Peace of Mind Organizing

Thumbs up for new book: Unclutter Your Life in One Week

18 November 2009

Erin Doland, the editor-in-chief of the great blog Unclutterer has come out with a new book, Unclutter Your Life in One Week. I’m a huge fan of Unclutterer and was honored to have a guest post on the blog last summer. So I’m predisposed to like this book.

If you’re a fan too, you’ll recognize Erin’s grounded sensibility and her wit and clear writing. But don’t think this book is just a compilation of her best blog posts. It’s an entirely new work, one that strives to systematically help the reader unclutter his or her whole life—work, home, time, leisure, the whole enchilada.

It’s ambitious and it’s comprehensive. The book starts with Erin’s own story of living in such clutter she had to walk through paths in her small apartment through waist-high piles of stuff. She tells of her husband lovingly telling her that he could no longer with all the stuff and of her determination, at that moment, to unclutter it all.

I’ve met Erin and I’ve been reading her blog for several years and, believe me, it’s hard to imagine her living in that kind of clutter. But that I love that she shares this history with the readers. She also shares the habits she’s developed to keep her life simple and running smoothly (they’re exemplary). It’s really nice for readers to know where she started, so they can see themselves getting where she is now.

If you could actually do everything she suggests in seven days—decluttering home and office, creating new routines and changing work and productivity habits—you really could unclutter your life in one week. But it would have to be a really supercharged week. I know I wouldn’t have the energy for it.

You don’t have to pressure yourself to do everything she suggests in just one week. Just use the book as a guidebook for project after project.

Erin provides clear, sensible advice. She’s practical. She understands. And she sets a great example.

If you’re looking for direction in going through the process of simplifying your life, this book will provide it. When you’ve finished one thing, you can just move on to the next. This is a book I’ll be recommending to clients.

Tagged with: decluttering, erin doland, unclutterer

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