle bir kaynak arıyorsanız, o zaman belki bu kitap size göre olabilir. Belki.

Benim "decluttering" konusunda az çok bir fikrim var. Daha birkaç ay önce odamdan başlayarak evin büyük bir kısmını - babam ve annemin de yardımıyla, elbette - elden geçirmiştim. O yüzden bu kitaba başlarken aklımda belli sorular, belli sıkıntılar vardı. Oysa Declutter Your Life olsa olsa "meh" bir başlangıç kitabı olabilir, "hayatımızı nasıl düzene sokarız" noktasında.

Açıkçası bence yazar, bazı yerlerde tavsiye vereyim derken çok yanlış önerilerde bulunmuş. Kaş yaparken göz çıkartmak cidden. Bir de, bir noktada minimalizme karşı negatif bir tutum takınıyordu, bu da bana çok itici geldi. Tuhaf bir şekilde bütün o "feminizm/feminazi" muhabbetini getirdi ki aklıma, tahminen bu noktada sorun bende.

Sonuç olarak eğer "decluttering" ya da "minimalizm" üzerine bir şeyler arıyorsanız ve hiç fikriniz yoksa bir ihtimal buna göz gezdirebilirsiniz ama bence hiç uğraşmayın, onun yerine açın YouTube'u, izleyin birkaç video, daha verimli ve yararlı olacaktır.

[Julian Pecenco · Rating 2 out of 5]

Superficial and not especially inspiring. The chapters are quite short, but then contain a length "in a nutshell" summary that repeats everything all over again.

[Behzad · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتاب کاربردی ای که توضیح میده چطور بی نظمی رو در زندگی شخصی، روابط، شغل و سایر حوزه های زندگی روزمره مدیریت کنیم و کاهش بدیم. نکتۀ مثبتش اینه که راهکارهای عملی و قابل اجرا ارائه میده و به موقعیت های واقعی زندگی میپردازه؛ نکتۀ منفی اینه که گاهی ساده انگارانه میشه و به تکرار میرسه.

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it - great ideas to motivate you which sound good in theory...... now to start on this project with many aspects of home & life.

[Naomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of these decluttering books are the same. They even quote the same studies to back up their information. Each book has something a little different though. I found the declutter your friends section and the difference between hoarding and collecting interesting.

[Len · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick and minimal read on minimalism.
The sections on friendships and obligations really spoke to me, though there did seem to be this implication that all commitments would inevitably end up as obligations, which was a bit odd with me. Each chapter was a good overview on that particular topic's relationship with minimalism, but because each chapter was so short, the three page "in summary" at the end of each felt unnecessary, which is odd in a book so focused on keeping only what is needed.
I came out of this book with a realisation I'd been avoiding for some time: there was no point in me holding on to more than I needed for a utopian future where I move somewhere with more space (In this city as a student? I'm dreaming) it also empowered me to put the energy needed into starting that journey: I have different goals and dreams to what I had when I got most of my possessions, so I need to ask myself what is serving me now.
Would recommend if you want to get a bit deeper than surface level to minimalism and are looking for where to fit this idea in each corner of your life. Take only the advice that speaks to you.

[Lesley Meadows · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple, practical and very readable. Also short. Helped me pinpoint the roadblock that was stopping me from decluttering my commitments ... specifically just the toxic one.

[Jina · Rating 4 out of 5]

You don’t have be a minimalist to appreciate a clutter-free life. I felt like this was a book I wrote for my husband to read - at least the first half of it. Gill Hasson perfectly captures how clutter makes me feel and why I love having a clutter-free home. Every thing in your house should have a place. If it doesn’t - you have too much stuff. Simple as that. I had to downsize twice before moving to Canada, and I’ve been careful about what I’ve bought since. My husband, on the other hand, has not had to downsize (I’m guessing ever). He has a shelf stuffed full of t-shirts that he hasn’t once touched in the past 3 years we’ve been married - an entire shelf. He also has 2 drawers of socks and all of our kitchen counters hold his piles of things as he doesn’t put stuff back where it belongs. It’s almost as if if I accidentally I leave out one thing cause I’m in a hurry, that gives him permission to pile things there. Don’t even get me started on what our place looks like when he decides to be crafty. Basically, my husband is the King of Clutter. A lot of the rules and strategies Hasson suggests (making “keep, maybe, don’t keep” piles, only decluttering a little section at a time, the “one in, one out” rule) are all tactics I utilize and have tried to get my husband to use, as well. From my own experience, the strategies and advice that Hasson captures in her book works. If only she knew how to get your spouse to do the same…

