Tactical Tools for Intentional Living - A Simplified Life

I bought this book because I thought the author was a Christian, and the store categorized it as Christian. I was hoping for some references to scripture along with some suggestions to get my house into better order. I have only read the first chapter, and I do like her writing style, but would NEVER have bought the book if I actually knew what to expect. My major issue is with the dedication. It is wonderful that she honors her mom, but she uses the phrase "you are my idol". I don't think a book marketed as Christian should be breaking one of the ten commandments literally in the first sentence. I understand and completely accept that most media isn't going to be written with the ten commandments in mind, but to market a book as Christian, then so blatantly be in contrast to our values is deceitful and wrong. If this isn't important to you, then please feel free to disregard this review. I simply feel that Christians should be warned.

I started the KonMari method last year and riddled my wardrobe of 14 trashbags full of God knows what I'd been hoarding since high school. I'm 31 now. Ha! That's as far as I got though. As a huge fan of the simplified planner, I decided to snag a copy of A Simplified Life and I'm so glad I did. In less than 10 hrs we've done both master closets, the master bedroom, bathroom, office, hall closet (that was a beast!), the "kids" stuff (we have 5 dogs and they have a lot of stuff!) and our front entry drop off. We donated our first load today that included 5 trash bags, 2 lamps, several games, a ukelele, and a handful of other odds. We also have 2 trash bags set aside to resale. Phew! Feels good. Thank you. I already feel 20 pounds lighter and we haven't even tackled the second half of our house.

HI FRIENDS!! ?I have never written a review for anything I’ve purchased on the store, and that’s a LOT of stuff!! I have followed Emily, and used her Simplified Planner for years, and I waited SO anxiously for this book! Only Emily Ley has the ability to make each person feel like her friend. As you read through this book, you feel as though Emily is speaking directly to YOU, and genuinely cheering you on! What a precious, Christ-centered, ambitious, and true woman she is!! This book hit my doorstep Tuesday, was read cover to cover by Wednesday, and my kitchen is now clutter free and ready for Christmas! I will carry this with me through 2018, as I seek to find JOY in all the blessings I’ve been given. Thanks, Emily!!

This book couldn't have released at a more perfect time. If you want to live on purpose, with a purpose, this book is the perfect read to help you become motivated and focused on what matters most to you! After being laid off from two different jobs twice in a year, I was completely lost and didn't know how to cope with it, so I read Emily's first book, Grace Not Perfection, and for the first time in months I felt like I could take on life head on. I used her advice and it worked liked a charm. I still practice them today. When I heard Emily was releasing another book, I was SO EXCITED! After her first book, my best friend and I started a personal development group reading self-help books and talking about our life goals, etc., and obviously this book was the next on the list! This book gives you the perfect tools to live intentionally and on purpose, which is difficult to do. Thank you, Emily for writing these books. You have NO idea how much they've changed my life and been the reminder I need to do everything in life with purpose!

Get rid of the physical and mental clutter. Simplify your routines while making chores easier. This book walks you through all the important parts of managing life and it does it with SO much heart! If you haven’t read her first book, Grace Not Perfection, I highly recommend you read that too. I cried while reading it because it resonated so much. I bought extra copies of this book for Christmas gifts. I just can’t recommend this book enough. There is not a better person to support because she runs her business with such grace and heart! ??

I actually left work earlier than planned because I received a delivery notification for Emily Ley’s Simplified Life book! To think that all of her incredibly practical tips on everything from writing lunch box notes to laundry routines to cleaning maintenance that isn’t daunting.... makes my heart leap with joy! This girl has her head on straight and has put herself out there to help us—- what a gift!!! When the days seem unmanageable and time is never enough, this (and scripture!!) will be my guide! Thank you Emily Ley!

The perfect gift for yourself or someone who needs to cut the clutter in their life and refocus. This book is beautifully made and hits on every area from simplifying your closets to your faith. It is durable and I love how there are writing prompts throughout the book to help you get started on that area.

Reading this book is like sitting down with a great friend. Emily writes from the heart and makes you feel so happy. Her words are inspiring. I personally met her two months back and she was the sweetest celebrity i have ever met. She truly cares about all of her fans and truly has her heart in all the right places. This book is great for everyone in any season of life. Buy extra copies because it is the greatest gift you can give to anyone.

