This book has helped me immeasurably!!! I have struggled all my life with letting things go. It’s very difficult when you’ve had trauma in your life and had no choice to get rid of things that held treasured memories. I found this book when I desperately needed it. The irony of having to go through your things to make room for a family member who is struggling to remember her memories and has to let go of possessions also is crazy! This has helped me to really focus on the space available and pick and choose what I feel is most important. Thank you Dana for writing this book!

A very helpful book on decluttering. I liked the easy to implement tips and tricks. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Decluttering at the Speed of Life is an awesome book with great tips on how to declutter your home or any space without emotional upheaval and helps you succeed when you couldn't before.

Finally, a decluttering book that makes sense. White combines various ideas about decluttering with an honest look at what did and didn't work for her.

This book of practical how-tos, offered after looking at what makes our spaces so crazy and "full-to-the-max," will help you find ways to clear out the excess.

I highly recommend it - esp if you've gotten snarled in Japanese emptiness, business organization, or other methods that don't make sense in a Western household. Go buy it. And then rehome it when your house is in order.

Lots of great ideas for people like me who want to de clutter and get rid of stuff. I have already had a garage sale and packed up lots of stuff for Goodwill. This book is a quick read and has a lot of practical tips. I will probably refer back to it a lot as I continue to declutter.

I really want to see the house of the author prior to her decluttering phase. The way she describes it makes me picture a scene from the show Hoarders, with boxes piled everywhere and...stuff...just everywhere. The steps on how to declutter make perfect sense. I have a house that feels like I need to declutter, but after reading this book I have come to realize that I am in a really good spot. We only have one junk room that needs to be gone through. Everything else actually works. I liked a lot of the concepts, especially the container theory. But the part that really got me was how she said to go through the area you are decluttering and pick up the trash first. How she describes it makes me wonder how gross the houses are of the people who truly need to declutter. If you miss the trashcan throwing something away, are you telling me there are people who just leave it on the floor!??! I could never live like that!

This book is great for people who truly need to declutter their house. The steps are practical and doable. And best of all, are the steps to KEEP your house decluttered. It's not a one-time project as it is an ongoing battle.

The length of time it took to read this book is no reflection on the content. It is simply a sign of a busy life with unexpected interruptions.

The book is so much more than just organizing. It is about deciding what is necessary to your life and getting rid of the distraction. This came at a perfect time when I am feeling overwhelmed with stacks of papers, old magazines, etc. Now it is time to put this advice to work.

This book was just what I needed. I am a person who does not like clutter and feel overwhelmed when my home feels disorganized and messy, but I also have a hard time getting rid of things, I don't like being wasteful, and I develop sentimental connects to my belongings. This book was just what I needed. At first I thought that repeating the steps over the course of the book would begin to feel too repetitive, I eventually realized they were necessary and helpful. As I was reading, various examples given in the book would bring forth a thought or connection for me, and I would feel compelled to temporarily put the book down and go declutter a particular space and throw out certain items. Although some people might wonder why people would need to read or write a book like this, that it is common sense, I felt that it was just the push I needed to get started on decluttering my house and stop feeling back about getting rid of things. I am just getting started on the decluttering process, and this book has been very helpful so far. Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this.

I read an ARC of this book through Net Galley, and while I did like it a lot, there are two reasons I didn't give it higher marks.

1. The price seems very high. I checked it out on Amazon and the print version is listed at $16.99, though it is currently at $13.76 (probably because other sellers are currently offering it cheaper, so Amazon is lowering the price until they sell or change their price). The Kindle version is $9.99 though, and that strikes me as an outrageous price for a black and white e-book with no graphics, photos or exceptional content.

2. Most of the book is the same content repeated again and again. It IS good advice, but it's advice that could easily be shared in a short blog post or two. The vast majority of this book seems like padding to make a book out of it. For instance, she takes her 5 steps and tells you how to do them in each room of the house. There are just different examples and different chatty stories.

The author's basic advice is to do 5 steps in decluttering:

Step 1: Trash (throw away obvious trash or recycling)
Step 2: Easy Stuff (things that obviously go somewhere else -- go put them there)
Step 3: Duh Clutter (things that are not a problem to donate because you either didn't realize you still had them or always hated them or have no problem getting rid of them)
Step 4: Ask the Decluttering Questions (1. If I needed this, where would I look for it? Take it there and put it there. 2. If I needed this, would it occur to me that I already have one? If not, donate it.)
Step 5: Make it Fit (Realize that your house is a container and your dressers, storage, closet, bookshelf, etc. are all containers too. You can only keep what fits in the container and anything extra needs to go. So put your favorite books on the bookshelf first and any extras go, for instance.)

