How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind - Dealing with Your House's Dirty Little Secrets

This book really resonates with me. As soon as the author noted the self-loathing and chaos she felt when her home was a wreck I was completely hooked. It's true that many of the ideas in this book should be common knowledge but for a slob or someone who simply never learned to keep house properly the feeling of commiseration is priceless. I don't have much time for reading if I did I'd use that time to tidy my house but I couldn't put this book down. Except when I did put it down around chapter 3 to go do my dishes.

How did I not know these things before? Simple, easy to implement concepts for those of us who can think of 101 things to do instead of the dishes! Pen doesn’t work? Throw it away! Don’t have time to pick up? Just do 5 minutes! Clutter threadholds, clutter guilt and more! Highly recommend!

I started implementing these strategies as I read the book, and so far so good. I always do the dishes every night but that's ALL I did. The rest of the house is so out of control and constantly causes stress. I'm doing a different room each day and seeing progress. Dana is right! The decluttering gets easier every week. Try her ideas. They really work.

This book helps those of us creative project brained type people focus on the ideas that work to trick our brains or work with our limitations to make progress. I have appreciated her honesty, and her explanations of her thought process behind each area of difficulty. I appreciate the real hope and kindness not condescension she gives to help those who have the same mindset. Now I need to go do the dishes.

A friend of mine suggested i read this book, because ... well because she is my friend and she knows i struggle to keep my home clean.
I devoted this book in two days. I laughed, nearly cried, and did dishes. Two days in a row.
I am very grateful that Dana chose to write this book, and i do relate to many of her struggles.
As i find, her struggles give me hope, that I'll someday rope mine in.

Such practical tips for those of us who cannot keep our house clean. It is so true that I don't see our everyday clutter until someone stops in and I am embarrassed to let them into my house! That is slob vision, but this book has changed my vision. I listened to the book on my kindle while washing the dishes and decluttering rooms! It is great!

I love this book! Practical advice presented in an honest and humorous manner. This book is really helpful for people who struggle with maintaining an orderly home. It is so refreshing to read about useful methods that really do make a difference and don't require you to go out and buy a bunch of organizing tools to get the job done; in fact, she strongly objects to that! If you ever listen to her podcast, you will totally read this book in her voice.

This book has changed my life!!! Finally someone who gets me. This isn't just a collection of organizing ideas that you can find on pinterest. This book changes your whole approach. The most helpful part for me was how she says to deal with the guilt of getting rid of stuff. I feel as if Dana was in my head as I read this. She had already written the counter-argument to every argument I had started to say in my head while reading. I've already ordered a second copy for my mom for Christmas.

WOW! I kept reading posts by people in facebook groups recommending this book and finally started reading it. It is so funny and useful for me-- a fellow artistic, time optimist project hoarder who has aspirational piles everywhere. I really appreciate the tone of this book and found it quite different from the piles of organizing and decluttering books on the market.

Here's the total (and somewhat embarrassing) truth...My home LOOKS mostly clean. But start opening drawers and closets or looking under beds and there is a different story to tell. If I can't find a home for something, I shove it in a drawer to "deal with it later." And sadly, "later" rarely comes. Aside from cleaning kitchen counters and sweeping the floor daily, I have no set schedule or routine for cleaning. Whatever gets done whenever it gets done. So toilets might get cleaned once a week.... or I might skip a week. Until I realize "Oh hey! I haven't done this in a few days!" Or something like that. After reading this book, I have begun to implement many of the strategies Dana suggests and it's making a difference! New habits are forming. And when you are a fly by the seat of your pants kinda girl, new habits are a good thing sometimes. I can't wait to keep adding in the new strategies offered here... even my family is beginning to notice that this isn't just a passing phase I am going through and they are getting on board!!

I received an Advanced Reader's Copy for my honest review. All words are mine and my opinions are strictly my own.

Thank God for someone who understands how I think,and has helped me in my deslobing process. This is not a new method of cleaning or organizing. It is a new way of thinking! One of the most helpful books I have ever read.

With adult ADHD and being a single working mother, it has been so hardly and so maddening to not be able to get a grip on my house. This is the first book I could actually relate to and learn from. I highly recommend this book for any person who is struggling with keeping their house in order.

Wow...this book literally could've been written about me. So many of the things she describes gave me light bulb moments. Slob Vision...totally have it. The Visibility Rule works for everything. Even before I knew the term for it I foul that when I decluttered a visible area in my home it gave me more motivation to keep going. I am so glad I found this book and will be referring back to it for years to come. I'm about 3/4 of the way through my apartment wide decluttering project and after reading this I know I will be able to finish it and use her tools to maintain it the way I've always wanted to.

I have really connected with Dana K. White in this book! I too am a slob. That was painful to admit! I am just finishing the first week of doing my dishes. It has gone well and I am anxious to add the next habit. I feel positive and not the least bit overwhelmed, which is amazing since I have so much to do to unslobify. I know I will get there. Thanks Dana!!

