Pre-Order How to Manage and Get 14 Days to Opening Your Front Door to Guests Digital Bonus

Five weeks from next Tuesday, How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind: Dealing With Your House’s Dirty Little Secrets will be out!

Out in the world!

Out on its own!

Available to be misinterpreted and misread and hated! Oh. Wait. That last line was just my author-insecurities coming out.

Honestly, I’m ready. The book is ready. And I’m so excited to share it with you because I know it’s exactly the book I desperately needed when I was ready to start this deslobification process. While there are people who definitely don’t need it, I know for a fact there are so so many who do.

My goal now (and for the next chunk of my life) is to get the word out about the book so it can reach those people who so desperately need it.

And that’s where I need your help. 

If you already know you are going to get the book, can you go ahead and pre-order? I’m not sure about all retailers, but the one where I pre-ordered it (yes, I totally pre-ordered my own book … ) says I’ll get it ON November 8th, the day it comes out!

And y’all, you know what else happens on November 8th this year, right? Mmm-hmmm. Elections. So if you think you might need a distraction on that day, won’t it be great to have this book to take your mind off of politics?

Here’s the thing. Pre-orders aren’t everything. You’ll be able to get the book whenever you want, but pre-orders help so so much in making sure others know about the book. Retailers look at pre-order numbers to decide if they’ll stock the book in their stores. You know there are people who don’t do much online, right? People who find the help they need by walking around bookstores? They need this message of hope, too.

And specifically, there is a certain number of pre-orders that need to happen before we get to the one-month-away date, which is October 8th. I don’t understand, but I trust my publisher that it’s important. That’s why I’m putting this form out now even though I’m not quite ready.

I’ve been working hard on several special digital bonuses for those of you who pre-order, and the bonuses will be coming out soon!

As part of these bonuses, I’ve written a brand-new short e-book called 14 Days to Opening Your Front Door to Guests. That e-book will be free as a digital download for those who pre-order and fill out this form! (You’ll get it via email as soon as it’s ready!)

Things to note:

You won’t get the digital bonuses immediately, because I’m not quite done with the e-book. As soon as it is done, I will send it out to the people who have filled out this form!

Bonuses will be delivered by email, because they’re digital! (Not physical, like the book!)

You MUST fill out the form to get your digital bonuses. I do not have access to any information about you at the retailer where you pre-order. None. Not a bit. So even if you pre-order the book at each and every retailer that exists in the entire universe, but you don’t fill out this form, you won’t get any of the digital bonuses.

You do not automatically receive the digital bonuses when you pre-order How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind. You must fill out this form to get the bonuses.

I am fully aware that the last two explanations were two versions of the same explanation. Watch what else I’m about to do.

The book is a physical, pages-and-ink-and-everything book. The bonuses are digital. You won’t be able to touch them. They’ll be on your computer (or phone or tablet or whatever). They will not arrive with the physical book, but will arrive via email when they are available. But only if you fill out this form.

You can order any form of the book (print, Kindle or Nook, audiobook) and get the bonuses. (But only if you fill out the form.)

The form asks for your order confirmation number. This is easy to find. Search your email for “How to Manage Your Home” and the email you received when you pre-ordered should come up. Your order number is on that email.

You can also sign into your account at the site where you pre-ordered and find your order there. On some retailers, if you go to the item page for the book, you’ll be told you’ve already ordered and be given a link to your order details:

Helpful hint: If you are looking at your email or at the order details page, but you’re just not seeing your order number, Press Control and F at the same time (on a PC) and type in “order” in the search bar that appears. Your computer will highlight that word on the page that you’re on. Cool, huh?

If “order” doesn’t work, try “confirmation” or something like that. Different retailers might use different terms.

If you have questions (after reading all of those instructions and details and clarifications) email me at dana@aslobcomesclean.com and I’ll help you out!

Go here to pre-order and then here to fill out the form!

Thank you SO much to those who have already pre-ordered and to those of you who pre-order today! 

More about How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind

Some quotes from some of the early readers:

I have read every bestseller book out there to help me get my house under control.  I can identify the “stuff” in my home and the items that bring me joy.  I’ve worked through “how to” checklists and posted purging questions wherever I’ve decluttered to help me make decisions.  And even though I found valuable tidbits in all of it, none of those books gave me hope for a real change in my household until I read How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind. The Container Concept hit me like a ton of bricks.

