Sometimes it feels to me like life is faster and louder and more demanding than ever. I find myself wanting to just slow down and relax, to quiet all the voices wanting things from me, to clear out all the things I don’t really need and barely use, and to create a healing space for me and my family. But it’s so hard to know where to start.

Author Yolanda Acree has some thoughts about that. In her new book Mindful Simplicity, she helps the overwhelmed and overextended find their way to a life that celebrates the things that are most important and discards what gets in the way of that life.

She starts by asking tough questions about values. If you don’t know what’s most important to you, then how will you know what should be the center of your life? As she cuts through all the noise and gets to the heart of the matter, she helps you focus on what’s important so you can know what to let go of.

This philosophical approach to decluttering is about more than just getting rid of the things you don’t need or creating a plan for more organization in your home. It’s about thinking through every aspect of your life and living more simply, choosing the values that matter to you, and not listening to all the voices and advertising that insists you change your way of life for someone else or just to line someone else’s pockets.

After you take the time to write down three priorities for each aspect of life, Acree takes you through each of those areas one by one, giving advice about where to start and how to create a road map that you can continue to follow for longer than the two or three weeks, where we (I) so often lose momentum on a project like this.

One by one, she tackles the important areas of life: home, work office, family life, finance and budgeting, shopping, food and diet, relationships, and time management. Each chapter starts by going back to your priorities so that as you declutter and organize that part of your life, you can keep in mind what’s most important to you, so you can literally create the life you want as the weeks go along.

She even includes a chapter on how to keep it going, and of course you can pick this book up again at any time to find your motivation again. It’s a small book, fitting almost in one hand and with just a little over 150 pages. But the wisdom it contains is greater than that, and it will help you expand with peace and joy in your life and you focus on what’s most important. This tiny book will be a great way to start the new year, or as a gift for someone who is struggling to find structure in their life, their home, and their relationships. I know I’ll return to this book several times over the next year as I try to get things more under control in my life.

A copy of Mindful Simplicity was provided by Rockridge Press through Callisto’s Publisher Club, with many thanks.