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2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Too Much Jan 17, 2010
Every once in a while a really timely book comes a long that just catches the wave of culture, but in a surprising way. Peter Walsh's book is perfect for our current world: It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff.
He has correctly pegged our world in so many ways! In addition to being an excellent self-help manual for de-cluttering, organizing simply, and conquering our homes and stuff, he has managed to produce an excellent social commentary.
On first read, this might not be obvious. But look deeper and Walsh teaches us something profound. For example:
It's All Too Much
It really is. Our lives, the pace, the frequency of change, the drive for more. The way we treat four-year-olds, our expaectation of them. The politics, the economy, the news, the technology, etc. It's all too much.
An Easy Plan
We want everything to be easy. Maybe that's the only thing we can do in a world where "it's all too much." But why the generational desire for everything to be easy--education, health, relationships, tonight's dinner, our career, exercise, etc. We are a nation and a generation of easy. If it's not easy, not "user-friendly", we'll switch brands.
For a Richer Life
That's the goal: a richer life. If we can get discovered by American Idol or outsmart the banker on Deal or No Deal, so much the better. If not, there are other ways to get rich. Our goals aren't to be wise, or even happy, much less good. No; our generation wants to be rich. Ironically, our generation thinks that a job is the best way to riches.
With Less Stuff
This is all in contrast to the rest. What does "less stuff" have to do with a culture of "bigger is better" and "more is more"? With the easy path, or a focus on material things? Indeed we are victims of our own driven mania to amass more and more. Mass production, mass consumption, mass distribution, mass transportation, mass media, mass communication, mass education--all touted as the great advances of our time.
We have email, but what of our family relationships? We have bigger houses than ever in history, but what of our marriages? We have high-paying jobs, but our savings rate is a global joke. We have labor-saving technologies, but we work sixty-hour weeks, if we're lucky.
Yes, this book has many valuable and practical helps for taking back our lives from all our stuff. I especially enjoyed the chapter on Step 6: New Rituals; but the books is full of excellent tips and suggestions.
Still, I hope the reader will look deeper. Maybe a good purge of our homes and storage units will have a broader impact. It should. We live in a world that desperately needs this advice: Simple, not Complex.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 Great Motivational & How-to Declutter! Jan 02, 2010
It's All Too Much by Peter Walsh is not the typical how-to-organize your clutter book (e.g. the ones that send you scurrying to Wal-Mart to stock up on plastic storage boxes). Rather it is a call to purge the clutter. Walsh's philosophy is to focus on "the costs of clutter." These costs include the emotional (clutter causes a stressful environment and discontent in relationships) and the financial (wasteful spending on "stuff" rather than meaningful experiences or purchases).
One by one Walsh debunks the top excuses for keeping clutter:
* I Might Need It One Day:
Answer: Clutter keeps us from living in the present.
* It's Too Important To Let Go:
Answer: Clutter makes us forget what's really important - families, friends,
relationships - NOT things.
* I Can't Get Rid Of It - It's Worth A Lot Of Money:
Answer: Clutter robs us of real value.
* My House Is Too Small:
Answer: Clutter steals our space.
* I Don't Have The Time:
Answer: Clutter monopolizes our time.
* I Don't Know How It Got Like This:
Answer: Clutter takes over.
* It's Not a Problem - Someone Else Just Thinks It Is
Answer: Clutter jeopardizes our relationships.
* It Isn't Mine
Answer: Other people's clutter robs us of opportunities that should be ours.
* It's Too Overwhelming:
Answer: Clutter erodes our spiritual selves.
Who knew that clutter caused all of these issues?
After reading the excuse-busters I was convinced, but where and how to start? This is where the nitty-gritty work begins. First, Walsh advocates a Kick Start day which basically encompasses a massive surface purge and a lot of trash bags. While this might make for good TV in real life I prefer to go a bit slower. And Walsh does concede that you can accomplish the same purging in smaller increments with "a little bit everyday."
Once you have surface purged either via the Kick Start or little by little, Walsh then tackles decluttering the average house room-by-room. Every chapter starts with an admonishment to set up a "Room Function Chart" as a floor plan to reconstructing the room. While it is helpful to consider each room's purpose, the formality of making a chart that all household members sign off on is for most people an unnecessary extra step. In the room specific chapters I most enjoyed the practical tips, such as, hanging all clothing in one direction, but in another after wearing (to determine what clothes you actually wear).
As a booklover I also appreciated Walsh's discourse on book ownership. Specifically, Walsh asks: "What was it that you were purchasing when you bought this reading material?" According to Walsh, some people purchase books simply to read. These people can usually part with a book after they have digested it. Others, however, buy books "to acquire the knowledge contained in the book." To these people parting with the book is tantamount to surrendering this knowledge. However, as Walsh aptly notes "when you buy a book you do not suddenly own the wisdom it contains - all you have bought is words on paper." I'm going to keep Walsh's wisdom in mind when I prune my book collection.
In short, It's All Too Much is perfectly divided between the emotional reckoning with the costs of clutter followed by the practical-step-by-step advice. For these reasons, I highly recommend It's All Too Much!
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Great book Dec 11, 2009
What a great mix of humor and helpful advice. We didn't think we had That much clutter..and filled our subaru with a load to good will and over 10 garbage bags of just "stuff" that needed to be thrown out. Highly recommend this book!
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
The words that I needed to hear Dec 01, 2009
Thanks to this book I'm able to get rid of things that I never use but I always keep "just in case"...In my office everybody is laughing because I bring lots of stuff to give away but my basement is every week cleaner and the most important is that the less clutter I have the more relaxed I feel. Great advice...buy it
best encouragement for getting organized - simple and logical Nov 15, 2009
This book goes beyond the usual "decluttering" books... it gets to the root of the hoarding/cluttering habit and leads you in a direction toward a much healthier and happier life! Thanks for sharing your experience and expertise!
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