Great book to help make managing one's home simpler, with less stress! White's approach takes any shame out of needing help in organizing/prioritizing tasks, and her gentle humor and the simplicity of her ideas makes the tasks more manageable.

Loved that this book is really about a mindset change and realizing that what we imagine is not going to happen without doing something, and that there really are just a small number of things that will make a big difference. She captures many perspectives - she answers the mental objections we all have to advice straight out. I really appreciated her tone and perspective, and her acknowledgement of how terribly messy our homes may be right at this moment. Lots of practical advice.

This book is both hilarious and heartfelt, words I never thought I would use to describe a book on homemaking! The author, a self-described slob, lets you know the habits, and strategies she uses to keep clutter at bay and her home in order. More importantly she give a great insight into the "slob-brain." This lady just GETS me! And if you have struggled with homemaking she just might get you too!

This book completely changed the way I manage my home. Why? It is so easy. There are no long lists of things to do. You don't have to master a new method before you can start. It is an easy and doable approach that helps you create systems that work for you and your family. Dana gives you ideas for where to start in taking back your home, but she leaves room for you to adapt them to your lifestyle. Despite the simplicity of her methods, or perhaps because of them, there is a magical snowball effect that occurs.

If you struggle to make progress on getting your house in order, buy this book! I have followed Dana on Facebook for quite awhile, and I have made small changes, but this book is fantastic. Dana gives you simple steps to make improvements a little at a time. She is honest about her own struggles, and helps you realize that doing something is better than waiting until you can be perfect. I am amazed at how much difference I have made in my house by following her advice.

I absolutely loved this book! I feel hope for my home. I love the part about doing the easy stuff first. This is something I have always done in my own work and life, but many books will tell you to do the hard things first. If I start with the hard stuff, I’m way more likely to give up in frustration. If I can knock out some easy, but visible results, I feel encouraged to continue. Genius!

A fun read and very doable suggestions for staying on top of things. Really has the mindset of a disorganized person and speaks to those of us who are wired that way. If you have ever said in desperation "Where do I begin?", this book is for you!

I’ve read numerous books on Home management throughout the years but none that got me so motivated to declutter. I was immediately hooked and inspired. Once I changed my mindset, I didn’t dread to get started. Eliminate things you aren’t using and you will be amazed how good it feels to have space again. Small steps but feeling much better about the progress so far. I found this book to be refreshing, effective, and funny and also picked up some new words to add to my vocabulary.

Love this book. The tone and pace are just right, the concept great, and so much better than the thousands of o their books on this subject which I could clearly tell were written by those whose minds came wired with the organization gene built in.

Written by a messy who understands my thinking and logic, and therefore can help me understand myself. Finally!, my struggles make sense and now I can overcome them. I love my clean organized home. So much less stress, tears, and embarrassment.

Written by a messy who understands my thinking and logic, and therefore can help me understand myself. Finally!, my struggles make sense and now I can overcome them. I love my clean organized home. So much less stress, tears, and embarrassment.

I really enjoyed this book. I like how she breaks it down and make it so simple. I like how the book talks about container concept, if you have a container you can only fit so much in that container which helps you declutter, if it doesn't fit in the container it needs to go. Ask yourself two declutter questions: if you were looking for this item, where would I look for it? and If I needed this item, Would It Ever Occur to Me that I Already Had one? This helps so much to know where to put it and if you should be keeping it. Start out with one habit and do that until becomes a habit and then add another habit. The Appendix includes 28 Days to Hope for Your Home that is great and helpful

I've read several articles, blogs, and books on cleaning to try and reverse my way of thinking and thus my disgusting life. This is the first one that is written by a slob, for slobs. The situations that she details in the beginning of the book are spot-on, and different than all of the resources written by organized people. I have really benefited from the rationale behind the suggestions she provides in the book.

TL;DR Just do the dishes every day.

This is me! I’ve tried all kinds of organizational tips and tricks ad infinitum, but nothing has ever worked. The author has described me so completely it’s as if she was in my head. And it was so comforting the way she added the “it’s not just me” comments from other readers at the end of her chapters. I have more questions for her, too!

Had the paperback book and kept letting friends borrow so when the Kindle version wasn$1.99 I snatched it up. Great read for anyone who has ever struggled with too much stuff. It's real life ways to declutter in a way that my brain works.

I started reading the blog when it started and have implemented her ideas. The advice in this book is invaluable. I don't have full slob brain but can identify with things getting out of control and the need to declutter. Thanks to the author for stepping out and giving practical advice especially regarding emotional attachment to "stuff". I also enjoyed the humor!

Organizing and cleaning just does NOT make sense to me! I have tried countless strategies to keep my home clean and today and none of the routines have ever stuck. FINALLY there's a self proclaimed "slob" out there who knows how to speak to another slob and dumb it down enough that I can at least pretend to be a domestic goddess lol