Book #62 |
Book: The Hoarder in You: How to Live a Happier, Healthier, Uncluttered Life | Author: Dr. Robin Zasio | |
| Source: Borrowed from a friend Format: Print |
Pages: 222 | Duration: 07/30/25 – 07/30/25 (1 day) | |
| Rating: ★★★★★ | Genres: nonfiction, self-help, psychology, mental health | ||
| 📕10-word summary: Understanding and addressing the complicated psychology of cluttering and hoarding. 🖌6-word review: Good mix of education and actions. |
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| 💭Favorite quote: “To the extent that clutter gets in the way of living in the kind of environment we’d like to be living in and leaves us feeling stressed or remiss, we can all improve our relationships to our possessions.” | |||
| 🎓Some new-to-me words: fallow | |||
| Description:* Our fascination with hoarding stems, according to Dr. Robin Zasio, from the fact that we all fall somewhere on the hoarding continuum. From compulsive shoppers to hobbyists and collectors to ordinary, run-of-the-mill pack rats—to some degree or another, we all hoard. Dr. Zasio, of the Emmy-award-winning A&E show, Hoarders, shares behind-the-scenes stories from the show, including some of the most serious cases of hoarding that she’s encountered — and explains how we can learn from these extreme examples. She also shares psychological and practical advice for de-cluttering and organizing, including how to: 1) tame the emotional pull of acquiring additional things, 2) make order out of chaos by getting a handle on clutter, and create an organizational system that reduces stress and anxiety.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis. | |||
| Thoughts: Although I would argue that we are at level 0 of the 1-5 hoarding levels, my husband loves the Hoarders TV show, and after watching an episode will walk around our house looking for anything that might be pared down, donated, or discarded. The 5 levels are: 1) There is light clutter, but household cleanliness is mostly maintained, 2) Clutter congests the house, and there may be unpleasant odors, 3) Unsanitary and unorganized clutter occurs inside and outside the home, 4) The home has major structural damage and completely unusable spaces, and 5) The house is likely uninhabitable and can’t be salvaged. I, on the other hand, once tried to watch the show and barely lasted 15 minutes before having to excuse myself. But, I loved the psychology of this book explaining why people keep things, and I’m hoping to use it to address four areas I keep putting off “downsizing”: 1) several laptop and gym bags, which to-date I’ve been unable to decide on which one (or 2 or 3) to get rid of, 2) high school memorabilia (i.e., yearbooks & scrapbooks), 3) two old computers I have — one PC that takes up desk space I’d like to be able to use and another old Mac that sits in a bag in a closet, and 4) some clothes (dress shirts, t-shirts, and shoes) that I don’t wear. Complete possibly-TMI aside: It took quite a while for it to stick with me that the oft-used acronym, CBT, stood for cognitive behavioral therapy and not cock and ball torture (NSFW). | |||
See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.
