The Joy of Simple Living: Over 1,500 Simple Ways to Make Your Life Easy and Content--At Home and at Work

by Jeff Davidson

Book Overview

Chances are, your life is overflowing with unnecessary clutter and confusion-- from the "junk drawer" in the kitchen to the overloaded "in box" at the office to the ever-growing list of tasks to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 087596527X
• ISBN13: 9780875965277
• Release Date: February 1999
• Publisher: Rodale Books
• Length: 1 Pages
• Weight: 1.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.8" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

the joy of simple living

I got this book as a gift and at first was a little intimidated by its size, about 480 pages. I though to myself it takes this many words to tell me how to simplify my life? Then, I realized that there were so many topics covered within the book that it all made sense. There are ways to simplify your finances, all the rooms of your home, your office at work, your relationships, even your level of fitness. The author draws on practical proven age old advise as well as offering quite a bit of innovative suggestions I have not seen anyplace else. This blend of the old and the new makes for a most enjoyable read. I would recommend this book to anyone who owns a house and/or has accumulated a lot of stuff over the years.

This is highly worthwhile book.

"Not only does it give dozens and dozens of suggestions on how to simplify every area of your life, it then goes on to simplifying your office, your desk, your commute, your holidays, vacations and so on. What's more, every chapter is packed with stuff that makes it easy to get through the chapter such as a feature called, How complex can it get?, which is a humorous antidote about someone or something that represents the extreme opposite of simplicity. Other features such as boxes and vignettes are all highly readable. Even though the book is almost five hundred pages, it is actually quite easy to get through. If here and there some of these suggestions represent too much of a leap there are dozens of others that offer great value. I highly recommend this book"

Lots of great ideas, easy to read

I usually stay away from simplify your life kind of books because I find them to be, well, too simple. This one strikes the right balance. There are lots of ideas in every chapter on how to simplify your life and at the same time, these are concrete ideas, actions you can take that will actually make a difference. Too often I have seen books where authors talk about skipping through the daisies barefooted, or stripping down your wardrobe to the essence, or some other suggestion that I am not going to follow. In the Joy of Simple Living the author seems to be speaking directly to me and addressing the kinds of issues and obstacles that I face on a daily basis. The sprinkling of humor throughout the book makes it all that much easier to read.

An Insightful Approach

The author takes a room-by-room approach to simplifying your house, garage, then backyard, and other aspects your life. The arrangment is very easy to follow. There are many useful charts and checklist. Many experts are cited. There are also end of the chapter summeraries. The sly humor is well appreciated as well. I've told several friends about this.

The Best of the Lot

This is one of the better books I've picked up in a long time. It is so loaded with tips for simplifying that you could hang onto it for years, and still get value from it. In fact, that's what I intend to do, hang onto it for years. Nowhere else have I read that by attempting to simplify your life too much, you can end up recomplicating it. The first three chapters alone are worth the price of the book but then it gets even more specific and more compelling after that. The chapter on managing your reading helped me enormously. I'm still delving into the chapters on fitness, leisure, and commuting.