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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
Loved this book. It made me realise how much of a project person I am and that cleaning is not a project. Surprising how much that simple message helps.
Not as strong as Decluttering at the Speed of Life because it's more generalized, covering both cleaning habits and decluttering, but a strong book if you only have time or money to read one. The audiobook is read by the author and is very entertaining.
If you're looking for a book about how to start consistently cleaning your home, this book is perfect. I've found it extremely helpful and realistic. I've instilled some of the habits in the five weeks it's taken me to read the book (learning to clean isn't exactly sit down super fun reading time). Laundry is now consistently getting done, as is having a clean kitchen, and decluttering. I highly recommend this to anyone who feels they could never have a clean house. The book doesn't promise you'll look like a housekeeping blog after picture. But it does make basic cleanliness seem possible.
I really enjoyed reading this book, and it has given me some great ideas and strategies for managing my home. More than that, it has molded my mindset around housework that will help me stay on top of it.
I liked the narrative style; it made a dry subject more interesting. White also includes words like "finagling," which make me smile. She doesn't shy away from showing her own flaws, addressing an often uncomfortable subject in a way that feels like you're talking to a friend.
I recommend this book to anyone who still could use more cleaning tips after "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up" (which I also enjoyed), especially if your house is in disaster status.
I liked the narrative style; it made a dry subject more interesting. White also includes words like "finagling," which make me smile. She doesn't shy away from showing her own flaws, addressing an often uncomfortable subject in a way that feels like you're talking to a friend.
I recommend this book to anyone who still could use more cleaning tips after "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up" (which I also enjoyed), especially if your house is in disaster status.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
This has a lot of the same stuff as Decluttering at the Speed of Life. Because I'd read Decluttering first it didn't seem as impactful. I would think if you only wanted to read one of the two, this would be the one to read because it deals with daily stuff and has the same decluttering info.
I found Dana White via her podcast, A Slob Comes Clean, and the methods and ideas she discussed were so refreshing and encouraging, I knew I had to tackle this book! I set aside 20-30 minutes each evening to read this on my phone while I nursed my newborn and got through it relatively quickly -- not always an easy task these days for this mom of 3! White got her start via a blog and it reads like compiled blog entries (which I suspect is the case? I haven't read her actual blog yet!) -- a very relaxed, natural tone with short, digestible chapters.
With 3 small kids, I was struggling to stay on top of household routines. I am a minimalist at heart, so I don't generally struggle with an excess of clutter. However, I didn't have firm routines to my day, so dishes tended to pile up beside the sink, laundry piled up in baskets both clean and dirty, and so on. The house wasn't unhygienic, but I often felt like it wasn't far off. It frustrated me that I kept spinning my wheels, taking care of these tasks over and over again, preventing me from accomplishing bigger household projects.
White develops her own dictionary as she goes, introducing terms like Slob Vision, TPAD, and the Visibility Rule. When she explained the obstacle of viewing her house as a project, I wanted to jump out of my chair. I wasn't alone! That was exactly my problem & why I had been stuck in a limbo of frustration. She helped me identify that hurdle, face it, and overcome it with her routines. I am still figuring out some of them, but I am feeling a lot more confident and hopeful because I've already seen some of the results of the few I have applied.
Now when I come downstairs in the morning, my countertop is always clean and it STAYS that way through the day because I can fill up my empty dishwasher throughout the day, running it each night. Somehow that one routine really does open up the rest of the house for improvement. I continue to listen to her podcast; my favorite time to do it is when I'm tackling chores or a small decluttering project.
With 3 small kids, I was struggling to stay on top of household routines. I am a minimalist at heart, so I don't generally struggle with an excess of clutter. However, I didn't have firm routines to my day, so dishes tended to pile up beside the sink, laundry piled up in baskets both clean and dirty, and so on. The house wasn't unhygienic, but I often felt like it wasn't far off. It frustrated me that I kept spinning my wheels, taking care of these tasks over and over again, preventing me from accomplishing bigger household projects.
White develops her own dictionary as she goes, introducing terms like Slob Vision, TPAD, and the Visibility Rule. When she explained the obstacle of viewing her house as a project, I wanted to jump out of my chair. I wasn't alone! That was exactly my problem & why I had been stuck in a limbo of frustration. She helped me identify that hurdle, face it, and overcome it with her routines. I am still figuring out some of them, but I am feeling a lot more confident and hopeful because I've already seen some of the results of the few I have applied.
Now when I come downstairs in the morning, my countertop is always clean and it STAYS that way through the day because I can fill up my empty dishwasher throughout the day, running it each night. Somehow that one routine really does open up the rest of the house for improvement. I continue to listen to her podcast; my favorite time to do it is when I'm tackling chores or a small decluttering project.
Apparently, I'm a slob. lol
I heard about this book after someone mentioned Dana's podcast, A Slob Comes Clean. Listened to a few episodes, then bought the book and binge read it.
It made so much sense and, as hard as I find it to do the dishes every day (multiple times a day when the whole family was home/remote learning), it is definitely the one thing that makes all the difference.
Her method is for people who struggle with cleaning and organization and decluttering, and it seems totally doable.
I recommend this book (and the podcast!) for anyone who is losing their mind trying to keep their homes from turning into disaster zones.
I heard about this book after someone mentioned Dana's podcast, A Slob Comes Clean. Listened to a few episodes, then bought the book and binge read it.
It made so much sense and, as hard as I find it to do the dishes every day (multiple times a day when the whole family was home/remote learning), it is definitely the one thing that makes all the difference.
Her method is for people who struggle with cleaning and organization and decluttering, and it seems totally doable.
I recommend this book (and the podcast!) for anyone who is losing their mind trying to keep their homes from turning into disaster zones.
This book was life changing. It is full of simple, easy to implement changes that make a huge impact on your home. I love her humorous style. It is well worth the time to read it!
This is definitely one of those books that’s openly for a very specific audience, and if your not that audience I can only imagine how boring it would be for you, however I am the audience. I’ve struggled with being clean my whole life and this is some of the only advice that isn’t just like “be a different person” but is actually helpful.