Just what this mama needed in this season of life! I am a pretty organized person - I like order and structure and am forever making lists, but with a 6 year old and a newborn, my world turned a little upside down with the new Baby. With returning to work, I needed to make adjustments to make life as simple and smooth as possible. This book couldn’t have come at a better time!! So many helpful ideas and tips and tricks and advice to just make life....simplified! I recommend this to all moms (and really anyone) out there who is looking to declutter and simplify! Seriously....buy it now! :)

I loved this book! Emily dishes out easy advice on how to be a more present, more gracious and grateful mama. Her writing style feels more like a conversation with a friend and the pictures are so beautiful. This book is full of simple reminders and practical ideas for living your life with more purpose, finding fulfillment in the little things and uncovering the joy that gets lost in our busy lives.

I received my book the day before it was officially launched and OH MY GOODNESS!! Simplifying has been a way of life for me for the past few years so I really connected to the words in this book. So many amazing, practical tips. I sat down and read the entire book in just a couple of hours. I can’t wait to go back through chapter by chapter and use all the amazing check lists!

This book is perfect for anyone in any situation! I recommend it to anyone looking to simplify your life, your home, or your everything!
As my family is preparing to move back from an international assignment in China, I have been stressing over the arrival of the contents of our ENTIRE home from the storage unit. What am I going to do with #allthethings that we haven't used or felt we needed for the past 2 years? Then I read "A Simplified Life" and I'm now looking forward to getting our things back. Sorting through them and simplifying our lives will be a wonderful way to settle back into life in the states. Thank you Emily Ley for boldly stating the truths about simplifying and equipping us all to get started on our journeys to happiness and simplicity.

Emily Ley speaks straight from the heart and straight to my heart in this season of life. Knee deep in being a mom and wife, I find myself a little lost and this book is helping to simplify all the “stuff” and routines and daily tasks. The section on how to meal plan has changed my grocery list, my kitchen is more user friendly (my husband can actually find the thing I ask him to find! Hallelujah!), and I have more time to spend enjoying my little ones because I’m not worrying about all the dang clutter and mess. Thank you, Emily! SO MUCH!

I read ASL inside and out yesterday and cleaned my house from top to bottom today!! LOVED it so much!! Congratulations to Emily on another amazIng book! So many PRACTICAL pieces of advice with non-overwhelming delivery. Women of all ages will love this book. I just bought 4 more as gifts!

With simple, straightforward language and helpful tips drawn from real life experience, Emily Ley is the best friend you never knew you had. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all that life throws at you- get back to basics and simplify your very existence. Loved this book.

Everything Emily Ley does is life changing for me. Her planners, her first book, and now this book. I can’t recall how I stumbled across her products years ago, but I’m so grateful that I did. This book is full of useful tips and tricks for living your best simplified life. I read the entire book today (launch day) and can’t wait to go back and read again while implementing the tips she recommends.

Updating this review now that I am almost done with the book! This book motivated me so much! I never knew I had so much stuff until I started organizing! Loved the types of simplifying your wardrobe and your beauty routine! I feel so much better getting up and having a hair and makeup routine everyday! Awesome book! So excited to apply the things Emily presents in this book! ❤️ Hopeful that she will write another book soon!

Amazing just like her first book! Emily really hits the nail on the head with touching on how a lot of us feel and then gives practical ways to simplify our lives. Love how her methods are easy to apply and how THEY ACTUALLY WORK!! This book is an easy read and enjoyable! Definite must have (as well as the first book) for all women out there struggling with the craziness of this life!

A beautiful, totally doable, and practical approach at living your best life. I’ve not even completely finished the book, but my life and my space already feels much more peaceful. More purposeful, less clutter, and more head space. Reading through this book is like talking to a sweet friend over coffee. I can’t read it fast enough. A breath of fresh air in a beautiful book!

This book is filled with practical steps for simplifying, decluttering, and organizing your everyday life. I could not need this in my life more. The pages are filled with beautiful images, helpful hints, and even blank spaces for jotting down action steps!! I mean, what more could you want in one book?!?! If you don’t have a copy yet, what are you waiting for?!

I got this book today and already finished it!! I feel like it was exactly what I needed to hear and motivated me to make some changes. Some self help type books make you feel like a failure while reading it... NOT THIS BOOK. It was amazing and life changing! I can’t wait to implement it in my life. I’m so glad I read it!

This book is surface-level. I already know that I should meal plan, that I should have a financial advisor, that I should only keep clothes I love, etc, etc. It includes entirely far too many staged photos of Emily and her family; when instead those spaces could’ve been filled with actual helpful information. I really don’t get the hype.

I’m excitedly reading through A Simplified Life and am already loving the simplicity and practicality of everything from motherhood to hospitality! I’m expecting our first baby this spring and without a doubt I’ll be curling up with this fabulous read, and my handy highlighter to examine everyday routines. Thank you Emily for bringing simplicity to our everyday!

