Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff

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White has you look at your living space as a series of containers - your house is a container, each room is a container, your closets are containers, your cabinets, chests of drawers and desks are containers, etc. When you run out of room in these containers, you can't bring anything else in unless you get rid of something. But before we jump in, I want to go over some key terms. Through my own decluttering escapades I’ve come up with ways of explaining things to myself. Those of you who already know me and my made-up decluttering language will nod along. But if you are new to my style of decluttering, don’t get overwhelmed. We’re going to apply these concepts to each area of your home. If anything makes you say, Wha... ? I don’t get that... I promise you’ll get it as you read the book. We’ll go step by step through your home and your hang-ups. I had to develop decluttering strategies out of necessity. I couldn’t go on living the way I’d been living, with stuff (quite literally) spilling out of every cabinet door, covering every surface, and taking up every last available space in my home. Whether you have five minutes, five hours, or five days to spend decluttering, you can make real progress in your home."

Decluttering at the Speed of Life Coaches Home - Decluttering at the Speed of Life Coaches

Her main idea is the Container Principle: seeing your closet, your refrigerator, your bookshelf, your bedroom, your pantry —hey, even your house—as a container. It is the size it is. After preliminary tidying, you decide which stays according to the limits of your "container." It’s generally more productive to start with less personal areas, like the kitchen or living room, to minimize possible emotional resistance. Adopt the “one item at a time” rule in this process to avoid overwhelming them.

While you can only take responsibility for your own clutter, there are times when you need to know what to do about other people’s clutter. Dana explains how to use her step by step process to respectfully and kindly, help family and friends sort through their stuff. But more than simply offering strategies, Dana dives deep into how to implement them, no matter the reader's clutter level or emotional resistance to decluttering. She helps identify procrasticlutter--the stuff that will get done eventually so it doesn't seem urgent--as well as how to make progress when there's no time to declutter. And that totally logical thinking was how I ended up in a place where I couldn’t function in my own home. I couldn’t even use my second largest room, and the rooms I could use were difficult to use because I had to work around all sorts of extra and unnecessary things, even though I didn’t realize they were extra and unnecessary.

Decluttering at the Speed of Life - Google Books

Eighteen years later I see the ridiculousness of our table situation, but at the time it didn’t seem even a little bit strange. The apartment wasn’t our real house. It was temporary. Who knew what kind of home or dining-area situation our future would bring? Why in the world wouldn’t I keep all three tables until we knew what we needed in our real house? We were ready for the future and all the possibilities it could possibly bring. I had to dig my way out, and it was the most unnatural thing I'd ever done. If I'm left to my natural tendencies, clutter builds, and clutter stays. Decluttering is stuff you don't need leaving your house. And that's really all it is. If five things leave or five hundred things leave, you've succeeded.Not only does Dana provide strategies, but she dives deep into how to implement them, no matter the listener's clutter level or emotional resistance to decluttering. She helps identify procrasticlutter - the stuff that will get done eventually so it doesn't seem urgent - as well as how to make progress when there's no time to declutter. Yes! Scarf hangers full! Go me... blergh. How is my floor still covered in scarves?! Now what do I do?