Stephanie M.

As a card carrying artsy fartsy slob, I not only enjoyed this book, I needed this book.  When I was asked to read a book about cleaning and decluttering, I was a bit hesitant.  I felt like a failure already.  Did I really need to read yet another book full of tips and tricks that would leave me feeling worse?  From the first page, I was put at ease.  It’s okay just to do the dishes?  Really?  I didn’t have the usual feeling that I needed to just fire bomb my house and start over.  This book gave me hope!  I can do this! The appendix alone is worth buying this book.  I want to print it and glue it to my wall as a life map.  Dana has found a way to make life easier for those of us who are cleaning challenged.  She has walked it herself and shares her journey with honesty and humor.  Thank you Dana for giving me permission just to “do the dishes”.  I woke up this morning to a clean kitchen and toasted you with my cup of coffee.  Tomorrow I may sweep the floor.

Angela S.

I laughed my way to a truly clean(er) house!  How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind doesn’t just tout another organizational method that sparks inspiration and then fizzles. Dana White uncovers the reasons most organizational ploys fail and delivers real, practical, attainable hope! Adjusting my thinking to reality about managing my home has already set in motion sustainable change. This is the first organization book that I have ever read that was written by someone who isn’t naturally organized.  And I loved it.  No judgement, no superiority.  Just a whole lot of real, practical help with a good dose of humor and hope.

Shelby K.

And you can see the table of contents here:

Click here to get to the form, or fill it out below. Go here if you need to pre-order. 

–Nony

The post Pre-Order How to Manage and Get 14 Days to Opening Your Front Door to Guests Digital Bonus appeared first on A Slob Comes Clean.

If you would like to find out more about how to keep your house tidy visit www.cleancarpetguru.com

103 What to Do With Shipping Boxes? Podcast

Mentioned in this post:

Pre-order How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind and sign up here to get the bonus: 14 Days to Opening Your Front Door. (Link coming SOON!)

Sign up to get an email every time a new podcast comes out!

Winners of the Advance Copies of my new book:

ile

reb

ajl

That’s just the first three letters of their email. If your email matches, check ALL folders to see if you were one of them!

My Amazon affiliate link.

The Container Concept Podcast

–Nony

The post 103 What to Do With Shipping Boxes? Podcast appeared first on A Slob Comes Clean.

If you would like to find out more about how to keep your house tidy visit www.cleancarpetguru.com

Paying to Have an Old Mattress Hauled Away – Was it Worth It?

After mphty-mph years, we got a new mattress!

I won’t talk about how long we knew we needed it, or about how old the mattress was that we slept on for our entire marriage until last month.

But I will talk about my excessive cheapness and how that was a major factor in waiting so long.

Mattresses are expensive, y’all. And stressful to purchase since they’re one of those things you’ll spend a LOT of time regretting if they’re not as comfortable as you thought they were. Y’know, in those five awkward minutes of lying down and rolling around in front of an expectantly waiting salesperson/stranger.

But we did it. We finally did it. We rolled and shifted and rolled again and shifted again. We made awkward jokes about the shifting and the rolling and finally made a decision. And we ordered. And we paid.

But at the moment of payment, decisions are required. Because it’s never as simple as just paying for a mattress, right?

What about the old mattress?

Do we want to pay fifteen dollars to have it hauled away?

Really? Fifteen dollars to let someone else take my mattress? Fifteen dollars to basically throw something away? (Because that mattress was beyond redemption or repurposing or any of that.)

And haven’t I heard radio ads from other stores saying they’ll haul away an old mattress for FREE?

Oh, how my frugal brain looks for reasons to procrastinate when forking over big chunks of money.

But I said, “Yes.”

“Yes, I will pay you an amount of money that’s less than what it would cost for us to go out to eat at a fast food restaurant to not have to worry about getting rid of that old blankety-blank mattress.”

The second, wordy version of “yes” is what I said in my head. The first, single-word version is what I actually said to the woman taking my money.

Here’s the thing. I know how things go in my house. Many times, I’ve uttered an Auto No to something that will cost me money.

Many, many times, I’ve lived with large items sitting in my home waiting on me to get them out. Ummmm, didn’t I just write about a big, humongous chair that I stubbed my toe on many times between the time I decided I didn’t want it and the time when it actually left my house?

