Outer Order, Inner Calm

Declutter & organize To make more room for happiness

New York Times Bestseller

With clarity and humor, bestselling author of The Four Tendencies and The Happiness Project Gretchen Rubin illuminates one of her key realizations about happiness: For most of us, outer order contributes to inner calm. And for most of us, a rigid, one-size-fits-all solution doesn’t work.

See more about book

In this easy-to-read but hard-to-put-down book, Gretchen Rubin suggests more than 150 short, concrete clutter-clearing ideas so each reader can choose the ones that resonate most. The fact is, when we tailor our approach to suit our own particular challenges and habits, we’re far more likely to be able to create the order that will make our lives happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative. In the context of a happy life, a messy desk or crowded coat closet is a trivial problem—yet Gretchen Rubin has found that getting more control of our stuff makes us feel more in control of our lives. By getting rid of things we don’t use, don’t need, or don’t love, as well as things that don’t work, don’t fit, or don’t suit, we free our mind (and our shelves) for what we truly value. With a sense of fun, and also a clear idea of what’s realistic for most people, Gretchen Rubin suggests dozens of manageable steps for creating a more serene, orderly environment—one that helps us to create the lives we yearn for.

REVIEWS & BUZZ

"Almost every one of her recommendations is a gem…Even better, her explanations (and rationales, if necessary) are short, personal, humorous, and occasionally pointed. Why this instead of what’s become the iconic decluttering tome, Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up? There’s no guilt attached."

—Booklist Starred Review

"The latest book from the best-selling author of The Happiness Project, though, isn’t so much a “how-to” organizational guide as it is a roadmap of how to identify a decluttering method to help you feel more in control of your space (and therefore, your life). Her approach? There’s no single way to do anything. Rather, the right way is the one you actually do. If the KonMari Method doesn’t exactly spark joy for you, give Rubin’s approachable, flexible route a shot."

—Well + Good

"Gretchen Rubin, the author of the forthcoming book Outer Order, Inner Calm: Declutter and Organize to Make More Room for Happiness, describes this behavior as decision fatigue. “If I give it away, I don’t have to decide if it’s actually junk or not,” she said. Getting rid of belongings we once cherished, or bought impulsively, or received as gifts, is an emotional burden, too. That’s partly why we still have so many of them."

—The New York Times

"Rubin believes when it comes to organizing 'for most of us, a rigid, one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work.' Her book may particularly spark joy for you if you’re stuck with necessary items that nevertheless don’t work for you."

—The Washington Post

Book Excerpt

Includes an excerpt and some sample tips from Outer Order, Inner Calm. The book itself is crammed with more than 125 short, concrete clutter-clearing ideas