Books can provide strategies and emotional support when weâre trying to organise our lives. So we asked professional organisers and other experts to recommend their favourites.
âThe Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaningâ by Margareta Magnusson
One day, we will be gone â but our things will still be here. This 2017 book, a favourite among all the experts we spoke to, is a call for people to declutter while they still can.
âNo one wants to think about their own mortality,â said Patty Morrissey, the programme director of the KonMari Club, an organising community created by Marie Kondo. But this book helps present organisation in a positive way â as a âlife reviewâ, she said.
For example, Magnusson recommends designating a âThrow Awayâ box for personal items that have sentimental value â but may not for anyone else â and then labelling it so that your loved ones can discard it when youâre gone.
âOrganising From the Inside Outâ, by Julie Morgenstern
Morgenstern is known as âone of the OGs in organising,â Matt Paxton, author of Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff, explained.
In this 1998 book, Morgenstern presents an organising strategy called S.P.A.C.E., which stands for: Sort, or group items; purge, or get rid of unnecessary things; assign a home, or designate a specific place for every object; containerise, or organise items with the help of bins, boxes, and other containers; and equalise, or check in regularly to tweak the process when needed.
This framework, however, isnât meant to be rigid. The book âhelps us organise in a way thatâs right for us,â said Gretchen Rubin, host of the Happier podcast. For example, Morgenstern encourages people who are chronically late to store essentials (like keys and wallets) near the door. This practical guide, full of insights, shows that thereâs no one-size-fits-all solution to organising, Rubin added.
âHow to Keep House While Drowningâ, by KC Davis
Tidying up can be difficult for anyone, but it can be uniquely challenging for people living with ADHD and mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. For those in search of judgment-free guidance, this 2022 book offers a simple approach.
While Davis recommends breaking things into small, manageable tasks, she stresses the importance of not being too hard on yourself, by doing things like running the dishwasher before itâs completely full.
The book is also written so people can skip around, diving into the section that they need, which can be particularly useful for people who find focusing difficult. Morrissey recommends it to clients who arenât âstriving for aspirational levels of orderâ but are âjust trying to get through the dayâ.
âWhat We Keepâ, by Bill Shapiro and Naomi Wax
This book, published in 2018, isnât a decluttering how-to. Instead, the authors interviewed hundreds of people, including truckers and nuns, asking them whether important items symbolise pivotal moments or help them remember relationships and people who are no longer with them.
Each story invites readers to consider what their own objects mean. When you start to think about âwhat youâve chosen to keep and interrogate the âwhyâ â whether for utility or sparking a memory â that is really beautiful,â Moore said.
âADD-Friendly Ways to Organise Your Lifeâ, by Kathleen Nadeau and Judith Kolberg
This 2002 book offers people with ADHD flexible ways to approach organising. For example, many people experience the âout of sight, out of mindâ phenomenon, where they might forget about items they donât see regularly. The authors, however, suggest transparent storage containers or open shelving to keep important items visible.
It is âeven written in ADHD-friendly language,â Morrissey said, adding that it includes helpful charts and illustrations, too. This book, she added, âis a great way to help people who struggle with the execution and completion of a task get their clutter under controlâ.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Written by: Hope Reese
Photographs by: Monica Garwood
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