Sure, we could have saved fifteen measly dollars taking that mattress and box spring to the dump on our own.

Except we’d have to borrow someone’s trailer to get it there. And we’d have to spend a Saturday morning borrowing the trailer and loading up the mattress and driving to the dump. And I’d have to devote an hour or so in the week before to figuring out where the town dump is, and learning what we have to do to be able to dump there.

We’ve never even been to the town dump in this town. In past cities, though, we had to have proof of residency. And I seem to remember needing special tickets that we picked up at city hall.

Whatever.

That’s a lot of hassle, and it was worth fifteen dollars to me to not have to deal with that hassle.

Here’s the thing. If that mattress took up space in my garage for a few months, I’d probably be giddy with excitement to pay someone fifteen dollars to get it out of my way. I’m sure I’d be happy to pay someone fifteen dollars to free up a Saturday that would otherwise be spent hauling it myself.

But for some reason, I hesitate in those key moments when the salesperson asks if I want to pay extra on what is already an overwhelming purchase for a cheapskate like me.

But I said yes.

And I’m so so glad I did.

Because this was the scene in my living room for about 6 hours before the delivery men arrived with my new mattress.

I’d taken the old one off of the bed so I could use this ridiculously-rare opportunity to clean out under the bed while there was no mattress or box-spring on it.

So worth fifteen dollars to me.

Would have been worth forty.

Thankfully, it wasn’t fifty. I may not have learned enough yet for that amount.

Yay for not moving (and moving around) that monstrosity sixty five times before it left my house.

If you’re horrified, I get it. I’ve been there. I’ve pursed my lips in disapproval at people who “wasted” any amount of money on things they could technically do themselves. But that was before I understood and accepted the value of open space in my home. The value of a Saturday morning without the hassle of a trip to the dump or the dark cloud of needing to take a trip to the dump hanging over my head. It’s been a long road, but I’ve learned a lot.

Oh. And that guy who takes everything I want to donate? The one thing he won’t/can’t take is mattresses.

If you are desperate to change your mindset, and you want home management strategies that actually make sense (to us not-naturally-organized types), check out my new book, How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind. The book will be released wherever books are sold on November 8th, so pre-order now.

–Nony

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If you would like to find out more about how to keep your house tidy visit www.cleancarpetguru.com

Dealing with Decluttering Regrets – What if I’ll Need This Again?

About a week ago, as I sat in my friend’s home while she painted my nails (in preparation for promo videos for the book), I remembered she was getting new furniture soon.

I spied a comfy chair in the corner and asked what she was going to do with it. She was keeping that particular chair, but asked me why I wanted to know.

So I told her my sad story of decluttering regret. The living-out of my greatest decluttering fear. The tale of the time when I kindof wish I had paid attention to that mostly-squashed-but-still-there voice in my head that asked, “But … what if I need it again someday?”

My sad, sad decluttering story:

There once was a chair. A big, comfy chair. A chair that was part of my very first set of grown-up, never-before-owned-by-someone-else furniture.

I loved that chair. I sat in that chair. I piled things on that chair.

But I also moved that chair.

I moved it once, and then I moved it again. I moved it here and there and seemingly everywhere.

When it no longer had a place in my living room, I considered putting it in the gameroom, but it was too big.

One day, after bumping into it for the seventy-bajillionth time, I thought to myself, “I know! I’ll move it to my bedroom!” I cleared the perfect spot for it next to my side of the bed. I envisioned myself sitting in this chair to read, working in this chair on a summer’s day.

Unfortunately, the placement was also convenient for other, less warm-and-fuzzy things. I couldn’t sit down to read because the chair was always always inaccessible under the piles of clothes and other set-it-down-just-for-now stuff.

So I finally decided to get rid of the chair. 

Decided, but didn’t. I removed it from the spot by the bed, but didn’t actually get it out of the house right away. Instead, I moved it into that “lovely” open space in my master bedroom.

Which meant the open space wasn’t open anymore.

This was only temporary, but the temporariness lasted much longer than I expected.

I assumed I would get it right out as soon as I had a little lifting help. But the chair was soon covered in my husband’s clothes and other lovely randomness, so my Slob Vision kicked in and I never rarely thought about it again.

I only thought of it when I stubbed my toe in the middle of the night.

Because it was in the middle of the master bedroom floor.