She walks you through each of those steps in every room and also regarding other people (like helping elderly people clean out their houses).

I did really like her ideas and the container concept was REALLY helpful for me. All of her stories of her own cluttered home over the years and what helped were very helpful too. I also enjoyed the author's tone. There were also a few more instances of helpful advice, like she says to always start decluttering in the most visible public areas because it inspires you to keep going, you see it all the time and see how much nicer things look, and makes it easier for you to move on to having people over while you're working on more private areas.

In all, I do recommend the book if you can get it from the library or get it on sale. I think it would benefit from being severely chopped down to a smaller, more affordable book that takes less time to read, though, especially as it really comes down to a very small amount of very good advice.

It took me a long time to get through this book, but it wasn’t due to the quality or lack of interest in the subject. The truth is I needed this book, but I wasn’t quite ready for it. I requested and received an ARC from NetGalley for this, and when I knew I couldn’t finish in a normal amount of time, I decided to just read in a way that was useful to me.

I enjoyed reading the author’s stories on her own struggles with clutter. It was cathartic. The approach was a non-emotional method of coming to terms with the space you live in and living within that space. It addressed the mentality of a person overrun with clutter. And I highlighted the crap out of it as a result.

<I>An amazing bargain that ultimately makes my life more difficult isn’t an amazing bargain at all.

Having a floor I can walk across without tripping in the dark thrills my soul.</I>

This book was all about decluttering. It was not a book about organization. It went room by room following the same basic approach and considered each room’s unique challenges. She emphasized getting the excess out of the house and not dwelling on having a garage sale or trying eBay but donating or throwing it away, depending.
<I>
Throwing away food should hurt. Let the intense feeling of regret change how you shop in the future.

When I began decluttering like my sanity depended on it, I simply did not have time to use my complicated systems. I just donated.</I>

I enjoyed this book. The anecdotes made it relatable and entertaining. The non-nonsense frank approach made it tangible and realistic. Now I just need to really start utilizing the advice in it.

Are you ready for big changes in your home and in your life? This is a book that is easy to sit and read… the tone feels much like the author is in my living room and we are chatting. I really like the way author Dana K. White organizes this book- by room (Kitchen, Bathroom, Living room, bedroom, kids bedrooms etc…). This makes decluttering my house much more manageable and makes me want to get up and start working on the house right now!!!!
The first concept that White mentions is the container concept. I have to admit, the more I think about the container concept the more sense it makes. I also like the efficient way she streamlines the decluttering process with a donate box and trash bag. My entire adult life I have been using a keep and give away pile plus a trash bag. It took reading this book to see that in doing so, I am really just recycling clutter from one room to another. The questions that White teaches to ask with regard to clutter are very helpful and help separate emotion from practicality. I am most fond of the “Where would I look for this item” question as it makes me think hard on where I would put things.
PROS: The book is organized, makes perfect sense, simplistic but manageable routine to stay on task, great ideas for 5-15 minute sessions, Container concept, author shows the reader how to take the same steps and ask yourself the same questions in each room. Shows how to build a routine to maintain the home and purge on a regular basis. Author does not have a judgmental or preachy tone at all, her tone tends toward the confessional and empathetic.
CONS: Repetitions of same concepts and questions throughout the book, although useful for reinforcing the main points, is bothersome after the first few chapters.

Decluttering At The Speed Of Light Is a book not of re organizing your life but purging things from it. This book teaches you exactly how to do that - and it isn't scary and it isn't all that tough once you accept that you have to get rid of it Instead of keeping it and reorganizing it. You have been set free. This book shows you exactly how.

It took me a bit to finish this book. When I first started, I was intrigued and followed along with doing what it was saying, it did help while I implemented what it was saying. Fast forward a few months later and I have now finished it. Not because it didn’t keep me engaged or interested but because life happens. But as soon as I picked it back up again and started implementing it again, I felt energized. A decluttered space is energizing, and freeing, I’m glad I was able to read this book.
I received an ecopy through NetGalley
#NetGalley #declutteringatthespeedoflife

A refreshingly honest and surprisingly useful guide to decluttering! When it comes to getting rid of stuff, you name it, I've tried it - from Marie Kondo to UFYH to FlyLady, most regimes have had me nodding along with the advice, but not really ever doing anything about the overwhelming mess in my house. What I liked most about this book is that I've already got rid of bags of stuff after one read!

