Live More, Want Less: 52 Ways to Find Order in Your Life

The author Mary Carlomagno, does an outstanding job in this short 180 page, easily readable book of giving you 52 ideas to create more time to enjoy the things you love. The answer as you can probably already guess is LESS STUFF. The book is broken down into 52 different ideas, one for each week of the year. You open to a week, and there is one or two pages as a theme. The author has put together a metaphor to teach you what she is trying to convey. After the theme, you will find several very helpful hints giving you ideas as to how to implement the concept that was just described.

One of the ways I look at book to see if I like it, is to select a couple of random pages scattered through the book. If something jumps out at me that I find interesting in 2 of the 3 random hits, I know I am onto something. When looking through this book initially, I was finding interesting ideas and actions that I could execute, in every page I looked at. I knew I was onto something here, and so I read the entire book. Let's look at just a few of the interesting thoughts and actions that she has come up with:

* Write down where your items live Interesting isn't it. She is treating an item as though it had a life of its own, and in the end, it does. You could call it the emotional lives of things we own. The objects we possess take on their own lives. You buy an exotic car, and all of a sudden you are committed to taking care of it, from washing it to changing the oil. Think before you enter into this relationship.

* The things you use the most often should have the prime real estate in your home Think about it, do you really want to fish around in a closet for something you use 3 times a week. We have to set order in our lives, and this book shows you how to do it.

* Take a vacation from your problems This is from the old Bill Murray movie. Unless it was explained to you, you would never think about it but it's true. You have a problem, you think it through. Once you have exhausted yourself thinking about it, do we really need to obsess over it for hours and days? Take a vacation from it.

* Free means free of charge; it doesn't mean it is free of space. How many of us own scores of items that we have never subsequently used but because we got it for free, we retain it, and it gobbles up space in our closets and our lives.

* If most of your time is spent with people who drain you of energy, it's time to rethink the people we are missing out on more fulfilling experiences in life. Be with people that enrich us.

* Concentrate on the joy in the process, and the results will take care of themselves.

CONCLUSION:

I found this book very valuable in terms of helping us think about the things we should already be thinking about. I have already put into effect several concepts that I learned from the author's work, and isn't that supposed to be what it's all about. Reading something new and then making your life better by implementing it? Thank you for reading this review.

Richard C. Stoyeck

This isn't a typical book about organizing because the focus is on simplifying life itself, not just the material things we collect. The author asks the reader to consider that "choosing lightness over heaviness, opting to subtract, not add" will actually open up more room mentally, emotionally, and physically to live a better life.

The book consists of 52 weekly exercises that include a personal narrative by the author, a list of suggested daily practices, and a reflection she calls "The Way". This is a term that contributes to the new-age tone of the book "Taoist-inspired" as the publisher describes it that I personally didn't care for but I was able to sift through it to the good, practical advice for leading one's life instead of it being the other way around which is why I gave it four stars instead of three.

One of the topics I appreciated was "freecycling" (week 38) that challenges the reader to consider that getting things for free isn't always a good thing and can end up becoming even more clutter. "The Way" reflection for that week says "Being addicted to the idea of acquiring something just because it is free misses the point of value. Things are of value only when you use them, not simply because they cost you nothing."

Buy Live More, Want Less: 52 Ways to Find Order in Your Life Now

When I first starting to read the book I started at the beginning with the idea of going from chapter to chapter to the end. But, after I started to read it I looked more closely at the index and found some subjects that I wanted to read now, not when I picked up the book again. And so I found myself referring to chapters as individual events and couldn't wait to pick up the book to find something else that caught my interest.

Each chapter can apply to everyone at one time or another in their lifetime. Mary has hit the mark on many levels with her assessment of the problems, and the "Why" it happens, which I believe is key to change,...and, then presents many solutions on how you can "fix" the situation one step at a time.

She is so right about not expecting to find an instant fix. Your home does not get cluttered instantly, you don't gain weight overnight, nor did you become an extension of every bit of technology taking over your life. It takes time to analyze the "What", "Why" and "How" to find a solution to bring peace and order in your life.

She has done the work for you and she makes the path easy. I can see myself reading it over and over again as life progresses and new challenges arise

Read Best Reviews of Live More, Want Less: 52 Ways to Find Order in Your Life Here

It's so easy to overwhelm yourself trying to make positive change in your life. Our inclination is to scale a mountain before we've climbed a hill. In "Live More, Want Less" Mary Carlomagno takes the mountains and reduces them to hills which I can climb. The approach has led me to make real change in my life. The weekly format gives me achievable goals to focus on and Mary's personal stories have me laughing out loud.

If you're looking to declutter your closet and your life I recommend starting here.

Want Live More, Want Less: 52 Ways to Find Order in Your Life Discount?

Live More, Want Less is that rare self-help book that delivers on its promises from cover to cover. It is a practical guide for assessing your situation in life and making positive changes. It includes daily tasks to reinforce the message and keep you on the right track. This book helped me from the first day I started reading it, and I consult it from time to time to stay on track. See my video review for a few specifics from inside the book.

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