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

194 Pages·2018·1.01 MB·English

by  Dana K. White

Praise for Decluttering at the Speed of Life
“This book is another home run for Dana. For the past ten-plus years, I have
been a stay-at-home scatterbrained dad. My wife has been the main source of
income, and I assumed I would never get this home stuff figured out. It wasn’t
until I did a Google search with the words slob and clean that I found the help I
needed. When I saw the word deslobification, I knew I was at the right place.
“Dana is the GPS of housecleaning and decluttering. No matter how far you
have strayed on your journey trying to get your home in order, she has a path to
get you back on track. . . . If you’re looking for a book on decluttering that
makes sense, this is for you.”
—WILLIAM B., GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA
DAD OF THREE
“Dana shares a real, practical, step-by-step process for getting rid of the stuff,
and she does it with humor and plenty of grace for the messiness and difficulties
of life. The section on helping kids declutter is especially useful!”
—JEAN P., CHICO, CALIFORNIA
MOM OF TWO, LIBRARIAN, SEAMSTRESS
“Dana gets it. I’ve spent my entire life feeling like something was wrong with
me. I excelled in school and at work, so why couldn’t I handle my house? I
never knew anyone else had ever been reduced to tears over the state of their
home. When my husband suddenly passed away, amidst my grief, I could no
longer cope with the clutter. I started by doing the dishes, and gradually worked
my way up to decluttering my entire home, trash and easy stuff first.
“Dana handles the issue of decluttering dreams with sensitivity. I may not be
ready to part with all, or even most, of my late husband’s things, but my house is
so much better. And better is wonderful!”
—KIM H., GREEN BROOK, NEW JERSEY
WIDOWED MOM OF TWO
“The phrase game changer may be cliché, but it’s true. This book is hard to put
down yet makes you want to roll up your sleeves and start decluttering. I’d also
refer to it as I tackled each room. It has valuable lessons about what five minutes
can do and how to evaluate your mess in easy steps. I found it relatable as to
how clutter causes stress and how much happier I could be to let go and ‘live in
the now.’ Dana is a kind voice telling you you’re not alone, and she helps you
tap into the potential you have to get started.”
—SUSAN L., NORTHBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
RECENTLY DIVORCED WOMAN WHO MOVED 3000
SQUARE FEET OF BELONGINGS TO A 730-SQUARE-FOOT
HOME
“I’ve found a kindred spirit in Dana. She gets me! She thinks like me and
struggles like me. Dana guides you in an ever-so-gentle way to get on top of
your clutter. I appreciated her encouragement, which was nonjudgmental and
motivating at the same time. I was entertained by her humor and inspired by her
simple approach. The state of my home is improving incrementally by the day.
Thank you for giving me hope and the tools to move toward normalcy.”
—AILIM H., SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
FULL-TIME WORKING MOTHER OF A TODDLER
“Dana White hits a perfect ‘best friend/girls’ night out’ balance between real talk
and humor in Decluttering at the Speed of Life. Her upbeat and engaging writing
sets out clear steps to declutter your home and reframe your mindset. As a
Manhattan professional and mother, I have to make sure that to the outside world
my life seems pulled together. My big secret and biggest struggle has been my
ongoing fight with clutter. As the child of a hoarder, I always knew I wanted a
cleaner home, but all the books on organizing didn’t help me. Decluttering at the
Speed of Life is different. Dana is really clear about what the book can and can’t
do. She gives simple frameworks for how to get started, stay motivated, and get
back on track after a relapse. Since working with Dana’s frameworks, I can
make my unpredictable schedule still work for our household. The chaos is
calmed—and we have even been able to have guests over for the first time!”
—MADDY, NEW YORK, NEW YORK
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL AND MOM
“Dana White provides stressed-out homemakers with a simple decluttering
method that works. In writing laced with humor, charm, and wisdom, Dana
shares from personal experience how to go about dealing with this monstrosity,
the insides of our homes. Using the five easy steps, I tackled the worst room in
my house and was so pleased with the results. Life is crazy busy, and clutter and
mess is inevitable, but by implementing Dana’s clear-cut approach, one can
achieve an orderly, tranquil sanctuary.”
—JOANNE G., HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA
WIFE, MOTHER, AND HOMEMAKER
“This book is not like any other cleaning, organizing, or self-help book. It’s real
and genuine. The only problem I had was that I wanted to both get up and
declutter and keep reading it at the same time. Truly inspiring and entirely
original.”
—CYNDI L., SALEM, OREGON
WORKING, HOMESCHOOLING, VOLUNTEERING MOM
“How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. How can I declutter my home?
One room at a time. Dana has broken down this seemingly monumental task
room by room and step by step to get the most impact for my efforts and to keep
the ball rolling. Whether I have a few minutes, a few hours, a few days, or more,
Dana’s methods (and humor) motivate and energize me to jump in and tackle
one space at a time instead of drowning at the enormity of it all. Just following
her steps for one room in my home immediately made me feel better being in
that space and made me want more (of that feeling, not more stuff—definitely
not more stuff!). Decluttering at the speed of life means doing what you can,
when you can, and celebrating those victories with Dana cheering you on from
the stands.”
—TAMMY M., PHOENIX, ARIZONA
PROFESSIONAL FULL-TIME WORKING MOM OF TWO
BOYS
Also by Dana K. White
How to Manage Your Home
Without Losing Your Mind

© 2018 Dana K. White
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic,
mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief
quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of
the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by W Publishing, an imprint of Thomas
Nelson.
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[email protected].
Any Internet addresses, phone numbers, or company or product information
printed in this book are offered as a resource and are not intended in any way to
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companies, or products beyond the life of this book.
ISBN 978-0-7180-8060-0 (SC)
ISBN 978-0-71808358-8 (e-book) Epub Edition January 2018 ISBN
9780718083588
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Library of Congress
Control Number: 2017917449
Printed in the United States of America
18 19 20 21 22 LSC 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To all those willing to say, “Me too!” Knowing I wasn’t the only one who
struggled with clutter freed me to do whatever it took to solve this crazy
problem.
Contents
Decluttering Expert?
PART 1: BUILDING A DECLUTTERING MIND-SET
Chapter 1: What Decluttering Is and Isn’t
Chapter 2: My Clutter History
Chapter 3: Accepting That Your House Is a Container
Chapter 4: Valuing Space over Stuff
Chapter 5: Making Progress with the Visibility Rule
Chapter 6: Understanding the Layers of a Clean House
Chapter 7: Getting It Out, or the Case for the Donate Box
Chapter 8: Changing Your Mind-set Changes Your Home
Chapter 9: Decluttering at the Speed of Life
PART 2: DECLUTTERING ROOM BY ROOM
Chapter 10: Steps for Working Through an Overwhelming Mess
Chapter 11: Living Areas
Chapter 12: Kitchen
Chapter 13: Another Chapter About Kitchens
Chapter 14: Bedrooms
Chapter 15: Closets and Clothes
Chapter 16: Craft Rooms and Hobby Spaces
Chapter 17: Storage Areas
PART 3: HELPING OTHERS DECLUTTER
Chapter 18: Other People’s Clutter
Chapter 19: Friends
Chapter 20: Kids
Chapter 21: Older Family Members
Chapter 22: Spouses
Chapter 23: Accepting Help
PART 4: SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES IN DECLUTTERING
Chapter 24: Forced Decluttering: When It All Has to Go
Chapter 25: Decluttering Dreams (Small Ones and Big Ones)
Chapter 26: A Lifestyle of Decluttering
Acknowledgments
About the Author