If I'm So Smart, Why Can't I Get Rid of this Clutter? (If I'm So Smart Series) [Kindle Edition]

Like many readers, I off the New Year thinking self-improvement thoughts rooted in the awareness that some things need to change. When given the opportunity to read about clutter, therefore, I said a quick yes. It's the New Year. A fresh start. And clutter is anything but fresh. Clutter is so yesterday.

Hamilton, Mass., resident and life coach of some renown Sallie Felton asserts that there are three kinds of clutter. To successfully clean your desktop, unfortunately, you must attend to the mental and emotional clutter as well. And though there are plenty of tips for how to make room for your car in your garage that's currently jammed with cardboard boxes filled with who knows what, you must do a little wading in the personal muck as well.

Felton sometimes calls herself a clutter coach. She wants you to face your clutter holistically. She wants you to understand why you're attracted to the idea of a clutter-free existence. Your answer will inform your mission statement. Are you de-cluttering to learn how to let go of the past, she asks? Do you want to move more fully into the present? Your answer will enable your effort.

Perhaps this is the perfect gift for a hoarder, since clutter sits atop a heap of personal issues that confound any effort to organize. For those of us who may secretly hoard writing pens or sticky notes -- discreet and manageable hoarding, we can move on to this book's main intention: the eradication of clutter.

You will have to do a bit of digging to get to the good stuff, but it's there.

E-mail is a kind of clutter, for instance, that has serious ramifications. Clean it regularly or jam up your home or work computer. Felton has good advice. Stay on top of that "unsubscribe" button. Create a folder called "respond" and slide e-mail you want to answer into that box. Respond to anything that takes a minute or less. Schedule a specific time daily for e-mail. All excellent advice.

Felton is a wonder. She took on a major de-clutterization of her home. Her year-long to do list was daunting. It included everything from organize the family's photo albums to redo the stone wall to take a yoga class. She's a list person and she sticks to the next item on her list, organized by season. Some things, like plant a vegetable garden or cut back storm-damaged shrubs, had to wait for warmer weather.

Her book includes a number of helpful lists including to do lists, a listing of storage solutions and, most importantly, a list of clutter tips. You can also join a free conference call on the first Thursday of each month and talk about clutter with the expert. Not a bad way to commence the adventure of a brand new 2012.

Surprisingly funny and tender. Picture this: A successful media personality, mother and wife, whose happy and drama-free life unravels, allowing her clear vision of how her mental/emotional/material clutter is holding her prisoner.

Through her journals, she creates (and shares) the tools to weed out the toxic relationships, unhealthy patterns, even the dusty old sentimental 'stuff' we all collect. No pasta, no exciting trips to India and no sexy Greek men, but sometimes it's the mundane manifestations of years of the crap in the closets, the passive/aggressive relationship with family members, and the upwardly inching scale that teach us our biggest lessons.

I read bit more than half of that book. The beginning was very good, made me really think about all the stuff that I have myself and how to get rid of it. It introduces clutter cleaning strategies, and there is also a lot about the author's struggle with her clutter, which makes the book more personal and interesting. After that however, she goes into details how to organize certain places and rooms in the house, there is a chapter for every room - and this is quite boring and repetitive and on top I didn't find it useful for my particular situation. Nevertheless, the book inspired me to start uncluttering my own house, which is going very well so far, so I would recommend reading it for people who are starting to collect information on the topic of clutter and getting rid of it.