The Last Two Books

You may recall our plan to each read one of the six decluttering books and then swap them. After doing that, we would each choose the next books to read and swap them.

I have briefly reviewed the first 4 books and now I can review the last two.

On a side note, how crazy is that? We had a goal to read a bunch of top decluttering books and then declutter our house. Well, we actually got and read all six books we had identified, in about 6 weeks!

One New Year’s Resolution accomplished! I did not have a time frame on it, but I did not think we would do it so fast. I have been surprised at how engaging and motivating it has been.

Even though we had planned to read all six books first and THEN begin decluttering, reading the first two books got us so excited we had to start. We couldn’t wait to finish the other books to begin. But even while we decluttered we kept reading. Now we are probably half way through decluttering the house and done with all 6 books. That’s fun!

Anyway….

I have already discussed:

Decluttering at the Speed of Life by Dana K. White

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

It’s All Too Much by Peter Walsh

Declutter Like A Mother by Allie Casazza

The final two books we saved until last because they are not directly decluttering books.

I chose Messy Minimalism by Rachelle Crawford and my wife chose The Clutter Connection by Cassandra Aarssen.

These were interesting reads and a little refreshing since reading four straight decluttering books was getting a little repetitive. Still good. Still informative. Just a little repetitive.

The Clutter Connection is a fun book about organization styles. It is good to save this book until last because you really do not want to reorganize your stuff until you have reduced it by decluttering. Once you have decluttered, you will usually find you have a lot less to organize and put away.

Cassandra Aarssen used her experience and personal insight to create four different categories, or “clutterbug”, types of people. They are Bee, Cricket, Ladybug and Butterfly and are based around two principles: Visual and Organizational. Each category is a combination of either simple or complex in these two categories.

It is a simple metric and she has a test in the book you can take to identify which kind of clutterbug you are. Then she describes characteristics of each clutterbug and how they are best served organizationally. Perhaps most importantly, she describes how to get along with the different kinds of clutterbugs, since different types living under one roof can pose a challenge.

For example, one type likes to see lots of things. They want everything out in the open and visible. Another likes everything put away and to see very little. How do you reconcile these very different preferences, which are key to each person feeling happy and relaxed, when they live together?

Cassandra Aarssen describes systems and ways to help all the different clutterbugs get along and still have an organized, clean home.

My wife and I took the test and we both came out as Crickets. We saw a lot of ourselves in the Bee category as well, but we are definitely Crickets. This is convenient, since our preferred organizational styles match and there will be less compromising needed to organize our home. (We’ll have to see about our kids! We intend to give them the test as well.)

It was interesting reading about the Crickets, because there were so many times that I had to actually stop in amazement thinking, “Wow, she just nailed my personality there.” I think her categories and suggestions are pretty accurate. We will be referring to her book more once we have finished decluttering and are looking to truly organize better.

Messy Minimalism was probably my favorite book of all six. However, it had the benefit of coming after I read the first four, which it really builds upon to me. This book is more about the mindset and lifestyle that goes around the whole act of decluttering and then maintaining that state.

The book is not about decluttering per se. She does have a small section in the book actually walking through the process of decluttering, but that is not what the book is about. It is about living life with less, but not in the strict terms (i.e. quotas and limits) that typically accompany ‘minimalism.’

The way I read it, Rachelle Crawford’s decluttering journey was really a pursuit of minimalism and after reading the other four books and then Rachelle’s, I feel like sometimes the difference between ‘decluttered’ and ‘minimalist’ is quite small.

Minimalism is a way of living life and seeing the world. It is stepping outside of the consumer mindset and living more deliberately and more meaningfully with less. It is distinct in that it often does have ‘limits’ or suggestions on how much you should own.

Decluttering is realizing that you just have too much stuff and then reducing or eliminating the excess until you feel you have just what you need or what will easily fit in your house (your ‘container’) or both.

I think the crossover occurs in the mindset.

Minimalists are seeking a simpler way of living by having less. Which means if you did not start as a minimalist, you are decluttering and getting rid of stuff to get there.

Decluttering properly results, for most people, in having much less stuff in the end and then trying to stay at the level of less stuff.

The end result is the same. The intent is different.

However, I feel that the crossover occurs in the process of decluttering itself.

As I have mentioned at length in another article, decluttering is a difficult process because of the mental exercises it requires.

You have to be honest with yourself about where you are in life. What your goals are. What you want. What you are actually going to do. What is worth keeping and honoring a physical memory of and what can simply be remembered and cherished in your mind.

Once you have properly, genuinely and deeply gone through that process in your mind, it changes you. If you truly absorb it, at some level you essentially become a minimalist.

This does not mean that you think of yourself that way or follow specific rules, but rather that you live a simpler, more meaningful life because your relationship to stuff has changed on a fundamental level. You do not feel the need nor the desire to accumulate or keep as much. You develop plans on how to periodically review and unload stuff that has crept in. You change the way you accept and keep or even give gifts.

In short, you adopt a lot of minimalist principles without even knowing it.

I feel that this is what Messy Minimalism is about.

The author came about this from a different direction but ended at the same point.

She is big on the mindset and reality of living a minimalist lifestyle without quotas and limits. It is based on what works for her and her family. And it involves still living a normal life.

Her house gets messy. Things get left out. They have more of some things than a regular minimalist might approve of. She doesn’t care. They are purposefully living their lives with less on their terms. Not on some standard enforced on them by others to claim a label.

Rachelle Crawford lays out the mindset and the reality very clearly. And she has strategies for dealing with gifts and clutter trying to invade your home (such as giving experiences instead of objects.) I am not sure if it is what she intended, but I feel that she nailed that crossover between decluttering and staying that way and being a messy minimalist.

As I already said, I liked her book the best. I really related to the way she wrote and she kind of represents what I now see as the endpoint for this whole process for me.

She takes that next mental step talking about intentionally avoiding consumerism and filling life with meaning and experiences instead of stuff.

All six authors talk about what a life changing experience decluttering is. This really caught me off guard because I was looking for help in getting rid of the excess in my house, not a life changing experience. And yet every author insists that this IS a life changing experience.

I feel like Messy Minimalism represents the end point of this process for most people, whether they realize it or not.

So after 6 books, where does that leave us?

I feel like I have a very good grasp on how to effectively and efficiently declutter a home. I have a good base on how to deal with sentimental and tricky items. I have a good idea of the kind of organizer I am and the kind of systems I will want to set up to be visually satisfied and organized. I have a clear picture of where we are going to end up both in terms of the material simplicity we are achieving as well as the mental state of the life we will want to live moving forward. And I now have a small library of excellent resource books I can refer to in order to refresh my memory if needed.

I did not expect to enjoy these books as much as I have. I did not expect it to completely change my perspective on ‘stuff’ and life.

My wife enjoyed Marie Kondo’s book so much she got her next book Spark Joy and has started reading it. I am fascinated by the mental and emotional side of this whole thing and want to try to declutter my life and my mind. (James Clear of Atomic Habits frequently recommends doing this.)

So I am starting to read the book Declutter Your Mind by S.J. Scott and Barrie Davenport. I want to see what they suggest and I am very curious to see if and how it ties into the whole decluttering landscape.

We will read and exchange these books and then I will summarize them here as I have the others.

Speaking of decluttering ….

We are still in the midst of this decluttering project. We just tackled the kitchen and I will write about that ordeal next time!

And as always, if we can help you haul away your excess stuff, give us a call and let us help YOU be free from your stuff.