About Asha Dornfest
Here’s my backstory:
I started out in the mid-90s as a writer of computer books.
The web was just starting to catch on. I’d always dreamt of being a writer, so I parlayed my basic HTML knowledge into a book proposal and took my shot. That proposal ultimately led to my first how-to book: Do-It-Yourself Web Publishing With Word (Sybex, 1996).
More books followed including FrontPage For Dummies (Wiley, 1997), a bestseller that went into several editions.
By 2006, I was a mom of two trying to keep my head above water.
My experience as a parent barely resembled what I’d oh so dutifully read in the parenting books. I was lonely and out of my depth.
I started a blog called Parent Hacks as a way to reach out to other parents and to swap the tips we’d stumbled upon ourselves, mostly through trial and error.
Discovering the blogosphere was like stepping through a magical portal. Here was the community of parents I’d longed for but hadn’t been able to find in person!
Blogs — that is to say, the readers and writers of blogs — changed my life and career.
Parent Hacks grew into an award-winning resource with a huge readership and a smart, generous community of commenters.
Over the next ten years I published over 4000 posts, moderated 30,000+ comments, spoke at corporations, conferences and press events, and met readers and writers around the country. A few of them became my closest friends.
Two more books followed, then five years of podcasting and three years of writing a subscription newsletter.
Now I’m back on the independent web where I keep a notebook about my life beyond the empty nest, among other things.
Returning to my personal website is a homecoming of sorts, but I’m not trying to recreate the past.
There’s no going back to the mid-2000s Internet, but that doesn’t mean we’re stuck with the din and distortion of today.
This website is a little outpost of reality. It’s just us here with no ads, algorithms, or AI to get in the way.
This is a place to drop in for a chat or quietly keep each other company, where the whole point is to be our kind, weird, human selves.
Welcome to my online home. I’m so glad you found me.
Continue reading in my notebook. If something piques your interest, let me know in the comments.
If you’d like a heads-up when I post new notebook entries, sign up for my free monthly letter.
Keep scrolling to learn about my past work.
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Asha Dornfest is a Portland, Oregon writer and the parent of two young adults. She’s the author of Parent Hacks: 134 Genius Shortcuts for Life with Kids (Workman, 2016) and co-author, with Christine Koh, of Minimalist Parenting: Enjoy Modern Family Life More By Doing Less (Routledge, 2013).
In 2016, Asha and Christine launched Edit Your Life, a weekly podcast about decluttering your physical and mental space to make room for what you truly value. Edit Your Life won the 2017 Iris Award for Best Podcast, an honor awarded by industry peers. Asha retired from the show in 2021, but Christine continues to host weekly episodes.
In 2022, Asha launched a Substack newsletter called Parent of Adults as a place for community and conversation about life beyond the empty nest. She has since returned to writing on her personal website where she keeps a notebook and sends a monthly letter. Visit her at ashadornfest.com.
Selected Books
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Parent Hacks: 134 Genius Shortcuts for Life With Kids (Workman Publishing, 2016)
The Parent Hacks blog community inspired this illustrated collection of parents’ clever shortcuts & road-tested wisdom. A fun, practical gift for new- and expectant parents that still holds up!
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Minimalist Parenting: Enjoy Modern Family Life More By Doing Less (Routledge, 2013)
Keep it simple and trust yourself. This sums up Christine Koh’s and my approach to parenting and life. A calming, encouraging read for parents of toddlers, preschoolers, and school-age kids.
Podcast
Three years after Minimalist Parenting was published, my friend and co-author Christine Koh and I launched Edit Your Life, a weekly podcast about decluttering your physical and mental space to make room for what you truly care about.
We shared our lessons learned on everything from parenting and partnership to eldercare and activism. In 2017, Edit Your Life won the Iris Award for Best Podcast, an honor awarded by our industry peers.
In 2021, after 250+ episodes, I retired from podcasting, but Christine continues to host and produce new episodes each week. To listen, search for Edit Your Life in your podcast player or explore the full catalog at edityourlifeshow.com.
🎧 A few favorite episodes:
Contact
The best way to contact me is to leave a comment in my notebook or reply to one of my monthly letters. Otherwise, you’re welcome to use this form.
This is a one-way channel. I hope you’ll understand my need for a boundary to limit my screen time. I read everything I receive and I truly appreciate your reaching out.
Please: no PR pitches, guest posts, link requests or unsolicited offers.
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© Asha Dornfest, 2026. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy // Home page photo: Amy McMullen Photography