Organizing for the Rest of Us: 100 Realistic Strategies to Keep Any House Under Control

I really found this helpful to get me moving to get my home under control. It was very practical and encouraging with small steps to take daily.

I have to be honest. Reading books isn’t my thing. I sit down to read a book and fall asleep. Know what else isn’t my thing? Having an organized house that allows for visitors to pop in any time they want. What can I say? I am a hopeless romantic with a sentimental attachment to even the silliest of objects, and I’m much more inclined to want to play with my kids rather than do chores. I am also creative and love crafting and can find a unique way to use almost anything, so I am never in a hurry to get rid of things. Last summer I discovered Dana’s work in another desperate attempt to dig out from the weight of “stuff” in my home. I watched a video that she did about the container concept (if you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor and Google it right now!) and it blew my mind. I instantly ordered her first book and read it on kindle. I didn’t fall asleep while reading, and as a matter of fact, I couldn’t put it down. Dana’s writing style is so conversational, relatable, and entertaining that by the time you realize it, you’re halfway through the book! I read her second book and made my way through decluttering some of the more difficult spots in my home during my summer break. (I’m an educator, so I have a lot more time in the summer months.) Life with two young daughters happened, back to school came, and while my house is definitely better, I found myself with a long way to go. When I heard about Dana’s new book, I pre-ordered it immediately, and was honored to be able to be part of the launch team and given an advanced copy to be able to provide this review for other readers like me. Desperate, seemingly claustrophobic people who are trying to dig out from a lifetime of collecting things. Dana’s new book, Organizing for the Rest of Us, does not disappoint! As a matter of fact, it serves as an excellent, to-the-point summary of the methods and strategies presented in her first two books and is even easier to read in the way it is organized. I need reminders and continued inspiration, and this book does exactly that. Dana has a way of peeking right into my brain and says phrases like “you need to empty your dishwasher every day. I know, I don’t like it either, but here’s why.” Dana then goes on to explain away all of the weird rationales I’ve built up in my mind. Did you ever hear of dishes math? Me either. Two things that are not my favorite combined into one. Now it just makes sense. And anyone who uses the words “scale of grodiness” in a book and have it make perfect sense is a genius! My favorite part about Dana’s work is that it’s for real people. People who work and chauffeur kids anywhere and everywhere. Creative people who are busy, fun-loving and sentimental. You don’t need to quit your job or have an entire summer to devote to decluttering. You can start right now during the five minutes you’re waiting for the bus to deliver your children from school, armed with two objects you already have in your house, Dana’s three simple questions, and the strategies provided in Dana’s book. You can do this!

I was not born organized which , in my case, means that I was born a slob. It took me forever just to even become aware of the mess I naturally made wherever I went. I was always too absorbed in my own thinking to see the mess I was making; it was always that very unwelcome surprise and NEVER my intention.Years of reading organizing books and then trying, and unhappily failing, with their various suggestions and schemes followed. That is until I came across Dana K. White.Dana, using her own personal experience of household mess devoted years to blogging (anonymously at first) and through painful trial and error and determined persistence, honing down true, simple strategies that absolutely work in anyone’s real, unpredictable, and messy life,I, at last had found my house keeping guru!This book, Dana’s third one, lays out her every strategy in straightforward, realistic, and, frequently, hilarious fashion. Even many of the pictures that illustrate some of her strategies are laugh out loud funny!I have to admit that it’s possible that her methods may be more easily understood by me already because not only have I already implemented and proven their validity in my own life but because I am so familiar with all of her background reasoning for developing them in the first place. This is because I have read and listened to her other two books/audiobooks, virtually all her hundreds of podcasts and YouTube videos, and bought and utilized her Take Back Your Home video course that she runs with the Minimalist Mom and Cas from Clutterbug.The beauty of this particular book is that I can share it with anyone without there being anything accusatory of sloppiness in the title or book. I loved her “A Slob Comes Clean” book but couldn’t exactly share it with anyone without offending them!This book also has more easy, organizational tips in the last part of the book that weren’t in her other ones. It includes all the strategies from “Organizing at the Speed of Life” which most importantly tells you how to organize without ever making a bigger mess while ONLY making progress! (The biggest failing in my mind of almost all other decluttering methods where you pull everything out, is that life naturally intervenes, and there’s an even bigger, now totally visible, mess than there was before you started, when you inevitably can’t finish that day!)No, this isn’t a book that’s going to tell you to figure out what “sparks joy” or preaches the virtues of “color coding your things like a rainbow”. It just actually and refreshingly works!

I've read about 10 books on this general topic, and most of them had valuable suggestions that I didn't read elsewhere. That is true of this book, even though I previously read the author's other book, Decluttering at the Speed of Life. I read this book in one sitting. Such books always include things that don't meet my particular needs; this one spent a lot of time on how to avoid accumulating stacks of dirty dishes, which is not one of my problems. But there were a lot of sections I heartily agree with, including the notion of buying an e-reader, and specific new ideas. I wrote down a list of ideas I want to use, immediately after I finished reading. As I have done before, though, I want to highly recommend Unstuff Your Life, by Andrew J. Mellen. It is, IMO, the best book I've read on the topic, being very comprehensive and well-priced, too. Mellen's book changed my life 14 years ago, and I still keep my eyes open for tips that are new to me. I'm still decluttering, which is a good thing.

I’ve read all three of this authors books and I’ll read them all again.I found this one the most helpful because, as a messy person just beginning to try to let the tidy person inside of me get out, I found the specific tips and hints in this book very often addressed a specific problem I was having.And I was extremely encouraged by a few of the tips and hints that I had already been doing on my own! It made me realize that I “had it in me” to be successful, and that I wasn’t just an intrinsically hopeless case.That hope gave me the courage and motivation to start this journey “for real this time!”Thank you, Dana K White!

Loved this. Found her other books good but very discursive. This one has bite sized chapters. Ideal for ADD types who find themselves do estically tone deaf. Makes youfeel that even tiny incremental effort is worth it, rather than have you sit in slough of domestic despond waiting for the great makeover muse to arrive!

This book is amazing! My house was never clean. Even when I had a housekeeper, she had to first help me pick up before she could start cleaning. I have been listening to Dana's podcast now for several months and along with this book it's transforming my approach to cleaning. It's not only a step by step process, it's a mindset shift. I used to look at cleaning like a 'project' for the weekends or right before company was coming. Now I'm starting to enjoy the benefits and calming effect of having a tidy home (nearly) everyday! So much of the information seems logical, and many are things I grew up hearing but never could understand why it was necessary or couldn't get motivated to do it. But Dana explains it in a way that clicks with my brain and it's working! Plus it's a beautiful book. It sits next to my desk and just begs to be picked up and flipped through. This book is changing my life!

Having followed & subscribed to Dana K White’s YouTube channel for many years, I finally bought her books - on my kindle, so they don’t take up physical space - just as a reminder. So very helpful & mostly obvious but great advice always :)

Made total sense to me and my creative and ADHD brain. Love it. Thank you for giving me hope that I can did this too!