Clearing Out Your Home and Mind..A Look at Books that Will Help.

I find that getting a little guidance now and then on ways of simplifying my life helps a great deal when you get stuck in a rut. Books can inspire, help you remember, and guide you in the right direction. Below are a few great reads that will help you organize your shelves and your everyday life as well.

Organizing Plain and Simple by Donna Smallin is an all inclusive reference guide to get you through your clutter and find out why, and how, it accumulates in your life. It covers everything from cleaning to managing your time and family life. With professional resources and step by step guides, you won't be able to find a reason not to organize.

Organize Now by Jennifer Ford Berry is a great book for those of you who need a structured schedule in order to get things done. Conveniently, this book tackles the mountain of organizing a lot of us have to do and breaks it down into manageable weekly assignments. This book covers every nook and cranny where stuff can accumulate. An extra bonus is a chapter dedicated to helping you get it together for special events like holidays, a trip, or even when having a baby.

Unclutter Your Life in One Week by Erin Rooney Doland is a good book to establish a starting point within a brief period of time (one week). As reference, this might do the trick for some, but in my opinion the tasks the author creates for one days work could take some of us weeks to do properly. That being said, this book covers more than just the home. It delves into your work environment and even tips for getting out the door in the morning.

Living the Simple Life by Elaine St. James is a wonderful book about becoming clear about what is important to you. With chapters like "Things that Complicate Our Lives, Never Touch a Piece of Mail More Than Once, and Come Up With a Creative Solution Rather Than Buying a Solution" you are forced to start thinking about what you have in your lives and how to avoid the trappings of over complicating. This book deals with altering behaviors and your attitude to become a more fulfilled, time-saving, and organized individual.

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin focuses on striving for both the physical and psychological ways of making yourself feel happier in a variety of areas in your life.

Although there is only a small section committed to cleaning up your space, there is an important message of overall wellbeing that is derived from organizing and shaping of your own direction. It is filled with personal stories of the author's struggles while maintaining an overall optimistic perspective about achieving a happier state.