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    It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff
    It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff
    It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff
    Audiobook7 hours

    It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff

    Written by Peter Walsh

    Narrated by Peter Walsh

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    About this audiobook

    Whether it’s tidying up or tiny-house living, the decluttering revolution is taking America by storm. In It’s All Too Much organizational expert Peter Walsh reveals the tools for taking control of your physical—and emotional—clutter in order to reclaim your life.

    Are you surrounded by papers? Overstuffed closets? Are you stepping over toys or searching under piles, and leaving boxes of mementos unopened for years? Do you feel under siege by your belongings? Peter Walsh, the organizational guru from TLC's hit show Clean Sweep, understands.

    It's All Too Much is Peter’s proven system for anyone who wants to let go and escape the suffocating clutter in their lives. With his good humor and reassuring advice, Peter shows you how to face the really big question: What is the vision for the life you want to live? Through simple techniques and step-by-step plans, you can assess the state of your home, prioritize your possessions, and let go of the clutter you have been holding on to that has kept you from living the life you imagine. Going way beyond color-coded boxes and storage bin solutions, It's All Too Much shows you how to honestly determine what adds to your quality of life and what's keeping you from living the life of your dreams. The result is freed-up space, less stress, and more energy for living a happier, richer life every day.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateJan 9, 2007
    ISBN9780743567701
    Author

    Peter Walsh

    Peter Walsh is a clutter expert and organizational consultant who characterizes himself as part-contractor and part-therapist. He can be heard weekly on The Peter Walsh Show on the Oprah and Friends XM radio network, was a regular guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and was also the host of the hit TLC show Clean Sweep. Peter holds a master's degree with a specialty in educational psychology. He divides his time between Los Angeles and Melbourne, Australia.

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    Reviews for It's All Too Much

