Lose 200 Pounds This Weekend

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: Absolutely superb! Quite possibly your best book yet.(The horror stories alone make it well worth the price.) I've long believed that there comes a point where your possessions own you, instead of the other way around. Why do so many people think they'll need things "someday?" Pack-ratting really is a rampant form of obesity. So I'm calling my furniture consignment dealer...today!

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the first
Review: Of all the books Don Aslett has written about clutter, this one disappointed me the most. I was waiting for something that would inspire me to dejunk my life the way Clutter's Last Stand did. This was not the book. Lose 200 Pounds This Weekend is a kind of catalog of clutter. It divides clutter into various categories, sports clutter, paper clutter, etc, and suggests ways to get rid of them. It lists reasons to get rid of clutter, how it affects your life, and when to do it. If you are still wading through clutter, and need one more boost of energy, this might do it. However, I think rereading Clutter's Last Stand might be just as helpful.

Rating:
Summary: very motivational / helps you part with your junk
Review: There are many books on getting organized, decluttering, and such, but Aslett's really are the best. They're laugh-out-loud funny, inspiring, and not bogged down in detail. And the best part is, they work. This is one of the few weight loss books that has made a big difference within a few days -- I just finished filling three large trash bags and boxing a room full of stuff for charity. Aslett's approach is successful because he starts from the premise that the more stuff you have, the more time and money and energy you spend dealing with that stuff, and before long, the stuff owns you. He helps you conquier the I=Might=Need=It someday syndrome and helps you see that keeping things you don't need/use/love just causes frustration. He helps you see that getting rid of stuff (rather than just organizing it into shelves, closets and other "junk bunkers" is liberating. He deals with clutter in all aspects of life in a way that really makes sense. For example, he discusses how taking a bargain vacation can really cost you in the long run. This book is a little more globally-conscious/environmental than some of the others, but not in an academic way. The book is easy to read and is one of the few books I've read on decluttering that I'll keep and I'll read again someday. It's focus is on decluttering, not cleaning or organizing. If you only want to organize things rather than pare down your things, this isn't your book. The only reason I gave this four stars (rather than five) is because I don't think it's quite as good as some of Aslett's earlier books, most notably Clutter's Last Stand.

Rating:
Summary: very motivational / helps you part with your junk
Review: There are many books on getting organized, decluttering, and such, but Aslett's really are the best. They're laugh-out-loud funny, inspiring, and not bogged down in detail. And the best part is, they work. This is one of the few weight loss books that has made a big difference within a few days -- I just finished filling three large trash bags and boxing a room full of stuff for charity. Aslett's approach is successful because he starts from the premise that the more stuff you have, the more time and money and energy you spend dealing with that stuff, and before long, the stuff owns you. He helps you conquier the I=Might=Need=It someday syndrome and helps you see that keeping things you don't need/use/love just causes frustration. He helps you see that getting rid of stuff (rather than just organizing it into shelves, closets and other "junk bunkers" is liberating. He deals with clutter in all aspects of life in a way that really makes sense. For example, he discusses how taking a bargain vacation can really cost you in the long run. This book is a little more globally-conscious/environmental than some of the others, but not in an academic way. The book is easy to read and is one of the few books I've read on decluttering that I'll keep and I'll read again someday. It's focus is on decluttering, not cleaning or organizing. If you only want to organize things rather than pare down your things, this isn't your book. The only reason I gave this four stars (rather than five) is because I don't think it's quite as good as some of Aslett's earlier books, most notably Clutter's Last Stand.