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363 reviews for:
How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind: Dealing with Your House's Dirty Little Secrets
Dana K. White
4.1 AVERAGE
363 reviews for:
How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind: Dealing with Your House's Dirty Little Secrets
Dana K. White
4.1 AVERAGE
First - I am her audience. I love books about organizing and decluttering. I love systems. I love how beautifully they work for the 2-3 weeks I keep it together - then I skip a day and then another and then...As a messy person she hit on some truths for me. I need to know what must be done everyday and I have a low threshold for the amount of stuff I can keep organized - much lower than most people. Hope this works!
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
2 1/2 stars... rounded up because I honestly feel badly giving 2 stars when I think the author really tried.
My main issue with this book is that it could’ve been a quarter of the size … possibly even just one nice, succinct blog post. Admittedly, I don’t have an issue with laundry piling up (I skipped two chapters, I think, that dealt solely with keeping on top of the laundry), and I already have discovered the truth that a tidy home comes more from small, consistent habits than anything else. But even if all of this is new to the reader, I found the book to be extremely repetitive.
OK, and maybe this is just me, but I was really bothered by how archaic and sexist I found the author’s perspective on maintaining a nice home to be. Every time she mentioned her husband helping or noticing how he would have clean socks if he did x y or z , I physically bristled. I mean I literally had a physical reaction to this. There is an entire passage where she talks about how it was her fault that she let all these bad habits creep into their lives, and how could any of her family members know any better since it was her fault that everything got so trashed in the first place. I honestly wanted to pause the book… take the author out for a cup of coffee… and have one of those “hey, my friend...” talks. I understand that everyone has their own way of doing things and if it works for them, shoot, who am I to say anything? Still, I found it jarring and kind of sad.
My main issue with this book is that it could’ve been a quarter of the size … possibly even just one nice, succinct blog post. Admittedly, I don’t have an issue with laundry piling up (I skipped two chapters, I think, that dealt solely with keeping on top of the laundry), and I already have discovered the truth that a tidy home comes more from small, consistent habits than anything else. But even if all of this is new to the reader, I found the book to be extremely repetitive.
OK, and maybe this is just me, but I was really bothered by how archaic and sexist I found the author’s perspective on maintaining a nice home to be. Every time she mentioned her husband helping or noticing how he would have clean socks if he did x y or z , I physically bristled. I mean I literally had a physical reaction to this. There is an entire passage where she talks about how it was her fault that she let all these bad habits creep into their lives, and how could any of her family members know any better since it was her fault that everything got so trashed in the first place. I honestly wanted to pause the book… take the author out for a cup of coffee… and have one of those “hey, my friend...” talks. I understand that everyone has their own way of doing things and if it works for them, shoot, who am I to say anything? Still, I found it jarring and kind of sad.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
As someone who gives zero Fs about cleaning and has a million better things to do than organise and clean my house, I freaking love this book.
It's realistic and recognises that most cleaning and organising books are written by people who love to clean and organise. Therefore those books are not very helpful for creative, sentimental people whose first reaction is to keep something that they don't know what to do with, rather than get rid of it.
So yup, if you feel like you're drowning in stuff and can never get on top of your housework, this is the book for you!
It's realistic and recognises that most cleaning and organising books are written by people who love to clean and organise. Therefore those books are not very helpful for creative, sentimental people whose first reaction is to keep something that they don't know what to do with, rather than get rid of it.
So yup, if you feel like you're drowning in stuff and can never get on top of your housework, this is the book for you!
Book with really practical and judgment-free advice for getting organized
I really love Dana White and her blog! She's down to earth, engaging and I feel like she's talking to me. The reason I give this book 3 stars is because I think if you read her blog and listen to her podcasts, you can get most of what you read in this book and it reads much better in blog format. This is a case of when blogging doesn't quite translate into a book. It's a bit choppy and scattered in its organization and frankly, repetitive. On the blog, the repetitive nature doesn't seem repetitive - it seems like a daily reminder but in a book format, it gets to be a bit much. Still am a huge fan and would recommend her blog and podcasts!!!
medium-paced
A very useful approach to decluttering and maintaining one's home with good advice for people with extra challenges (chronic pain, for example). I would have loved this book more if it stepped outside traditional assumptions about gender roles.
Honestly this is one of the best cleaning and decluttering books I've ever read.