It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff [Paperback]

Peter Walsh (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 6, 2007

When Peter Walsh, organizational guru of TLC's hit show Clean Sweep and a regular contributor to The Oprah Winfrey Show, appeared on national television shows and told people how they could reclaim their lives from the suffocating burden of their clutter, the response was overwhelming. People flooded Peter's website (www.peterwalshdesign.com) with success stories about how his book had changed their lives.

Peter's unique approach helped people everywhere learn to let go of the emotional and psychological clutter that was literally and figuratively choking the life out of their homes.

With his good humor and reassuring advice, Peter shows you how to face the really big question: What is the vision for the life you want to live? He then offers simple techniques and a step-by-step plan to assess the state of your home, prioritize your possessions, and let go of the clutter you have been holding on to that has kept you from living the life you imagine. The result is freed-up space, less stress, and more energy for living a happier, richer life every day.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Veteran "organizational consultant," TV show host and author Walsh (How to Organize (Just About) Everything) has more ideas in his latest book on clutter management than the spare closet has junk, and, even better, it's organized, in-depth and entirely user-friendly. Part One examines the "Clutter Problem": how it happens, how it hampers and how to face it without excuses or discouragement. Part Two presents a step-by-step approach to "Putting Clutter in its Place," which begins with "surface clutter" and developing a household plan before moving on to the bulk of the book, a walkthrough of each room in the home. Also included are ideas for involving other family members, letters Walsh has received from viewers of his TLC show "Clean Sweep," vignettes illustrating how real people deal with common organizational challenges and plenty of charts, checklists and sidebars ("Clutter Quiz," "Yard Sale Planning") for added utility. Walsh is upbeat and funny throughout, treating the task at hand like "a thrilling archeological dig," a "positive and exciting" way to unlock your "ideal home" and "unearth those things that are most important in your life." Entertaining and instructive, this is one guidebook readers should place in their "keep" pile.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"The best organizing advice we've ever heard!" -- Woman's Day

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 230 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; Reprint edition (November 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743292650
• ISBN-13: 978-0743292658
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (229 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #48 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Home Improvement & Design > How-to & Home Improvements > Cleaning, Caretaking & Relocating

More About the Author

Peter Walsh is a clutter expert and organizational consultant who characterizes himself as part-contractor and part-therapist. He can be heard weekly on The Peter Walsh Show on the Oprah and Friends XM radio network, is a regular guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and was also the host of the hit TLC show Clean Sweep. Peter holds a master's degree with a specialty in educational psychology. He divides his time between Los Angeles and Melbourne, Australia.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

157 of 164 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book for Everyone to Read Before Attempting To Declutter March 6, 2007

By O. Brown HALL OF FAMETOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

*****

What I found most valuable with this outstanding book was that it was about the motivation behind excess accumulation and cluttering. Unless you address this motivation, the clutter is bound to come back, even if you hire a professional organizer and everything in your home is perfect. All of the clutter will creep back.

There are so many outstanding points in this book. For example, with sentimental-type clutter, the author says that the most important thing is to separate the memory from the item. Then the item can be dealt with appropriately. You are not discarding the memory, just the item. Thus, if you have an overabundance of momentos, you can divorce the memory from the item, pick a few items that you want to represent the memory and truly honor them by displaying them in your home (rather than storing them in boxes in your garage), and discard (or digitally scan and then discard) the rest.

In my house, my husband has a wealth of pictures of his children when they were small. These pictures are filling boxes in the garage and our barn. We have all of their schoolwork and many personal items because he loves his children and feels as though throwing away one of their things is throwing away a part of them. They are now adults; however, until this underlying motivation for hanging onto things is addressed, all attempts at decluttering will be futile. For me, the whole book was profound. I'm great at organizing techniques, but the idea of looking at the feelings and problems sourcing the whole hoarding behavior was most helpful.

I am getting ready to declutter my house, as we are bursting at the seams and can no longer function well in our home. This is the perfect book to read to understand the emotional work and the letting go that must go on so that the process of decluttering can take place. Then whatever vision and purpose you have for your home can be implemented, and you can enjoy the space you have in your home. The book targets a huge consumeristic flaw in our American culture, and gives solutions.

I cannot imagine who would not benefit from this important book. Highly recommended.

*****

450 of 504 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Helpful January 24, 2007

By Jay K. VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I liked this book because it helps me, a not naturally organized person, have a lifestyle that is simpler, saner, nicer. I have many organizational books, and this one is pretty good. Some books want you to do so much work up front about why you got this way and how to not be this way (by spending a lot of money on organizing bins and products), that I am exhausted before I even begin the process. Clutter attracters need quick answers or they won't do the work required. At least, that's the way I am.

Walsh organizes the book into two main parts: The Clutter Problem, where he talks about the issues and excuses and finally, the possibilities of how to live clutter-free. Part 2 is Putting Clutter in Its Place, where he starts with surface clutter, then moves on through different rooms in your house, one at a time. My favorite part of the book is the New Rituals part, where he tells you, month by month, how to keep up with this clutter-free lifestyle. Because, for me, the hardest part (after starting) is keeping the clutter out and the organization going.

Other books you may want to look at are "Spiritual Housecleaning" (if you are into that) and The Flylady's new book(s) and web site. These have been extremely helpful to me and I no longer feel guilty that I can't have people over because of the state of my house. In fact, company is coming tomorrow and I'm ready!

"It's All Too Much"

130 of 142 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Conquering Clutter Conquered March 9, 2007

By Fred

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

As a lifelong "pack rat", I have a problem with clutter. I have bought many books on conquering clutter. Some of those books talk about buying more stuff to organize the stuff I already have too much of. Other books talk about handling your clutter in different ways, such as color coding everything as a solution to cleaning up clutter. I am sorry, I am not going to go there. Still, other books ask you to figure out why you have clutter in the first place, as in psychoanalyzing yourself. Personally, I have not had much success at reducing my clutter by focusing my attention on my dysfunctional childhood or personal frustrations. It just does not work for me.

This breakthrough book, however, takes a truly novel approach to solving the problem of clutter and owning too much stuff. It does not talk about buying more stuff like organization systems or merely re-handling your clutter in different ways. Instead, the author of "It's All Too Much" asks you to look at the space you have and asks you what you want that space for? Simply, "wanting" less clutter in your life is too vague a goal. It reminds me of wanting to lose weight. Wanting and accomplishing are two different things as some wise person once said. In this short book, the author gets right to the point. The author asks you what do you want to do with the space you have. Once you establish what you want your space to do or be for you, you then have a clear path for reaching that goal. For example, is your home office accomplishing what you want it to do, or is it a storage area for things you either did not put away; cannot figure out somewhere else to put it, or; just cannot part with? Sounds too simple, I know. And it is. The author's advice reminds me of something a wise person once said about a sculptor. The sculptor sees a block of granite as a figure trying to get out instead of a just a block of granite. The sculptor removes all the granite that is not the figure they perceive. Simple, eh? Well, yes and no. This book is truly a breakthrough in helping you make that necessary paradigm shift in thinking to finally get your space to serve your needs. The author is a consultant on the cable television show "Clean Sweep", and shares his unique perspective on finally solving the problem of too much clutter. I highly recommended this book to anyone who has a problem with clutter.