After reading Emily's first book, Grace Not Perfection, I was so eager to read A Simplified Life. In both books, Emily shares practical tools for finding balance as well as relatable stories from the heart. She is gentle and humble as she shares what works for her family life, reminding us mamas to make special time for the sacred: empty, quiet space to reflect or enjoy the company of our loved ones. The message is repeated often throughout the pages and I need the reiteration! As a mom of two toddlers and a baby on the way, I know all too well how easy it is to fall into a bout of anxiety and complexity, caring for everyone else, cleaning, wrangling bills and groceries, winging it with meals, and sadly losing my sense of ME. To be blessed with the fruitful and simplified words from a fellow mama who is "in the thick of it" (hi, Lara Casey!), I'm forever grateful for your courage to do the hard things and share your God-given gifts, Emily. Us mamas thrive on simplicity and love.

After reading Grace Not Perfection this is exactly what I had hoped Emily would write about....a book full of practical real life solutions to making my home not only simplified but also the tools to simplify every area of my life! As a stay at home mom of two with the third on the way I’m going through this book and implementing everything Emily shares before the baby comes. Only wishing I had this book before I got married... I literally want to hand this out to everyone one I know!

Not only is A Simplified Life, a gorgeous book to behold but it’s incredibly practical and straight forward. Not everyone will organize the same way, if you’ve ever been in a serious relationship or lived with someone, you know what I mean. So Emily offers practical ‘tactical’ ways to unclutter and simplify. You don’t have to do all the things or even par down as much as she recommends, but her one rule is that you don’t buy anything.

Not one tub, basket or anything. Instead, keep a list and more often than not you’ll find something along the way to use. I know this is true for me, I kept finding little tubs and boxes to put things in!

I read A Simplified Life, after our big move back to Colorado. It seems no matter how much I donated, sold, or gave away before the move I still ended up with 4 boxes of donation items while unpacking. Not including the HUGE stack of old Interior Design textbooks and Divinity Commentaries we have stacked in the living room.

The key to making A Simplified Life work, is small progress.

If you’re wanting to simplify without going to a minimalist extreme, then A Simplified Life from Emily Ley is just the thing. She helps you shift through the fluff and find more margin for everyday, she encourages routine and schedules so you don’t feel rushed, flustered, or disorganized.

With plenty of room to write in the book, with questions for you to examine your needs, your families needs for your home.

I received this book for free in return for an honest review.

I got my preordered book today and I just finished chapter one. I have been wanting to simplify my life and this book is the real deal. After chapter one I have come up with a strong plan on how to simplify my house. I cannot wait to start right after Thanksgiving. If you are wanting to simplify your life... this is the book for you!

I am already so excited about this book! After reading the first chapter today we uncluttered our hall closet, took 6 bags of stuff to goodwill, and now the whole family is motivated to start simplifying our life! Thank you so much for putting this practical approach to life in writing!!

Another amazing book by Emily (and Nana!). This book is a beautifully quick read but also a book to return back to and work through. The realistic tips and tools are perfect for young families. The design is gorgeous. And the heart of the author seeks into every page.

Love this book! Emily writes about practical life hacks that allow you to simplify your surroundings and focus on what’s most important in your life. After following her for years I was excited to have all of her tips in a go to guide that I can reference for years and pass on to my daughter one day!

Great job Emily!

I absolutely devoured this book, just like I did with Grace Not Perfection. Reading this book is like catching up with your best friend over coffee. It's relatable, helpful, and heart felt. Emily gives you practical and attainable ways to simplify your life leaving you inspired, not overwhelmed. This book is such a blessing in a time where we all need to simplify and slow down. I can't wait to share this with everyone in my life.

I got the audible for this book and after listening to it I had to purchase the hard copy so I can make notes. Emily Ley had helped changed my life and sanity every since her first book and this one didn’t disappoint. From organizing my life with her simplified planner, to tips and tricks on how to simplified my whole life, home, spiritual life, and just make time for what really matters instead of running around with my hair on fire. I thought it was important, I thought I needed to always to be busy to prove myself until I read grace not perfection. Now, this book helps shows you the “how to” do that exactly.

Received my book and started “flipping through”. Looked up, and 30 minutes had passed. Simplifying our life seems like such a big task, but love the way Emily breaks it down into easy to manage sections!

I was practically waiting on the delivery person to get this thoughtful, love-filled gem of a book written by everyone’s ideal gal pal Emily Ley. It is one of many things I’m THANKFUL for this week!