Customer Reviews

ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life

5 star:		(102)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I have read 7 or 8 books on ADD, all of which promised to suggest organizing strategies that someone with ADD can implement and maintain. Those books spent 95% of the time defining the problem, and the other 5% on general advice like, "you need lots of structure." I learned more about ADD in general from this book than any other, and I recognized several traits that I'd always struggled with, but hadn't realized were common among ADDers. This book gave me practical, useable advice on HOW to simplify and structure my life, so that I can achieve and maintain order and reach my goals without becoming overwhelmed and giving up in frustration. By implementing the maintenance strategies first, I now feel that I can tackle the chaos and clutter a little at a time, and get out from under. I can feel my depression lifting, and I feel hopeful for the first time in a long while. Great book!

This is an excellent book. I'm a clinical psychologist working with ADD clients, and I have ADD myself. This is the book I've been looking for. Have ordered several copies for my clients, and one for my professional organizer. Easy to read, holds your attention (a small miracle), written in ADD-friendly style, and full of useful information and suggestions. It's simply the best book on the subject around.

When I got this book I thought that I finally might find organizing strategies that work for me. This book does offer strategies for finding what works for each individual rather than a one size fits all approach which is why I gave it 3 stars instead of less.
The book seems most helpful for those who have roommates or family to provide support during the process of setting up new systems. Or for those with the money to hire a professional to work with them on this process. I have friends who want to help me make more life more livable but none has the kind of time that this book requires.
I picked up a book called Outwitting Clutter by Bill Adler. It may be simplistic for some of the readers here. I found it very helpful. It's the first book that actually led to organizing action on my part.

I was just diagnosed with ADD a few months ago. Since it was new to me (I wasn't self-diagnosed and knew very little about it), I came to Amazon to buy a book that had been recommended to me. "ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life" was the other half of a "better together" offer with that one, so I went ahead and bought it. I just finished writing a 3-star review of that recommended book. I've learned more about ADD in general from this one, to say nothing of organizing.

Okay, I have two post-graduate degrees and work in research, so you'd think I could figure these things out by myself... But if the only ideas I retain from this book are to organize on shelves instead of in drawers and vertically rather than horizontally, it will have been a savior. Reading the sentence "Retire your dresser" was a eureka moment! Who knew that something like that could make such a difference? I now have shelves in the closet for my clothes and actually put them away after I do laundry. At the office, I've grabbed an abandoned metal magazine rack from the supply room so I can keep current projects vertical and in sight without having to put more on my desk than is already there. There are some suggestions in the book that seem counterintuitive, or contradict common advice on organization, but as soon as I read them I knew they were just what I needed. Whether there really is something about the "ADD brain" that makes these off-beat suggestions work, I have no idea, but I don't really care.

My closest match in the book chapters was "Chaos," and I have a long way to go, believe me. I think the fact that the person presented in that chapter was single was a big help to me. As some others have said, I can't use all the suggestions in the book for using outside resources, and not all of the chapters fit my situation, but the suggestions I can use are more than worth the price and the time. Something that made the book even more useful is that it doesn't cover just home, or just work, or just any other part of life, but has ideas that can be integrated into the whole.

I'd read the reviews here before I bought the book, and wondered if I'd find it "dumbed down" in wording or format, but it doesn't seem that way to me. Maybe it's because I spend a lot of time online and reading technical material, but I'm so used to reading things with bullets, and charts, and lists, that it just seems natural. It may not be great literature, but it's not meant to be. It is the most helpful material I've ever read on organizing my life.

For most of my life, I have known that I don't quite organize my things or thoughts etcetera like most people and all of the "Get your life organized" or traditional methods detailed in organizational books never seemed to help me.

Then, perhaps a year ago, I picked up this book and what a transformation. Even the structure of the book is to capitalize on the attention span of those with ADD as each chapter is broken up into short pieces to make its point and then move on to the next one.

