Throw Out Fifty Things: Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life

As a hoarder working on reform, this was a good read with some interesting points. I read a clutter busting book every few months to keep me on track. Not the best book for me, but a quick and easy read to keep me inspired.

This book, along with Clutter Busting, is terrific! I don't need to be told how to get rid of things, which is what most books emphasize. I need to figure out why I am the holder of family treasures that I really don't want in my life, why I can't seem to toss something I don't like but still has some use in it. I'm not the owner of a house that has so much stuff in it that I can't walk through it; I just want less stuff to deal with, particularly now I am retired. I'm not into the exercise of throwing out 50 things, and I found the first half of the book which deals with "stuff" more relevant to me than the last, but still as I read the book I found myself marking pages and getting up to toss something!

Kindle quality (as of 11/2009): Font is very readable: excellent. Formatting has occasional lack of capitalization: very good. You might look at this, as I did, and think, "Ok, the gist of everything is right there in the title. Why do I need the book? Can't I throw out 50 things without buying the book?" Well, of course. However, Gail goes into so much more about the psychology of keeping things we don't need, including mental clutter. That might sound like a hokey cliche, but she really hits on some important points and does it in such a way that it sounds and feels original. The author starts you in the bedroom. Using her criteria, I hit my first 50 on the bedroom alone! Man that felt good. I had a growing pile ready for a charity pickup. Moving on from room to room, I must have gotten rid of more than 100, maybe even 150, things. And what Gail said would happen did: It wasn't just decluttering for me. It was a more profound emotional clearing as I let go of things that had somehow made me feel heavy when I looked at them or thought about them. Perhaps a warning is that you may be unearthing and reliving some old memories. It's cathartic, but it does cause some upheaval. For me, it was well worth it. The last few chapters deal exclusively with ridding ourselves of mental clutter. They're not fluff, though. There's nothing filler in this book, no useless exercises or scored quizzes. It's all direct and practical. The author directs you to her web site on several occasions at which you can record how many items you're throwing away. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't more activity on the web site since it was mentioned as a tool to be used in concert with the book. Still, it is available for use to document your progress. And you might want to keep a record of all of the things you're giving away for tax purposes alone. This is a well written book with interesting examples throughout. And there's something more that happens here than just giving away 50 physical objects. If you're like me, you'll find you're not only living in a decluttered home, but you're also lighter emotionally for getting rid of old baggage. Highly recommended.

Unlike most organizing books where I read the first few chapters and never finish them, I read this one in 24 hours. I put the ideas into practice that weekend and am still using them. I love that it gives you practical ideas for your physical clutter and then the second part goes through mental clutter. The website that she mentions fequently in the book is new and still needs work but you don't need the site to follow the book. Great sense of humor. Story of the dog still gets me though.

Americans are great accumulators. We are the authors of "this might come in handy sometime." As a result, we tend to have massive amounts of clutter in our lives and then wonder why it's so hard to get organized. Gail Blanke offers some sound advice for "clearing the clutter," and along the way for how to find what's really important in our lives. Buy this book - it WILL come in handy sometime - like now.

Gail Blanke has inspired me! I read this book recovering from an illness and could not wait to get up and get going! Blanke's step by step approach, one room at a time, makes seeing progress easy. But it doesn't stop with your physical "stuff." Blanke challenges us to get rid of our mental clutter as well -- all the negativity that holds us back from our true potential! I am hooked!