So, when a local friend who is a teacher asked if anyone had a big, comfy chair for reading that she could have for her classroom, I immediately responded.

“I have the perfect chair, and you can have it for free!”

She and her husband came to the house, loaded it up, and hauled it off. I was so pleased with myself and loved my mostly-cleared space.

And then, about a month later, I started thinking.

Thinking about my dining room. And about the advice I’ve heard (from some of you) that the best way to keep the dining room table from continually being a dumping ground might be to assign a different purpose to that room.

And I started thinking how nice it would be to take the leaves out of the table (to make it smaller), move it to one end of the room, decorate it nicely, and create a reading nook with the remaining space in the room.

A reading nook.

Oh, how nice that sounds, right? I just need a big, comfy chair.

Just like the one I gave away a few months ago. 

Ugh. I felt the familiar pangs of regret, kicked myself for not having thought of every possible use for that chair before I gave it up, dreaded looking for another one and wondered how much another comfy chair might cost.

And that’s why I asked if my friend was getting rid of hers. I told her my sad, regret-filled Chair Story, and she said, “Yeah, that happens to me all the time.”

And she kept on painting my nails.

Like my heart-wrenching story of Decluttering Regret was no big deal.

Maybe it’s important for you to understand that this friend’s home is beautiful, uncluttered, and never, ever out of control.

It’s the kind of house that makes people like me wonder, “How do some people keep their homes so nice and uncluttered all the time?”

Her casual statement sums up exactly how she does it. “Yeah, that happens to me all the time.”

Regret happens. Decluttering regret happens. And life goes on.

To take a quote from my own soon-to-be-released book, “People whose homes are always clutter-free prefer living with regret over living with clutter.”

Even though I could totally use that chair now, I’m so glad I got rid of it. That chair being gone freed up a large amount of floor space in my master bedroom and my toes are better off. The open-space-months I experienced between getting rid of the chair and thinking of another perfect use for it are more valuable to me than the price of a new-to-me chair that I’ll have fun searching for at a garage sale.

And I’ve seen that chair in its new home. It looks happy there.

Have you pre-ordered How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind yet? In less than seven weeks, it will hit the shelves (or the mailboxes of those who pre-order). In it are my hard-learned mindset changes and decluttering strategies and habit-creating-practices to help you get your home under control. Go here to find out more about pre-ordering.

–Nony

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If you would like to find out more about how to keep your house tidy visit www.cleancarpetguru.com

From Our Mailbox: Not “Messy Bessie” Anymore

I loved this story from one of you!

Hi there!
Just wanted to take a minute to share while my toddlers are asleep.
My clutter has always been a major source of shame. As a kid my nickname was “Messy Bessie.” Sentimental stuff kept piling up. Things I didn’t use but thought I should. It lasted through my college years. There wasn’t a visible surface anywhere.

Marriage? Same problem. When hubby & I moved from our 1st apartment to our house, my clothes piled up at least 4 feet high the whole length of our guest bed. We travel with hubby’s job & trying to pack all of our stuff into motel rooms or apartments was a pain, not to mention packing. I was constantly seeking help & growth. I hated it. When I read your container concept something clicked. I started applying it & a selling/donating/trashing revolution began!

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. We decided that since travel is part of our lives we might as well buy a camper. My friends panicked. How would the girl with all the stuff live with 2 kids in such limited space?! Last night I took pictures for a virtual tour for curious folks at home. I realized we are only using about 75% of our available storage! This is with buying things like diapers & paper towels in bulk! I know I still have a lot to learn & a long way to go but the realization that I could even BEGIN a 3 month job situation with this small amount of stuff amazes me.

My container is smaller than ever but the concept still applies. Thank you so much for spelling out such a simple but profound concept.

Signed,

Beth. Just Beth. Not Messy Bessie anymore

In a follow-up email, Beth shares more:

Our house at home still has a long way to go but it is wonderful to see tangible progress that I am changing how I think. Every time we go back we find more to tweak. Sometimes I look back and remember feeling people may be thinking “you aren’t good enough. You are a bad person. Whatever else you accomplish, whatever honors you achieve, you are STILL horrifically messy.” Thank you so much for helping me laugh at myself & to realize that being a work in progress is perfectly ok.

