Reader Question: Which book?

I had a question via email from an e-friend who is also following this blog. With her permission, I'm posting her question and my response. I thought it might be helpful to someone else.

From R.I.:


Christine, I have kept up with your journey thus far.  I am encouraged!  Thank you!  My house isn't  to terribly cluttered but I have some hot spots that are about to drive me insane!  I was looking over both books, the bootcamp and the Joy of Less.  Which one do you recommend?  I really like the bootcamp "idea" because my mind works like yours does.  Reading your post the otherday about the laundry room made me laugh because it was me!  To get started did you really need the other books you suggested or would the bootcamp one be sufficient?  Thanks Christine!


My response:

The more I’m doing the bootcamp, the more I dislike it – but I’m committed, so I’m moving forward. Here’s an example. Today I’m supposed to work on linens. Well, my linens are buried in a middle closet. I have a huge box of them, but honestly I have to clean out the whole closet to get to them. We have just been washing sheets and putting them back on. Therefore, I don’t intend to keep many of the ones in the closet, but I still have to go through them.

If you think that you could be motivated by my blog, I would just either use the list I am making on my blog or make your own list of things you want to cover each day. I would add days like “cookbooks”, “knick-knacks”, “kids clothes” (she covers kids clutter, but this is not the same thing), etc.

She doesn’t have a big family. I’m not sure if she has any children at all – so this is not a blow to her, just a preference for me. When you are dealing with a family, it is different.  If all of my linens were reachable at this point, it would not be a big deal. However, because I’m a clutter bug – they aren’t. That’s the problem! I was talking to my friend at church last night and she is doing the same thing at home, except she is doing it her way with no additional helps. When you are looking for all your school memorabilia to decide what you want to keep, you have to dig through all the various places you have put it to find it – that way you can see what you have and determine what you want to keep.

It is quite possible that you house isn’t anything as bad as mine, so the bootcamp might work fine for you.

However, if I were to pick, I would go with the Joy of Less because she really talks about why you don’t need as much stuff as you think you do (or did) and how to dig it out. I feel like she should have added more rooms, though. And of course anything would need to be tailored if the person had a small family, a large family, retired, etc. The lady that wrote Joy of Less is married with no children – but she has a lot of great ideas in there. She also covers some organizing aspects that the other doesn’t cover. Right now I’m just trying to pare down to the very minimum and then I’ll organize it later, but she talks about having modules and things like that – which I love.

From R.I.:

I kinda did what you're doing as far as paring down goes, a few months ago.  However, I feel like I need to do it again.  We got rid of probably 50% of our stuff.  But like I said there are some hot spots that need some attention.  I need to make a plan!  Thanks for your honesty on the book, I don't want to spend 20 if I don't have to.  I think that having children is HUGE in this.  I try to get this done and then have to change diapers, etc. etc. etc.  So then I get distracted!  HOwever, I know this needs to be done around here because like you, I don't feel peace in my home.  Plus, I want my children to be able to take care of their home when it's time!  My husband used to have problems with my housekeeping, but not anymore.  I have gotten better as far as housekeeping goes (cleanliness), but if I'm cleaning, I'm not decluttering and don't have time!  Such a catch 22.  So I guess a PLAN is what I need.  And the kids will be involved so I will spend time with them!  I want the house to be minimal so I actually have time to spend with my children doing fun things and not having to worry about what needs to be "decluttered". AND not feel guilty!  Which is satan!  UGH!  Thanks Christine! I must go plan!

My response:

To that I would say a hearty “amen and amen”. I want to spend more time with my children, too. While I know that peace comes from Jesus, I think that He has given us a perfect example of what we need to live when he depended on the Father for everything. When junk fills my home, I’m not depending on the Father – I’m depending on me. That’s not working out too well.

If you have a Kindle, iPhone, iPad, or are willing to read online, I would do kindle version of the book so that you don’t have to add one more thing to your home right now. Plan, be blessed, and then get into action! J Let me know how it goes as I’d love to hear your progress.