After reading and enjoying “Enough is enough!” by Peter Walsh, I bought his previous book, “It’s All Too Much.” I enjoyed this one too. The book’s subtitle is “An Easy Plan to Live a Richer Life with Less Stuff” and I found that to be exactly what this book was about.

I think one of the most important lines in the book comes near the end when Walsh writes, “Getting organized for the sake of getting organized is a waste of time. Getting organized because it helps you live a richer, less stressed, happier, more peaceful”. more focused life, now that’s a goal worth pursuing.

Walsh offers practical advice on how to get rid of things, but also words of encouragement to live a life that fulfills you and not one that is burdened and stressful by having too much. Walsh instructs him to think about the life he really wants, including the home that will enrich his life and be a pace to live in, not just store stuff.

The opening chapters of Part One, The Clutter Problem, provide a starting point for looking at your home to determine if you’re a clutter addict and what excuses you’ve been using for not getting organized and taking control of your things. Walsh then has you imagine the life you want to live and determine what your ideal home would be. Once you’ve established this basic foundation and are motivated to do something about your clutter, move on to the second part of the book, Putting Clutter In Its Place.

The first step of the second half is the kick off. Walsh helps you tackle surface clutter and get your junk removal started with a quick and dirty sweep of clutter from it. He offers practical tips and suggestions for overcoming the things that may be bogging down your home and his life. He combines this with motivational words to help you get started and stick with it. He then tells you how to chart all the rooms and areas, or zones, of his home in order to devise a plan to systematically clear and organize his entire home.

Walsh then includes specific chapters on various rooms, such as: the master bedroom, children’s rooms, living and family rooms, home office, kitchen, dining room, bathroom, and finally, the garage, the basement and other warehouses. Each of these chapters includes hints and tips to help you maximize your space and become more organized and less stressed about things.

The final steps and final chapters provide maintenance strategies, a cleaning checkup, and new rituals to keep your home tidy, stress-free, and a place to enjoy life.

The material in this book is neither shocking nor entirely new. You can find some of the same tips and similar strategies in other organization books. However, Walsh presents the information in an informal, motivational style that is pleasant to read. I put Peter Walsh up there with my favorite cleaning and cleaning expert of all time, Don Aslett.

I’ve never been as messy as some of the people Aslett and Walsh write about, but maybe that’s because I periodically read books on decluttering and organizing to help me stay on track. I admit it, my biggest weakness is the mess of papers that sometimes accumulates too much, and then I have to take the time to sort and get rid of things. Every time I read a book like this, it not only helps me help others, but it also makes me a little better at organizing myself. The motivation shot works.

If clutter and stuff are a problem, I highly recommend “It’s Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less” by Peter Walsh. It’s easy to read, motivating, and full of practical solutions to clutter and stuff so you can enjoy life more, and that’s what life is really all about. It is not like this?