Bring your home out of the mess it’s in and learn how to keep it under control.“The dirty little secret about most organizing advice is that it’s written by organized people,” says blogger, speaker, and decluttering expert Dana K. White. “But that’s not how my brain works. I’m lost on page three.” Dana blogs at A Slob Comes Clean, chronicling her successes and failures with her self-described … Clean, chronicling her successes and failures with her self-described “deslobification process.” In the beginning she used the name “Nony” (short for aNONYmous), because she was sharing her deep, dark, slob secret. Now she has truly come clean—with not only her real name but the strategies she has developed, tested, and proved in her own home. She has learned what it takes to bring a home out of Disaster Status, which habits make the biggest and most lasting impact, and how to keep clutter under control.
In How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind, Dana explains that cleaning your house is not a onetime project but a series of ongoing premade decisions. Her reality-based cleaning and organizing techniques debunk the biggest housekeeping fantasies and help readers learn what really works. Chapter titles include
- My First Step: Giving Up on the Fantasy
- The Worst Thing About the Best Way
- Just Tell Me What to Do
- Conquering Laundry
- Get Dinner on the Table
- Putting an End to the Never-Ending Weekly Cleaning Tasks
- Don’t Get Organized
- How to Declutter Without Making a Bigger Mess
- Fighting the Perceived Value Battle
- But Will It Last?
With a huge helping of empathy and humor, Dana provides a step-by-step process with strategies for getting rid of enormous amounts of stuff in as little time (and with as little emotional drama) as possible.
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I loved this book! I did not hear what I wanted, that there was some magical way to manage my house, but what I did hear made sense and helped me view what I was doing and how in a new way! I love her wit and realism. Now excuse me while I go wash the dishes!!
This book is more helpful than most as I struggle to stay on top of my cluttered house. The author acknowledges that no one likes to clean, but says in no uncertain terms that you have to do it anyway. Then she gives you a map, so that you can tackle the initial pileup without getting overwhelmed, and then maintain the situation without having the work suck up all your time. She doesn’t hesitate to admit that she hasn’t magically become a tidy person, but that she can show you how to keep the clutter down even when you hate doing the work.
I have read several books on the subject of decluttering. This is the first one that has given me encouragement and the tools to make decluttering work for me. It is an easy read with a sense of humor. I highly recommend it.
A good resource for those who want to get their house under control without throwing out all of their possessions, or be bogged down by endless “to do” lists.
Excellent, Dana is funny and inspiring. She understands your thoughts and explains techniques that really work no matter how busy you are.
This book changed my life!
Great advice from someone I feel a kinship with. I laughed at some of it because I could have written it (the before parts). I’ve been using some of the advice and it’s made a difference.
practical, useful, and a fun read; has definitely had an impact on how I approach keeping things tidy and has made me more efficient and realistic. written for people who are not naturally organized!
I have read a lot of organizational books and most of the recent ones seem geared toward getting rid of most of what you own and moving to a tiny home! I exaggerate, a little. Or the best ways to containerize and organize so you can stuff as much as possible into your home. Neither approach is what I want to accomplish. But this book is very practical for people who have a life, hobbies and things they love but want to have a home that is easier to manage. It presented some new ideas to me which was a pleasant surprise and I am implementing them. Much simpler than most of the approaches and you feel so accomplished! Highly recommend!
I’ve read a couple of dozen books through the years on getting organized, and on housekeeping. THIS is the one that is changing my life! I bought my daughter a copy immediately, and both of us are finding it to be the key to a transformation we had given up on ever finding. So hilarious, so reality-grounded, so effective!
How-To tips for getting control of clutter in your home. This author thinks like I do! She has real-life solutions for creative people who would rather do almost anything other than housework, yet want to live in a tidy home.
Apparently, I’m a slob. lol
I heard about this book after someone mentioned Dana’s podcast, A Slob Comes Clean. Listened to a few episodes, then bought the book and binge read it.
It made so much sense and, as hard as I find it to do the dishes every day (multiple times a day when the whole family was home/remote learning), it is definitely the one thing that makes all the difference.
Her method is for people who struggle with cleaning and organization and decluttering, and it seems totally doable.
I recommend this book (and the podcast!) for anyone who is losing their mind trying to keep their homes from turning into disaster zones.
Great ideas that I plan to incorporate!
I found this bok very informational and easy to follow. Her system is working well for me.
It offers very doable first steps to keeping house
I have read many declutter books but found new ideas in this one
Dana describes her own journey and shares the discoveries that made a difference for her. She has a talent for naming these ideas and passing them on in memorable ways without making the clutter-challenged reader feel foolish. Example: the Container Concept is her title for the idea that one should only keep the amount of any certain type of stuff to the extent that the container assigned to hold it can tolerate. But she says it better than that. 🙂 She’s a great writer; the book is well-organized and written, with specific hints for various areas of the home. You will enjoy it and find it helpful.
very informative
Just ok
Very practical and very helpful