Dana here: I love this so so so much! Viewing a home (ANY home) as a container is such a game-changer. (Oh, and this isn’t a picture of their camper, just a picture of a camper.)

Speaking of game-changers, have you pre-ordered How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind yet? It comes out in less than 7 weeks! In it,  I teach all of the game/home-changing mindset changes and strategies I’ve developed for getting my home under control. Go here to find out more.

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If you would like to find out more about how to keep your house tidy visit www.cleancarpetguru.com

102 – Realities of Hiring a Cleaner Podcast

Sorry this is so late, y’all!!

My Thoughts on Hiring Cleaning Help – Post, Podcast

Layers of a Clean House

Show Sponsor: MelissaMunger.com

Check out Melissa’s gorgeous art, and place an order for the perfect custom Christmas gift!

–Nony

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If you would like to find out more about how to keep your house tidy visit www.cleancarpetguru.com

Cleaning the Bathroom, Protecting My Hands, Maintaining My Sanity #protectthis (A Sponsored Post)

We all know I have issues, right?

No? Well then, welcome.

The biggest issue I have with bathroom cleaning is the grossness. The ickiness. The feeling that if I deal with one nasty spot I’ll have to take a shower, so why not wait until I have time to deal with every last little nasty spot. Why not wait until I have time to take a shower? And wash my hair.

So not only does a mess have to break through my Slob Vision, it also has to be shower-worthy.

But shower-worthy messes are, in general, overwhelming. So I put them off even longer.

It’s a vicious cycle, people.

Vicious.

But, like so many of my beloved vicious cycles, it can be broken with one good DUH moment.

Like, cleaning gloves. So when Full Circle asked me to clean something while trying out their new Splash Patrol natural latex cleaning gloves, I said “duh.”

Not to them, but to myself. Of course I have something I can clean while wearing cleaning gloves, and it was a definite bonus that these cleaning gloves are cute.

Here’s the thing. That vicious cycle I talked about can drag on long enough that I need a little stronger cleaning product, which is yet another great excuse to procrastinate and puts me through another loop of the cycle.

Ugh.

So I pulled on the gloves (which fit my non-petite hands quite well) and started on this spot.

I know. So awful, right? We had what I thought was an awful, horrible problem that would surely require a plumber, but then Hubby fixed it pretty quickly once I told him about it. (We have separate sinks, so I’d just been using his … )

I had waited long enough, though, for the sink to be fully disgusting and awful. I started out with my normal, non-scary cleaning methods, and didn’t make much headway. I had to pull out the hard stuff.

I sprayed it with some potent cleaners, and got to scrubbing. Thankfully, because I was wearing the cleaning gloves, I didn’t feel the gross-griminess or the panic that powerful cleaners were seeping into my pores. I didn’t feel the need to jump into the shower once I was done.

Which was good, because this grossness took multiple sprays and multiple scrubs. Every time I walked by, I pulled on the gloves and worked a little more. Finally, it looked like this:

Yay for gross jobs done without a full hazmat suit!

So what makes Splash Patrol natural latex cleaning gloves different from other gloves I’ve used?

The inside is soft. They’re natural latex, but there’s a fuzziness-something inside that meant my hand didn’t get sweaty like it sometimes does inside cleaning gloves.

I also like the drip-catching “sleeves” that meant if I accidentally held my hand upright (like if I waved at myself in the mirror), I didn’t accidentally cause cleaning product to drip down my arm and send me running for the shower.

When I was done, I rinsed the gloves and then hung them on a hook under my bathroom counter.

I thought about taking them to the Laundry Room where I keep most random cleaning items, but decided I would be more likely to use them quickly when needed if they were hanging right in the place where I use them.

But most of all, these gloves are cute. And cuteness helps a lot when you’re doing something you really don’t want to do.

And … leave a comment on this post to be entered to win a pair of Splash Patrol natural latex cleaning gloves! Just tell us what intimidating mess you’d clean while wearing them! One commenter will be randomly chosen as winner using random.org, and that person will have 48 hours to respond to my email. If they don’t respond, they’ll forfeit the prize, and I’ll have to use random.org to find another winner. You must leave a comment on the post on the site. Email responses can’t be counted. If you’re reading by email, click the title of this post and leave a comment on the site. Continental U.S. only. Read all my giveaway policies here.

–Nony

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If you would like to find out more about how to keep your house tidy visit www.cleancarpetguru.com