Readers Note: If you're in a rush, you can "skim" the book's content by simply reading the "In the Nutshell" sections at the end of the chapters. However, if you're reading C2C, I would suggest skipping these sections to keep the book from getting too repetitive.

[Jolyn Moh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would rate it a 2.5, but I think I can only rate in whole numbers.

Book is for beginners to decluttering, not someone who is well-versed in this field or have read another similar book.

Very empathetic book and reading it gives you a sense of understanding and hope. Easy to read as well, I finished the book in under 3 hours.

Some interesting concepts:

1. Hope-based clutter
"Remember what your house is for. Is it a place for you to enjoy and live in joyfully? Or is it for you to store items that you feel like a crime to get rid of?" - Sheila Chandra

(for the record, it still pains me to waste than to throw. so...)

2. Acknowledge the memories, then let it go.
Same with what Kondo has said.

3. Start with easy stuff.
For example, the bathroom usually doesn't have much emotional attachment stuff.

Definitely keep if you
- need it: it's useful and you use it regularly
- love it: it's beautiful, you enjoy it, it makes you happy
- have to have it: for legal records

don't keep if you
- don't need it: no longer useful / broken / outdated
- don't like it: it makes you feel irritated, annoyed or stressed

Clothes:
- do i feel good when I wear it
- do i look good when i wear it
- am i comfortable in it
- is it out of fashion and not coming back? even if it did, would i want the updated version
- has my lifestyle changed
- does it hold any sentimental attachment
- does it need cleaning or mending

[Ryley Balon · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off: the authors first name is pronounced J-ill. She just has a different spelling. This confused me at first. I didn't find anything about this in the comments here.

Onto the book:

This book took a different approach to decluttering than I thought it would. While all other declutterinf books that I have been recommended are usually talking about don't pass your trash onto your friends, thank your items for their use and give them honor (I'm like at you Marie Kondo), or just blanket donate the items that are not direct trash, this book the the opposite approach: talk in a human way about getting rid of your stuff and why.

There were a few things that were talked about by the numbers, but what got me was the emotional side of things and showed that we can have regrets when it comes to our decluttering choices and we don't need to use 100% definate decisions that are hard cut to declutter all of our surroundings at once.


The book then further goes on to declutteing other parts of your life, in the same manner. I5 did extremely briefly (more of a mention, really) bring up the Eisenhower Matrix, which I think there should have been more information on.

[Hessah Alhashash · Rating 3 out of 5]

لأني لم اقرأ كتب كثيرة عن التنظيف الخارجي، استمتعت بقراءة الجزء الاول من الكتاب. والمتوقع ان الشخص القارئ لكتب اكثر عن الـ Decluttering راح يكون الكتاب بالنسبة له بسيط جداً!

الجزء الاول:
عن ترتيب المنزل
اعجبتني نقطة:
- ان تفرق بين ما تحتاجة وما تريده في الترتيب.
- اي شيء داخل اختر بالمقابل شيء خارج.
- مشاعر تأنيب الضمير وارتباطها بأغراض الماضي 😃 هذه النقطة ممكن تكون معيقة لأمور كثيرة اجمل في المستقبل.
- اغراض اقل يعني اتخاذ قرار في الحياة أفضل.
- اذا فكرت ان "ممكن" تحتاجه - ارميه! 😃
- ضع لك خطة لتنظيف بيتك جزء جزء.
- توقف عن التجميع والتخزين، حدد لك اماكن الاشياء ولا تتجاوز هذه الاماكن.
- حتى الهدايا تكلمت عنها ومن وجهة نظرها تقدر تحدد هديتك عشان ما تخزن هدايا ما تحتاجها.
- نقطة جداً جميلة تكلمت عن تنظيف الالتزامات ! هناك امور الشخص ملزم نفسه فيها وهي تاخذ من وقت وطاقته، لذلك راجع التزاماتك واعتذر عن مالا يخدمك.