Dana's advice is really simple, and delivered with a wry wit and direct style that feels like a good friend telling you that you can do it this time. The concept of 'Decluttering at the Speed of Life' is that not everyone can commit to a regular clear out, or a grand one-off tidy, but that life gets in the way and you just have to get on with it. There are practical tips on the old donate/trash dilemma, and some incredible advice that makes you wonder why you never thought to put it like that. Once the main method is outlined, Dana digs deeper and gives a plan for decluttering different rooms - no matter how big your house is or how you use it, she insists you define each space so you no longer have 'junk/storage/everything' rooms. This is sheer genius. It's a mindset that makes you WANT to make your space nicer so you can use it for its intended purpose. Even though Dana is a mother, and presumably American, her writing and her advice is perfect for an English graduate couple just starting out.

This is only the first time of many that I'm going to read this book, and I'm going to recommend it to all my messy friends.

This book is perfect for anyone who feels like their house in falling apart around them. I am one of those people. Dana K. White’s humor and tried and true decluttering tips make for a fun, quick, and motivating read. I also highly recommend her other book.

It is a quick read and I got a couple of ideas I want to try; like I really want a little organized office space now right where I can come into the home, hopefully from a garage, with the mail. Our current garage is too small to park in.... who does that?!? I also don't know where I can find the space for a small efficient office that looks good somewhere in the middle of my home, because my home is not big enough for a dedicated office. I see that I need to designate some more functional places for certain things. I am a bit scattered. It is a pretty short book, which is good and bad. I need more help in learning how to organize certain spaces in smaller areas... maybe some pic. ideas would be nice to include. Like a small office space that doesn't look like one;) It's like I like the ideas, but still don't know how to pull some off... I also liked the turn of facebook alerts:)
If I was a young mother still, I might have found this book even more helpful.

A no-nonsense book filled with practical advice on how to address your clutter room by room. White's writing style has a friendly conversational tone and she often relates her own personal stories to her methods. This guide is reads like she is there with you talking you through the steps. Highly recommended.

This is a book that I don't really want to admit that I need to read, nor one that I want to admit that I enjoyed and found helpful. But I did need it and it is helping.

My house is never really dirty but it is cluttered. I used to be really bad at cleaning and decluttering and then I got better. And then life changed a lot in a short amount of time and for various reasons (excuses) I have not been able to keep on top of the clutter. So this book is a good one to get me back to getting rid of clutter and keeping things tidy.

The chapters in the book are broken down mostly by room/area, and the same questions are asked in every chapter about where items go and if you should keep items. It is repetitive but that really helps you learn it and do it. The authors personality comes through in the book, so it is not just another dry, clinical approach to decluttering. It comes across as real life.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

This book was highly readable and it might just change my life. If I put into practice the simple (but not obvious) principles and practical steps that White provides, my home will be a much less cluttered and ultimately a much better place. I've already requested the author's first book (about housekeeping) from my library. I recommend this to anyone who's overwhelmed by the amount of stuff they've accumulated and who is ready to do something about it.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

Dana K. White’s Decluttering at the Speed of Life is a funny, realistic, and useful book about how to tackle clutter. She offers real tips for getting started and keeping momentum. She recognizes that the reader might have just a few minutes at a time to work on decluttering. She realizes that decluttering can be hard.

White’s decluttering strategies seek to take the emotion, and therefore the difficulty, out of decluttering so the reader can see real results. She shares her own experiences with decluttering, painful and funny and real. She understands, because she has lived it. She knows that piece of exercise equipment is an easy place to throw clothes we don’t have time to hang up; and it’s funny and honest, and then she explains how to fix it.

Decluttering at the Speed of Life will inspire you to get started, to take that first step, to overcome that fear. Whether your clutter is a small annoyance or a big overwhelming disaster, Knight’s strategies will give you a starting point. This book will give you hope! You may even laugh out loud while you read this book. You can purchase a copy now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other book sellers.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher Thomas Nelson for the privilege of reading this book in exchange for my honest review.