Unstuff Your Life

Kick the Clutter Habit and Completely Organize Your Life for Good

By: Andrew J. Mellen

Narrated by: Andrew J. Mellen

Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

One of the country's most sought-after professional organizers here makes his foolproof rescue plan available for everyone.

Arguably the most organized man in America, Andrew J. Mellen has created unique, lasting techniques for streamlined living, bringing order out of chaos for a client list that includes attorneys, filmmakers, and even psychologists. With Unstuff Your Life! he puts his powerful program in the hands of his widest audience yet. Acknowledging that it's often the "stuff behind the stuff" that holds people back, Mellen offers an action-based plan to redirect clutterers from dwelling on their feelings. This simple shift yields immediate results that will help everyone achieve organizational bliss. Mellen's mix of humor, honesty, tough love, and foolproof strategies will motivates listeners to work through their feelings and make real behavior changes that will have long-lasting effects.

Written in Mellen's signature no-nonsense yet hilarious tone, Unstuff Your Life! brims with personality, along with approaches not found in other organizing books. Built on the principle that we must distinguish ourselves from our possessions, Unstuff Your Life! starts with truly achievable goals and works toward the nightmare projects everyone tries hard to avoid. From the basement to the bedroom, the kitchen to the car, and more, listeners will learn:

• Where to find a permanent home for your keys and wallet
• How to sort the mail in a manageable and time-effective way
• What it means to group "like with like"
• How to tackle bills and budget
• How to problem-solve with your new skills, and more

The result is absolute freedom from the burden of clutter - and more free time than you ever imagined possible.

Please note: Lists and worksheets mentioned in the audio can be downloaded from andrewmellen.com/uyl-downloads/.

©2012 Andrew J. Mellen (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Living in chaos? Professional Organizer Mellen has written the book to help.... [T]hose willing to take even a small sip of Mellon's Kool-Aid may enjoy a more organized, efficient, and well-managed life." ( Publishers Weekly)

Neater home every day! Great Organization book!

What made the experience of listening to Unstuff Your Life the most enjoyable?

I've listened through this multiple times now and I recommend it highly for anyone interested in organizing his/her home, office, closet, pantries, etc. It's step by step so there's no guessing about how he actually organizes his own spaces, like in his dresser the bottoms are in the bottom drawers and shirts are in the top drawers. Adopting his tools and tricks has been really intuitive for me and now my belongings keep returning to their homes, a concept I didn't know about before this. It's helped me avoid buying things I already have but previously couldn't find. DVDs have a home. Makeup has a home. Everything is where it should be.

I turn this book on to get myself in a cleaning mindset. It just inspires me to keep going.

What did you like best about this story?

I love Andrew Mellen's voice and his practical tips.

What did you learn from Unstuff Your Life that you would use in your daily life?

"Like with Like" and "Everything has a home" (including the trashcan for old magazines!)

Unbelievably Verbose

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Getting to the damn point!

What was most disappointing about Andrew J. Mellen’s story?

I'm 16 minutes into the book and this man has said NOTHING. Chapter 1? Useless. He talking about saving time and he is wasting my time.

Awesome!!!

Fun and helpful! Laughed out loud throughout the book. Also stopped, and thought a bit. I am not really a messy type - but the book helped me organize my closet better and let go of some memorabilia that actually wasn't even positive for me.

It met my expectations

I bought this book, well actually I downloaded the app, because I felt lonely and overwhelmed when dealing whit clutter. But I paused the cleaning to listen to de whole book before restarting; it was worth it.

I liked that Andrew Mellen narrated the book, it made me feel like I hired him as a personal organizer.
Its a well rounded book, not minimalistic Throw it all away to the garbage, its the middle path. It has so much to do about you and so little about the actual stuff.
The only thing that I didn't understand is why Andrew was explaining what LOL means? And how to use chats; About that just lol. I would rather hear what to do with paid subscriptions, but are minor things.
And Andrew Mellen I'll really miss you the most :) namaste.

Extra special help even when you have heard it all!

Even for someone who is rather organized, this book provides several super helpful suggestions. Get it and read it!