الجزء الثاني من الكتاب
رتب حياتك

هذا الجزء لان عندي معلومات كثيرة فيه ما اخذ مني نفس اهتمام الجزء الاول لكن ممكن تجد فيه الاستمتاع.

تكلمت عن تخطيط العمل - قوائم المهام - قانون ٨٠/٢٠ - مصفوفة الأولويات - تخفيف استخدام السوشيال ميديا.

تقيمي : جيد وممتع وخفيف، ومحفز حق اللي يبي يتحرك وينظف 👌🏼

[Farzaneh Mirzazadeh]

Your possessions can keep you stuck in the past. Do not let the past dictate the present.
Do not keep things which are neither useful, nor you love them.
Past was the era of scarcity, so people did not let go of things. Now is the era of abundance, so you should let the clutter go.
Using the same old thing, because you have too many to choose from.
Most of our clutter, are not clutter at the beginning. But in time, they reach a point which are not useful anymore.
Exploring new solutions, versus exploiting solutions we already have.
Clutter crisis: Clutter drains our time and energy and takes up space. Physical clutter leads to mental clutter. Clutter competes for our attention!
Fear-based clutter, hope-based clutter, identifying ourselves with them, emotional and memory attachments to our things.
Attempting to discard things bring up emotions that are difficult to deal with.
Sunk cost: The time, effort love or money already put in on things and that you will never get back.
Guilt of letting go: feeling wasteful.

[Sh&ra · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had big hopes for this book but I was very much let down. It is full of vague ideas and very unspecific 'advice' that has no application. I went back and looked at all of my highlights and they were all of quotes from other people! I also found some of the information about 'unfriending' people to unclutter your life to be shallow and petty. There are times that relationships are toxic, yes, but mostly relationships come and go and it's normal and natural and we shouldn't need a guide to each of them; not that any of the info is actually helpful. I got this book for free on sale but I wish I hadn't spent my time on it. I will not have a single thing to apply to my life from this book and I'm very disappointed about it.

[Hoor · Rating 2 out of 5]

الكتاب مفيد لمن يعاني من التعلق بالأشياء وصعوبة التخلص منها، ويمنح خطوات عملية لتنظيم البيت والحياة. لكن بالنسبة لي، لم أجد نفسي بين سطوره.
أنا من النوع الذي تلقي بكل ما لا تحتاجه في القمامة دون تردد، وتبيع ما لا تحب. لذلك شعرت أن الكتاب لا يخاطبني، بل يخاطب من يعاني من التكدس والتردد في التخلي.

أكثر ما أزعجني أنه ركز على من يمتلكون منازل، بينما أنا أعيش في غرفة مرتّبة بين أربعة جدران في منزلنا ولست (ربة منزل) وجدت نفسي أتململ في تقليب الصفحات، وكأنني أعيد قراءة نصائح سبق أن لقنتها لعقلي مئات المرات.

قد لا يكون مناسبًا لي، لكنه بالتأكيد سينفع أولئك الذين يعانون من فوضى الأشياء، ويبحثون عن دفعة لتنظيم حياتهم وممتلكاتهم وعقولهم.

[Karen JEC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read. A few gems of advice found within.

Favourite Quotes:

"A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it." ~ George Carlin

"We're lost in the noise of our own consumption."

"Guilt is good for you, provided it lasts no longer than five minutes and it brings about a change in behaviour."

"It took time to get all that stuff; it’ll take some time to clear it out."

