Customer Reviews

Absolutely Organized: A Mom's Guide to a No-Stress Schedule and Clutter-Free Home

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought this book based on the high product rating in hopes that it would offer me practical solutions for my hectic life with a 3 year old, 2 year old, and 5 month old.

I have to say, while reasonably well written, and easy to read, it is not at all helpful to two sorts of parents:

1. Those working with a limited budget (the author brags about her 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, vacations to Paris, etc)

2. Those who believe in attachment parenting (she offers a rigid schedule for babies. Sleeping through the night at 6 weeks? Really?)

Her cleaning schedule is impractical for those with a smaller home. Cleaning the bathroom once a week might be practical in a home with four bathrooms. It is not in a home where 5 people share one bathroom. Her laundry advice of one time a week is also impractical with three little kids and small house where laundry makes a big mess if not washed and put away daily!

She assumes that if you have a small child in the house, only one child is quite young and the others are older. While this is true of some people, it's certainly not my demographic!

Her scheduling advice for young babies is alarming, dangerous, and unhealthy. She recommends spacing nursing sessions every 4 hours, which anyone with an ounce of common sense knows is very unsafe especially for little babies, and will lead to failure to thrive, malnourishment, and eating issues. She recommends a rigid nap schedule and I strongly suspect she used the brutal and anti-attachment "Crying-it-out" technique at an obscenely young age to achieve it.

Bottom line: if you are wealthy, have a large home, have only one (or no!) young children, and practice detached parenting, this book will probably assist you in your organizational goals.

If you're on a small budget, with a modest home, have more than 1 young child, and believe in treating babies and children with the respect they are due (and, um, not starving them in their formative months) keep looking, because this is not the book for you.

A really good book. This book offers practical, actionable, easily implemented everyday things that make your life run smoother. After reading the first chapter, I started using some of the suggestions. They are practical and on the mark. The first thing I did was buy a daily day planner. I was working with a monthly planner for school activities and appointments. With the new planner, as suggested in the book, I planned my week by the hour and included meal ideas. ( When I plan a week's worth of meals, it also gives me a clear shopping list!) It's like a new world opened up to me.

While scheduling my days by the hour, I realized that I'm much busier than I thought, but still found slower sections of the day. (As a mom, you know you're busy, but once you write it down it becomes impressively busy.) Prior to writing it down, I would go through time periods where I would sort of float along, attending to household needs when they arose and then get hit with with work that needed to be done at once. (Like everyone is out of clean clothes and I have 6 loads to do or I'm asked to do a freelance job or worse ... unexpected company!) Now I'm scheduling everything (as suggested in the book), which helps to create balance and provides time management. I also schedule down time! When I was working in an office, I would schedule every minute to maximize output, but when I'm at home, I just didn't think it was needed. I was wrong.

The end result: I'm accomplishing so much more but feeling like I'm doing less... and I feel more accomplished. For example, after planning my day today, I was able to start a wall covering home improvement project, shred 2 yrs worth of paperwork, complete Christmas gift purchases online for my kids. I've also started the organization/clearing out my office ( using the CPR method described in the book). I've also completed the usual stuff that's required: drop offs, pick ups, lunches, dinner, playtime with kids, a work appointment, many phone calls, and four hours of "work". And I'm only half way through the book! Do yourself a favor, get this book!

I can just see Oprah visiting Debbie Lillard's home to see her in action!(Does she really practice what she preaches, we all wonder)

Thank you for writing this book! As a new Mom and business owner who works out of my home, my time is more valuable (and scarce) then ever before. Debbie Lillard's great new book is a mandatory read, like Jeff Olson's The Slight Edge or Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad or Napolean Hill's Think and Grow Rich.

Why? It has some of the most practical, useful tips in having a successful life, which of course, all starts at HOME! I wish my Mom of six had this back in the 70s! It would have made her life much easier.

You might imagine a book on organizing to be, well, dry, boring or condescending...but Debbie Lillard's words are compassionate and inspiring - part instructor, part therapist, part cheerleader and ALL MOM. She's pulled great quotes from some of the world's great thinkers which set a strong context for the "why" behind being "absolutely organized."

The book rests next to my combination diaper bag/backpack purse on my desk, next to the baby carriage...This will be a great reference tool for time to come. Not everyone can hire a personal organizer. This is the next best thing! I second Jeanne - already bought 6 copies for family stocking stuffers and will buy many more. Congratulations Debbie. This book will make a profound difference for anyone - not just Moms!