    4/5

    232 ratings21 reviews

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    • 5/5
      It makes it easy to get started and that’s the hardest part.
    • 2/5
      Where's the step-by-step plan on how to declutter? All this audiobook does is tell stories about a bunch of other people's problems with their clutter.
    • 3/5
      This cheery self-help book purports to be about clearing "clutter," but it seems to me it's more about learning to resist the imperatives of a consumer culture and to face the implications of the impulse to hoard. Nothing brilliant, but a nice read during New Years resolution season. (This is the review I posted on Amazon)
    • 2/5
      Ideas for people that don't know how to keep the clutter out of their lives and it doesn't mean going to buy more containers for the clutter, but ways of getting rid of the clutter and the psychology of "why" there is clutter.
      At the end there's a connection to health issues as well as weight issues to clutter issues.
    • 3/5
      It's All Too Much by Peter Walsh is an excellent book if you want to declutter your house, your stuff and your life. I think if you have never read one of the many books on decluttering then this book would be an excellent choice. Mr Walsh is obviously an expert on the subject and has an excellent resume. He gives a great overview on the issues that contribute to the accumulation of stuff. He then takes you through each room and area of your home offering excellent advise on how to clean things up. Much of accumulating stuff is mental and that is covered as well. My only complaint would be that this subject is the topic of hundreds of similar books and while this book is excellent in itself, it does not offer anything new.
    • 4/5
      great inspiration as I try to sort and weed through the stuff I have collected
    • 2/5
      Pretty simplistic approach to managing clutter. The, forgive me, cookie-cutter-clutter solution. The book is also printed on that really cheap paper that smells a little funny- if the publisher isn't motivated to invest in decent paper...
    • 3/5
      I think I read books like this in the same way teenage girls read A Child Called It--just to freak myself out.
      I don't have much of a problem with clutter myself--in a tiny apartment like this you have to be pretty ruthless about getting rid of stuff--but I LOVE reading about these people whose entire house is filled with old newspapers and baby clothes, and how the author goes in and fixes it. It's amazingly satisfying.
    • 5/5
      This book was exactly what we needed to kick-start us into getting rid of accumulated "stuff". While we aren't as snowed under as many of the families described in the book, we know we can be much better than we are. His tips are fantastic: pile all your kitchen utensils in a box - as you use them, put them in their designated drawer. At the end of a year, take the remaining utensils in the box to your local Goodwill (or add to your garage sale). I love his hints about getting rid of clothing, cookbooks, etc. VERY helpful!!If it isn't functional or beautiful, why are you hanging on to it?
    • 3/5
      Read in my ever-present urge to organize. Belatedly realized it was written with youth in mind, still pretty good however.
    • 5/5
      This practical book says it offers "Less junk, clearer mind and better life" and if you read it carefully, actively follow the advice it does! It's All Too Much is a practical guide for teens on keeping it together - the different sections are logically focused on teen issues infused with humour and complementary pictures. This book is suitable for teens who are struggling with organization and want some practical advice on how to 'get it together'.
    • 4/5
      This is the first thing I've read on organizing, simplifying, etc, so everything was new. And hopefully nothing was very novel because it all seemed pretty commonsensical. As with books on overeating, I appreciate it when they recognize and address a range of motivations. I read some of the negative reviews before starting the book and was then perplexed when he said the opposite. You're 'allowed' to keep pretty much everything. It's also nice he doesn't start with buying any file boxes, etc. The target market is very much your basic nuclear family in a suburban house, while I live alone in an apartment, but it was easy enough to skim past the irrelevant stuff and it doesn't seem there would be any missing advice specific to my scenario. I'm preparing to both move and combine households in about six months, and getting rid of a lot of things (especially things in storage) ahead of the move is the plan. This book contained some excellent motivators towards that end, especially in terms of rationale for throwing things out. The idea of mapping out your intended purpose for each room seems equally helpful when choosing a new home too, to make sure it will accommodate those goals in the first place. I also really liked the idea of bookmarking items on a retailer's website rather than keeping the catalogs. He's not a reader, though. Reading 3-4 books per week is hardly impossible. And I'm sorry but there are not millions of households in the U.S. that never throw away anything. Either 'millions' or 'never' was hyperbole.
    • 3/5
      I know Peter Walsh is one of the foremost names in the decluttering/organization movement and is well-known thanks to his stint on "Clean Sweep," but I really didn't get too much from "It's All Too Much."Perhaps it's because if you read a few decluttering blogs, you'll eventually get all of the tips and philosophy found in this book. I haven't read Walsh's earlier books, but I can't imagine them being very much different from this one. There are a few basic concepts that are hammered home:* It's not about the stuff, it's about changing your relationship to your stuff.* Use what's useful, honor what's worthy of honoring, and chuck the rest.* Have a plan for each room that ties to the vision of the life you'd like to lead.* Don't expect it all to be fixed at once.And that's pretty much it. Oh, and of course the ubiquitous "three bag" approach (keep, toss, donate/giveaway) is mentioned.That's not to say it's a bad book by any stretch. Indeed, if you're looking to declutter/purge your stuff and you don't read decluttering blogs or haven't read other similar books, pick this one up. It does a good job of preparing you mentally and emotionally for dealing with the overwhelming task of cutting back on your clutter and preventing it from piling back up.
    • 4/5
      In the beginning of this book it feels a little bit too self-helpy. The first two chapters are all about our relationship to stuff and why we keep it, along with information about how your life could be different if you were to clean up your act. I was almost prepared to chuck the book at this point, but then he got into the real meat of why I checked this book out from the library. Walsh first has you make a plan (room function chart) of what you want each room of your house to look like and what you want the room to be used for. Then he goes through each room of the house and helps you decide what to keep and what to get rid of by using the same three easy steps:*Refer to your Room Function Chart and have everyone sign on.*Establish zones for the different activities that take place in this space.*Remove what doesn't belong.He first helps you deal with the general clutter and garbage that accumulates in the houses of many hoarders, then he eases you into getting rid of the clutter you're tied to emotionally. He has you ask yourself why you're holding onto these items and helps you think of ways to display the items and give them a place of honor in your home, rather than allowing them to accumulate dust in the corner of the garage. If they aren't valuabe enough to display, they should be gotten thrown out or given to someone who will value the item.Walsh's tone throughout the book is very conversational and makes it easy to get through. And after completing my own purge, I can see how the self-helpy part in the beginning was really necessary. There's no point in reading a book like this if you aren't going to be serious about making changes in your life. I come from a long line of hoarders (my parents have two storage sheds, a basement and a garage filled with boxes of stuff that won't fit inside their home) so I understand how difficult it can be to let go of things. It took a long time for me to break the habit myself, but I can honestly say that life is much better with less stuff and more space. As Walsh says: My job may be all about organization and decluttering, but I cannot say enough times that it is not about the "stuff." I have been in more cluttered homes than I can count, and the one factor I see in every single situation is people whose lives hinge on what they own instead of who they are. These people have lost their way. They no longer own their stuff - their stuff owns them. I am convinced that this is more the norm than the exception in this country. At some point, we started to believe that the more we own, the better off we are. In times past and in other cultures, people believe that the worst thing that can happen is for someone to be possessed, to have a demon exercise power over you. Isn't that what being inundated with possessions is - being possessed?I'd love to give this book to my parents if I thought it would actually help. Unfortunately it would just add to their overabundance of clutter. My siblings and I have been trying for years to help them declutter, but every time we come back for a visit there's just more stuff to go through. Peter Walsh has an amazing job - one I'd love to have. How did he get into this line of work anyway? It must feel amazing to help so many people to get out from under the weight of their possessions. Personally speaking, it has been one of the most freeing things I've ever done. And I'm glad to finally be almost to the end of that journey.
    • 3/5
      This book doesn't tell us anything we don't already know...but if it helps you to clean it up...more power to it...It was a little dry...very repetitive...and a little incomplete to be honest.
    • 5/5
      I can't think of a thing I did not like about this book! Okay, the parts about kids didn't apply to me, but it was still interesting to read about it. I never realized clutter had this much control over other parts of life. Since reading this book I am determined to make my home more clutter free. It helped me see a lot of areas I need to work on, and helped me rationalize throwing away things I never would have had the nerve to throw away before. It's also written in very readable language. I promised this book to a friend so I read it quickly, but I wish I could keep it longer and savor the reading!
    • 1/5
      Self help, preachy. I don't recommend
    • 5/5
      This is by far the best book on organization and clearing out of things that I don't want and don't need of anything I've ever read. Of course, I picked it up after working [Simple Abundance] for two years and Julia Cameron's books for longer than that. It helps that he uses his television experiences as examples.
    • 4/5
      I'm more than half a year into a major decluttering project and a lot of this very good advice was stuff I've already figured out or read elsewhere, but this was a very useful read all the same. I picked up enough new tips and fresh motivation to keep me going for months. The book is definitely geared toward someone who needs to declutter and doesn't know where to start, but anyone who needs a little help organizing is sure to find useful advice here.
    • 5/5
      Wow. I'm not finished yet, but it is certainly mking me re-think my life and my things.
    • 5/5
      This truly motivated me to begin decluttering my home. Walsh argues that it isn't a matter of buying a bunch of Container Store bins -- buying more stuff -- but coming to terms with the "why" of our pack rat ways. Highly recommended. This is a much better investment than (yet another) trip to the store for more shelves/boxes/bins/whatever which only serve to exacerbate the "stuff" problem.