A Year to Clear: A Daily Guide to Creating Spaciousness In Your Home and Heart Paperback – Day to Day Calendar, October 1, 2015

I can't begin to say how helpful this book has been, and in ways I never dreamed. I'll wrap up Week 10 tomorrow and the changes are already astounding. I found Vogt's book while searching for still another book to magically help me with my cluttered home. And I thought, “Maybe I need to find out WHY I can't get rid of things rather than find one more step-by-step way to do it.” Ten weeks in and I couldn't have imagined the changes in my mind, and the subtle way that's making significant dents in household clutter without explicit instructions to clean a cupboard, clear a drawer, sort into piles, etc. As she says at one point, this book is more “how to NOT do” than how to do. It may seem slow, and it is, but like the magic of compound interest you'll be amazed at what a small investment can become. Trust the process. Even when I've thought a week's theme didn't really apply to me I answered the prompts and did the work — and I've been shown in unexpected ways just how much it actually did apply to my life. I mean sob-provoking applicable. I can't wait to read each day's lesson. Therapy should be as effective.I put a lot more time into these lessons than some people might, and it's paid off. Here's my routine: I begin by re-reading the previous day's lesson, then re-read my journal entry for that day. At this point I'll add an update if something else about the lesson occurred to me. Then I read the current day’s lesson through. Only then do I pick up my pen again. I re-read the day's lesson, making notes in my journal as I go, and then answer the day's prompts. When I’m done, I plan my day and make a to-do list.That's it until retreat day! I did this after Week 5 and decided I will do it every five or six weeks of the year. I had been traveling a lot during those first weeks and, even though I did each day's lesson, it was beginning to feel disjointed. Without really planning to, at the end of Week 5 I started again on Day 1, reading the lesson and then that day's journal notes. So many things jumped out at me! Things that had obviously been incubating in my sub-conscience came bubbling up and I started making even more notes in my journal. Before I knew it the day was gone and I'd re-read every lesson and journal entry, and I felt like I was coming off a powerfully motivating workshop/retreat with really smart people! So this Saturday, as I wrap up Week 10, I've planned another retreat day, where I'll re-read everything from Week 6 on. I am so looking forward to doing this, it's as if I’m going on vacation. Thank you, Stephanie Bennett Vogt: your book is indeed life-changing.A p.s. to those who have the book and decided it wasn’t for you or didn’t work: Please hang on to it. I don’t think I’d have been ready for it five or ten years ago. You will be one day, and Stephanie will be there for you. As I say to myself when I think a lesson doesn’t apply: “Trust her. She’s surprised you before.”

I originally did "A Year to Clear," as an online course to help sift through accumulated belongings. It had such a profound impact on me that I bought the book and did it for a second year! Stephanie Bennett Vogt takes the reader on a journey of self-examination but does it in baby steps. Nothing drastic. Nothing overwhelming. And yet, at the end of a year, there is real change. If you have a mindfulness practice, this book is for you. If you have no idea what mindfulness practice is, this book is for you. Buy it. Enjoy the journey.

I have been working through this book over the last 57 days in a program meant to take 365 days. Having tried countless "organization" advice books over the years to very little success, I have to say that this one is actually HELPING. I'm currently downsizing from a 7-bedroom home into a 2-bedroom apartment, and have been bringing hundreds of boxes from storage, working feverishly trying to assimilate, to donate, to organize. It's an enormous, and very emotional job. This book has been a perfect companion, because Vogt understands that this sort of work is not just about being organized. It is about being an archivist of your own life, and about understanding the deep emotional tangle that develops around belongings and habits. I recommend this book highly, and look forward each morning to reading that day's chapter. It has been a real success so far.

The book's premise is wonderful. I had a challenging time reading a page a day even though that sounds easy. I think I would rather have the information in a regular book format, but for those who like a daily read for a year, I recommend it. Talks about clearing in so many different ways. Very thoughtful in its presentation.

I took Ms. Vogt's course online a few years back, and found it insightful, if not a little confusing. After finishing the year, I understood better. Yes, she talks some days about "clearing" physical clutter from your life, and then without much warning, switches to the heaviness and fog we often feel when our emotions become tangled. We often need reminders to go easy on ourselves. We're not "bad" for letting the house get messy, and we're not "bad" when we can't seem to get our life in order. This book wisely offers you a year, which can be a pretty long time, when you're taking a process a little at a time. Definitely recommended.

I love the idea of this book, and went into the book and her program with full enthusiasm.Unfortunately, I was turned off from this program by its new age aspects, which seemed to overshadow the practical ideas for clearing out excess. I think I have a higher tolerance for some of these ideas than others might, but somehow this didn't work for me until I combined it with other ideas from flylady and, better still, a facebook page that emphasizes a small decluttering job a day, going through one's home in the course of a year. That fits like a glove, and now, combining all 3 approaches, I am happy, and am enjoying the process way more than I thought I would.The athor actually does recommend reaching out to other resources for more specific ideas on decluttering.It could be that some readers will do fine with the exceedingly slow drip of Y2C and not experience the impatience and frustration that I did. Perhaps that approach would work best for people who are completely overwhelmed emotionally and really need to sneak in. For others, however, a nice blend of methods might work best, and there is something to be said for taking what one needs and leaving the rest.

Day by day, short entries are very accessible to me. I enjoy thinking about a question or thought during the day. The explore questions have led to some interesting conversations. I have read and journaled every day since getting this book. I can see where the journey could take me and I am interested to see what is ahead during the course of a year.

great book.....I thought it was more a manual to declutter. It is not, exactly. It includes how to declutter your thoughts, so not exactly what I was looking for, but some really good ideas. A happy accidental purchase.

I have read Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic Of Tyding up a few years ago and it was amazing! I cleared up so much stuff and got really organised. A Year to Clear is along the same lines but goes deeper into your head. Not only does it help you clear physical stuff around you but it also helps you clear mental stuff that is holding you back. And the two go hand in hand!I have moved house a few times over the last 6 years and every time I am taking stuff with me that I have not used since and don't even know I have. I am moving again in the next few months and this time I am going abroad. This book is helping me let go of things I no longer use, nor like, nor want in my life but keep because, you never know, I might need it in the future! I have made a few trip to the local recycling centre recently and it feels great!

Daily reading designed to clear internal blockages and help with external clearing also

Hard to actually read every morning but still great thinking pieces... invites you to go in places where you might not have been before..... :).

Easy daily inspiration and motivation