As A mother of three, with a husband who travels this book has become a family bible. It hits on all the points that mothers struggle with daily. It has not only helped me it has helped my older children (9&7) get themselves organized in school as well as there rooms (chapter 16) they now purge themselves and are limited to there bins(priceless!!) I would recomend this book to everyone and I have purchased it for all of my sisters-in-law as well as close friends it will be with all of there Christmas presents. I think they will all love it as much as I do.

Jeanne-New York

This book has some good information, but you have to wade through some annoying writing (at times it seems as if she's writing for children, not adults, with many of her more obvious instructions) to get to it. Also, there seemed to be a lot of filler, such as the pictures of toy boxes/bins--surely most parents know what those look like--and full paragraph explanations when bullet lists with short phrases would have been plenty.

The parenting advice--just about all of it except for the age-appropriate cleaning task list--belongs in another book entirely. While the sleeping schedule advice may work for some children, it won't work for all. However, it was even worse to read that for a mere 2-hour drive she has the TV on in the minivan for her children. And I have to agree with her husband, for a 2-hour drive the children could well wait until they got to their destination before getting a drink or something to eat.

I hope in a future edition the author leaves the parenting advice out, and puts more solid organizing advice in. I did enjoy the sections on dealing with photos and other memorabilia--subjects often glossed over in organizing books that are more about cleaning than organizing.

As it is now, borrow from your library and/or buy used.

As a mother of 4 small children, ages 4, 4, 2, and 1, organization is essential for survival! I was immediately drawn to this book and I was delighted to read it. The book was well-written, easy to read, and had several "Laugh Out Loud" excerpts in which I found myself totally relating. The CPR method for organization is universal and can be applied to so many facets of running a household. This book was very motivational and I began making lists of what I wanted to accomplish as I read through each chapter. I found the charts and tables extremely helpful, especially the section on "how long to keep all those statements". I have already sat down with my paper shredder and this book to purge my filing cabinet. I totally agree with the author's philosophy that organization is liberating and yet I appreciate her viewpoint that flexibility needs to be maintained as well. A great Pep Talk on how to manage your family, your house, and still have fun!!!

The title says it all. No stress and clutter free.....now who doesn't want that?! As the mother of three active kids and a teacher of about 140, my life is incredibly hectic. I don't have much time to get organized let alone read about getting organized, but every minute spent reading this book is worth it's weight in gold. It has such practical advice that you'll find yourself saying, "Why didn't I think of that?" Debbie Lillard's tips clearly come from experience and they make perfect sense in setting up a home where schedules, meals, chores, etc. run smoothly. The book motivates you to implement her tips and strategies. This book leaves you wishing you had it years ago, but thankful that you have it now. I, too, plan on purchasing several copies to give as Christmas gifts, and I'm also going to get a copy to leave in the teacher's room so that my colleagues can all benefit from the information. It would make a great shower gift, too! Terrific work, Mrs. Lillard!!

I have read many books and magazine articles on getting organized and I have to say that this is the most comprehensive book of them all. From organizing the crazy time around the holidays to getting your kitchen de-cluttered, this book has it all. It's filled with easy to follow tips and strategies and I found myself laughing more than once at the author's humorous insights and personal organizing stories. The day after getting the book, I bought myself a daily planner as the book suggests. I had stopped using one four years ago when I went from a full-time working mom to a stay-at-home mom. I didn't think I needed one to manage a household. Boy was I wrong! After getting back in to the swing of jotting down errands, tasks, and appointments - I saw immediate results. I am not only getting more done on a daily basis, but I feel so much more accomplished! I love the book's room by room approach - it takes a seemingly overwhelming project and brings it to a manageable level. This book is a MUST for the busy Mom!

As a mother of twins, I found this book very helpful. I find myself trying to manage to get things done around the house and give my kids and husband the time they deserve. Debbie has included ways to cut time out of things that normally take a while (ie grocery shopping and laundry) to put towards the things I want to do. I loved how she breaks down the best times to maintain the systems to keep it all undercontrol. This has been especially helpful for the holiday season and my children's toys. A great book if you want to find ways to make time for yourself and the ones you love!

Tonia Tomlin

Author of Chaos 2 Calm

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Owner of Sorted Out, LLC

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If you are like me, you would love to get your life more organized but you just don't know how to get started. Well, with "Absolutely Organized", your problems are solved. This terrific book comes complete with step by step instructions on getting your home, your life, and your stuff organized. In each chapter, Lillard presents a problem and then step by step solutions that even the most cluttered can follow. An organizing book for moms and non-moms alike, "Absolutely Organized" is a winner. The book looks terrific, too, with full color pictures, graphics, and an easy to read layout. Don't miss it.