"There is more joy to be found in owning less than can ever be found in organizing more." ~ Joshua Becker

[Elise · Rating 1 out of 5]

The tail end of the book that deals with emotional clutter and commitments had more useful information in it, but the whole front end of the book about physical clutter is a waste of your time. Other authors have covered these topics more thoroughly, thoughtfully, and usefully.

If you need a book to use as filler to hit your Goodreads Challenge, this is a good candidate. You may pull a few useful tidbits from it.

[Caitlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandoned this. It was a freebie on Amazon’s lockdown giveaway so I thought I’d give it a go but found it lightweight, overwritten and derivative. And if you’re going to write a book about decluttering and reference the phrase ‘spark joy’ give a damn reference. It’s from Marie Kondo, not a generic concept. Acknowledge your damn sources. I don’t recommend this book. Go read some Marie Kondo instead. Better thought out, better written, much more fun to read.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm quite interested in the topic of decluttering at the moment so I was quite interested in reading this book. I found it quite enjoyable and really easy to follow. The majority of the book is tips on how to declutter various aspects of your life from the house to friendships, to work. I found it to be really straightforward and a book that I would refer back to as I declutter.

[Deda Sab · Rating 3 out of 5]

If the book is about decluttering, wouldn't it be better to shorten it instead of repeating the same points over and over again? I think the parts titled "In a nutshell" can be skipped, especially that the book is small in size, so there was no need to repeat the same points. All in all, it was a good read, especially the second 50% of it.

[Sunshine Biskaps · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is pretty basic! I loved the decluttering your old and also your schedule and your friendships! Easy to read and full of good tips. Each chapter is short and there’s a summary at the end that is a bit repetitative. Nothing rocket science in here. Good for the person who needs to declutter all aspects of his/ her life.

[Keely · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing new on the subject

The premise of the book is good. However, much of the information is the same as any other on the subject and the author repeats the main points in a summary at the end of each chapter basically repeating what you’ve just read. If you’re looking for a quick read or something to skim, this would probably fit the bill. Not for me though.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good because the format was brief and accessible. Gill Hasson also addresses mind, personal life, and work clutter which was a good addition to the topic of decluttering that few seem to address. If you want to declutter but don't feel like you can give even reading about it much time this book is for you.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's nothing revolutionary in this book. It has a summary at the end of each chapter which takes up about 20% of the book and taking its own advice I stopped reading the summaries once I realised they repeated what I just read and saved myself some time. It felt like this whole book could have just been the summary sections and been 20% the length and done as a blog.

[Peter Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a challenge to de clutter your life but adopting a new starting point makes it surprisingly easy. I think maybe clutter weighs more people down than they believe it does. I would recommend going in to this with an open mind.

[Ita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this similar to Marie Kondo's book except that this is not just about physical clutter, it also tackles friendships and work. If you use your common sense you do not need to read this book, but it is an easy read and it might just be the kick you need to start decluttering your life!

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I like the outline of the books that highlight the tips and as a quick reminder. This is a new beginner guide to minimalism. However, may not benefit people who already know the the concept of minimalism

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn’t get anything from this. It read like an old school study manual for an A-level with its ‘in a nutshell’ chapter summaries. It also seemed to be for someone with an older lifestyle; all loft spaces, floppy discs, photo prints, cars and teenage children.

[Abdulaziz · Rating 1 out of 5]

خلال قراءتي للكتاب، تسائلت جدياً لأكثر من مرة أن لا أكمل القراءة.
وفي كل مرة أحسن الظن وأتفائل في الحصول على فائدة.
في الحقيقة، المؤلفة تعيش في عالم آخر لا يستحق كتابته في هذا الكتاب.
فالمثل المشهور القائل "يجعل من الحبة قُبة" يجسد رأيي للأسف.

[Aya · Rating 3 out of 5]

الجزء الثاني من الكتاب حلو جدا واللي كان فيه أستفادة بالنسبة ليا عن كيفية التخلص من فوضي المعلومات والمهام والإلتزامات والأصدقاء وترتيب الأشياء في وضعها الصحيح
أما الجزء الأول من الكتاب مكرر وأعتقد نفس فكرة كتاب سحر الترتيب