Like anyone with ADD, I find that while doing some of the work on my own has been helpful, I definitely need to follow up with some of the "other support people" that the book describes. I might carry through one day or even for a string of days, but can quickly slip back into old, inefficient patterns (that often have been habit forming over a lifetime of being disorganized).

I find that this book is very positive and makes you feel like having ADD can be a strength rather than a weakness.

I hope you find it helpful.

I was daunted by the thickness of the book when I received it - I was hoping for a fun read like Judith Kolberg's book "Conquering Chronic Disorganization" which was more in a story form. This has all the makings of a textbook! Don't get me wrong - you couldn't pry this book out of my hands. I would, however, have liked to see more of Ms. Kolberg's enlightening thoughts and style from her earlier book transferred to this book (ex: I liked the story in the first book about the body double, it made more of an impression on me than this book did).

It is filled to the brim with REAL solutions. The authors claimed to offer ADD-friendly organizing solutions. They deliver and MORE. I was tempted to hop and skip through the book, but gems of information were hidden on every page - even in sections I thought didn't apply to me.

One suggestion to the authors: Please consider converting your info into a "study" program (ex, color coded folders for each section). I wanted to present this book as a gift to my ADD mother, but realized it is too much for her. We Add'ers need a more visually-friendly "tactile" presentation to refer back to make notes and such as we begin our journey of applying what we have learned.

This book is already a classic... and indispensable tool for ADD'ers. I am left with a new determination with skills in hand to improve my life. My hats off to you!

It's about time a book specifically about ADD and organizing was written. This book was well worth the wait!

I was pleasantly surprised that the size of the book is larger than many other ADD books and so is the Print itself.

The set up of the book is VERY "ADD Friendly". Main ideas are bulleted and highlighted. There are also review sections at end of each chapter. There are some very useful charts and even some a few pictures of specific organizing tools.

The ideas and suggestion given in this book may be be very helpful to people with ADD. There are some great suggestion that seem too easy to help but as somebody who has used many of them, they do help.

I bought this book hoping it would help me sort my stacks of papers that constantly threaten to topple off my desk, kitchen table, etc. And it has, but it is so much more. It gives hints on how to organize all aspects of your life to make living with ADD easier. I've highlighted and dog-eared it up, and have started applying a lot of things from the book; something that I can't say for other books I've read.

And unlike a lot of so-called ADD-friendly books, this one is easy to stay in tune with almost all the time.

I have done TONS of research on ADD/ADHD since I found out 4 1/2 months ago at age 22 that I have ADHD. I can NOT believe how awesome this book is!

1st: It is laid out so that people with ADD/ADHD can read it more easily. I didn't know that I do read things easier if they are bullited and such. And this book is set up like that. Very easy to follow - both with/without ADD/ADHD.

2nd: The BEST format as far as information goes. It has a story of someone who does something (that is AD/HD related), then has ways that person can help themselves. Then step two has ways that person can get help from friends and family, and finally, it lists ways a professional can help. It also has lots of different ideas to help get organized that are easy, cheap and not too difficult!

3rd: This book can be set down and picked up at any given point with out the reader getting lost - and we all know that that is important when we talk about this catigory!!! I keep a mechanical pencil in the book at all times and am constantly circling/highlighting/staring next to paragraphs and sentences! I always jot down little notes in the margins of the book and I love to go back and read through them again for reference to myself!!!

A MUST BUY FOR ANYONE WITH THIS FUN, yet CHALLENGING lifestyle (I hate calling it a disorder!!).... Please spend your money on this book. You WON'T be disappointed!

I would recomend this book to anyone with ADD, after reading books and magezines trying to organize my life this one was the best ever! It is so easy to follow with ending notes after each chapter to remind you of the important points in that chapter. It gives diagrams, pictures, and illistrations, everything an ADDer needs in a good book. Every chapter was like looking into a mirror but ACTUALLY getting help from it! Not just another ADD book that tells you you need therepy and this is what is wrong with you, it explains why you do these things and then give simple suggestions that are easy to follow. I would recomend this to anyone who has organization problems even those who don't but have ADD. I am going to pass this through my whole family so maby it can help them too!