Kindle Notes & Highlights
surrounded by stacks of papers, piles of shoes and clothes, and dozens of boxes of sentimental trinkets, my husband had a conversation with me that changed my life. He asked me to sit next to him, took my hand in his, and told me he could no longer live with all of my clutter. He said he wanted to build a remarkable life with me, but all of my stuff was getting in the way. There were so many of my possessions crammed, packed, and shoved into our 850-square-foot
Washington, DC, apartment that we had to shuffle along a narrow path of waist-high towers of boxes to get from the bedroom to the kitchen. We were so embarrassed that we never had friends over to our place. We didn’t relax when we were home, and when we were out of the apartment we felt anxious about the chaos waiting for us when we returned. When my husband talked to me about my clutter problem he didn’t threaten to leave or
issue any ultimatums; instead he described what we could gain with a clutter-free life. He said he wanted a home with room for friends and family to gather, space to plan new adventures, and the opportunity to create happy memories—not a home jam-packed with possession...
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Hire a company for this task, like ScanMyPhotos (scanmyphotos.com) for pictures or Pixily (pixily.com) for documents.
Home is a place for retreat and relaxation. Home is where you connect with family and friends. Home is where you nurture and care for yourself so that you can face all the things life throws in your direction.
The first place you see when you come home should be welcoming, calm, and free of clutter.
designated section for hanging up jackets and coats.
You’ll need a place to sit to remove muddy and wet shoes, and another area to store this messy footwear.
You’ll want storage for your hats, gloves, and scarves du...
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area to sort through the day’s mail, a trash can, a small shredder (see the box on the following page), a place to put coins, and an inbox. If you have children of school age, you’ll need space for their book bags and extracurricular supplies. If you carry a backpack, purse, or briefcase, you’ll want a designated space for it to live. Your car and house k...
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Install hooks, a bench, lockers, or whatever it is you need to make this space functional. If
For now, put all duplicates, expired products, and things you don’t use into a laundry basket. Weed out all the clutter from your piles so that only the things you need
The ingredients in lotion, shampoo, conditioner, sunscreen, hair styling
products, facial cleansers, and liquid soap can deteriorate over time and cause the product to go bad. They separate, putrefy, and fail to accomplish their reported claims. The plastic containers they’re stored in also start to break down, and the chemicals from the plastic interact with the contents inside. As you’re sorting through the products that you put into the laundry basket, you’ll want to permanently dispose of any product past its expiration date.
1. Purge all expired products from your bathroom. 2. Commit to using up what you have before buying any newer products. One in, one out.
4. Only buy small bottles of products in the future so that you’ll use it all up before it goes bad or you become bored with it.
(House residents + Guest bedrooms) × 2 = Sets of bath towels and washcloths
Monday: Launder all the sheets from the beds. • Tuesday: Launder children’s clothing. • Wednesday: Launder adults’ clothing. • Thursday: Launder towels. • Friday: Launder children’s
clothing. • Saturday: Launder adults’ clothing. • Sunday: Rest.
Set aside thirty minutes—and not a single minute more—per evening to accomplish what you need to keep your house
Monday: Kitchen and dining room • Tuesday: Bathroom(s) • Wednesday: Bedroom(s) • Thursday: Living and family rooms • Friday: Other spaces (garage, Reception Station,
everyone should work together on the house during this time. The more helping hands you have, the less time it will take to get your home into shape.
cleaning up immediately after every meal (dishes cleaned or put into the dishwasher, counters wiped, and all ingredients returned to their cupboards) and regular shopping.
sort through all of the items in your pantry at least twice a year. You can do it when you change your clocks for daylight savings time and when you switch them back again. Toss out any item past its expiration date.
Of all the rooms in your home, your bedroom should be the most relaxing of all. There should be as few distractions as possible. All you need is a bed with a comfortable mattress,
clean sheets, warm blankets, fluffy pillows, and a nightstand to hold your alarm clock. The room should be free of clutter, stress, and essentially anything that does not promote rest and rejuvenation (well, except for that awful alarm clock).
Clear your bedroom of anything that doesn’t promote sleep. Your floors, dresser tops, and nightstands should be free of all clutter. Nothing should be on your bed except for sheets, blankets, and pillows. Artwork and decor elements should be calming. Clothes, jewelry, and shoes need to be
stored in their proper places. And, by all means, don’t have a television or a computer in your bedroom. Televisions and computers stimulate your mind and have nothing to do with sleep. This room is your sanctuary and your retreat from the demands of the world. Be careful that
all you need are four sets of sheets for your bed: two warm-weather sheet sets (cotton) and two cold-weather sheet sets (flannel or jersey).
Two hundred is typical and perfectly fine; 400 may provide a finer, softer sheet. Above 400, the only difference is likely to be price … Bottom line: Pick a sheet between 200 and 400 thread count that meets your other criteria.
To speed up the bed-making process in the morning, stop using a top sheet and instead use a duvet with a cover that is easy to launder.
to get out of bed just fifteen minutes earlier each morning, most people need to go to bed thirty minutes
Things tend to go more smoothly if the adults in the house are completely ready by the time the kids get out of bed. You can sit back and read the paper if no one needs your
If a kitchen is going to be the heart of your home, it needs to: 1. Be a sanitary and safe environment. 2. Have hands-free, easy
access to a centrally located trash can. 3. Be a place where you enjoy spending time. What work will it take to meet these three requirements?
get rid of all of your unitaskers.
Any single-use items you haven’t used in the last year definitely need to go. Only keep things you use, not things you might one day use.
The only items that should be stored on your countertops are those things that you use every day or every time you use the kitchen.
books you use once a week, books you use once a month, and books you rarely or never open. Any book you use once a week should immediately go on your bookshelf—it’s a trusted companion. Any book you rarely or never open should immediately be donated to your local library or sold to a used bookstore.
If you’re someone with decorative knickknacks, now is the time to evaluate whether you really need or want each object. Does looking at it make you happy? Does it reflect the remarkable life you want to lead? Refer back to the questions for things already in your home that were listed in the Foundations chapter. Does the knickknack warrant the answer “yes” to every
The less stuff you own, the less you have to clean, and the more time you have to do things beyond housekeeping.