Loved it in every wsy

His ideas are sound and easy to implement. After a number of like titles, this is the first one that has left me hopeful, and motivated to get started. I liked his delivery as well, it was very entertaining.

Good book for the beginner

I did enjoy this book, however in certain parts in got into such excruciating detail it was hard to listen to. I thought it would be great for a true beginner, but for me it was too detailed. It did have some very meaningful throughout that were helpful. It is very clear on how to decide on what to keep & the mental process necessary to decide on items.

Good Stuff

Really enjoyed this book. As I go about simplifying my life, I find myself repeating key phrases such as "like with like" and "the thing is not the person". I even lecture myself on returning things to their designated homes when I get careless.

In a fulsome act of disorganization, I soon discovered that I had already read this book about a year ago, but continued with the audible version anyway, and quickly found that I had overlooked much valuable material during my first go-round. As I am already a fairly well-organized person, I had scanned or skipped whole pages during my first reading, figuring that certain sections did not apply to me. Such arrogance. During the audible version, I discovered that every chapter contains valuable information.

I lost my husband to cancer 3 years ago and letting go of his belongings has been a difficult process. When I was ready, I donated most of his clothing; then I threw out university papers and essays, etc., the accoutrements of a life that were once significant but not particularly personally valuable. For the smaller yet somehow bigger things, author Mellen's advice helps me as I continue to struggle with memories such as theatre ticket stubs, stacks of photographs, his bedroom slippers, his e-mail address. I'm filing and organizing the treasures, discarding the duplicates or the unlovely photos in which my butt does indeed look big, and handing off special items to his family, who I know will value them. In a truly heartbreaking moment, I was forced to throw out the cards, love notes, and other special paper mementoes that I had temporarily stored in a plastic box. In the basement. Too late came Mellen's warning never to store paper-based valuables in the basement. These precious treasures were coated in black mould when I opened the box, and they could not be salvaged. I can only console myself with Mellen's observation that the thing is not the person.

Mellen's delivery is perfectly suited to the material, and he manages to inject humour into the narrative with a pause here and a little emphasis there. Well done.

I will keep the slippers.

For some a tough task master, for others a genius

If you could sum up Unstuff Your Life in three words, what would they be?

Simplify, expel,move on

What was one of the most memorable moments of Unstuff Your Life?

Don't berate yourself

What does Andrew J. Mellen bring to the story that you wouldn???t experience if you just read the book?

This guy is tough, in a nice kind of way. If you have a friend who is OCD they really need to listen to this as they may hate him and then learn to love him. He has a tough narration style, point blank, do it and move on - kind of like a nice army sergeant - yeah right! Anyway, if you really need to get your stuff sorted you will appreciate the tough narration.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

duty sergeant meets paper clip and the paper clip wins!

Uniquely palatable. Even, gulp, DO-able.

This is not your typical organization book. And believe me, I've read them all.
Even paid an 'organizer' to help me figure out a system for paperwork.
ho hum.

I listened through this book to the end, then again as I followed instructions.
This in and of itself speaks to the success and uniqueness of the author's approach, cause I can snub my nose at the best instructions out there. (oh there's a "to spite my face" in this sentiment, believe me)

This author is firm in his convictions that everyone can unstuff: anywhere, without too much pain, and in realistic spaces of time. His methods make sense, in that obvious way that relatively intelligent people like me respond to with, "I KNOOOW!!!".
(um, so why am I still reading books like this, right?)

Wish I could accurately share why this book worked for me. I'll try...
-His explanations about WHY I hold on to things are brief, gentle yet busted through my typical resistance.
-He says anyone can learn a new behavior if practiced consistently for 30 days. ("I KNOOOW!!!") But somehow this author makes me believe I can do it. Without a litany of pep talks and flowery sentiment.
-"Like w/ Like" and "Everything has a home" is the mantra. That's DO-able and downright sensible!
-He 'walks you through' assignments (eg, unstuffing and organizing your kitchen) on the audio.
-His filing system alone is worth the price of the book. Soooo much more practical and easier than the system I paid for (and stopped using after a week)


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