Customer Reviews

How Not to Be a Messie: The Ultimate Guide for the Neatness-Challenged

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

BUY THIS BOOK! Intelligently written, funny and unbelievably helpful, this book is a must for even those people who think they've got their home and life in order. Not just about cleaning your house, this book literally helps you clean your life and soul. Liberating without being condescending, or suggesting that one give up sentiment or family traditions. (i.e. you can keep your children's Christmas tree ornaments and give away that 1/2 finished needlepoint kit... and feel no guilt.) A celebration of family and respect. Ms. Felton is a truth teller and in this case, the truth doesn't hurt, it frees you from the bondage of your 'stuff'. Bravo! I've bought 6 copies and am passing them out to everyone I care about.

This book really is just a combination of The Messies Manual and The Messie Motivator, back to back under one cover. There isn't even a separate preface for this edition. Two for the price of one.

If you're drowning in a pile of clutter and junk, can't find anything when you need it and feel hopeless that you cannot change, this book is for you! I was amazed at how much it motivated and inspired me and instilled a hope that I CAN CHANGE and I don't have to be a victim any longer. After cleaning out my closets and drawers this weekend, I feel such a weight has been lifted, and I KNOW I am FINALLY on my way to a clutter-free life! This book gives great advice for maintaining a clean home once the junk is removed, also. It is filled with humor and encouraging quotes/verses that totally motivated and inspired me. The author did not make me feel guilty for being a slob, but instead explained the REASONS for my lack of ordiliness and offered awesome tips which challenged me to change! I can't tell you enough how REFRESHING it is to come home to a clean house and know I don't have to be afraid to open any of my closet doors ANYMORE or feel the shame associated with a messy home! I am a new person! Thank you Sandra Felton!

Long, long ago in another country, I had the original version "The Messie Manual". which is included in this tome.

I bought it very cheaply in a second hand book store, but valued it very highly.
It fully helped me declutter my life very swiftly.
I didn't do everything, or totally, her way, but "my versions" of her advice worked. And still work.

I found her "reasons why we are messy" extremely helpful. It helped me a great deal to know what angle I was coming from and enabled me to "self talk" to curb my impulse to hoard.

It also broke up the huge,overwhelming problem of "I am a messy person who is out of control of my possessions and space" into smaller, easier-to-tackle areas. This seems to be an underlying premise: when its all too much, start small.

Furthermore,understanding "why" also led to the discovery of my own very effective "anti-hoarding" technique; still trotted out when the "sentimental messie" in me won't let me discard something that absolutely must go (which,for those of you similarly challenged,is to photograph it)

Sandra is a pastor's wife and not shy of weaving that into the stories, but big deal. It was quite amusing and always relevent. I still recall something almost a decade later about her quoting from Biblical "Proverbs" about a woman "needing her maidens" to help her and how the modern woman has "electric" ones.
Rampant feminists might get into a dither about the focus on women - so "slash" all the "she"s into "S/he"s ! Honestly, why let that get in one's way of an effective solution ?!!

While effective and authoratative (she succeeded, and ended up holding popular seminars). it is an amusing, light approach to a potentially boring subject: most definately encouraging & most non-accusatory / judgemental (reminds me of Barbara di Angelo freely 'fessing to all her relationship faux pas in "Are you the one for me ?")

If you are unhappy with the state of your living / working space,and want something effective and to-the-point to approach your problem, go for it. And have fun !

I have struggled with being a messie my entire life! I have tried to find ways to organize myself (my systems never worked)and have read many books that did not help me. I knew after the first chapter that this was the right book. She has a lot of great ideas and systems that work. Don't wonder if you should buy this book - BUY IT! (You're getting two for the price of one.) I am on my way to a clean and neat house!

I've read a number of books on de-cluttering and organizing your life. They all contain lots of good tips, but never really helped me to get my life and house in order. This is the first book to do so. It is very motivating - Sandra Felton doesn't blame or belittle her readers. She used to be one of us! The book is slanted towards stay-at-home wives and moms. I am neither a mom nor stay-at-home, but I still used her advice successfully. I recommend this book for anyone who has read other books on the subject but find they are still lacking the motivation needed to actually change their habits.

I have only read the first of two books in this volume, but I am impressed with the combination of quiet wisdom dispensed in a plain-writing style. The style may not resonate with a woman who wants to be flattered as hard-charging or not to be confused with a housewife; I think the book is a small gem. Benjamin Franklin, another pragmatist not without humor, would have understood its tone. (BTW, I am a 59 year-old bachelor.) At her best, Felton offers compassion to those who have been intimidated into fear of making any decision or any move, counsels against compensating by inflating simple jobs into big plans that are never executed, and gently shows how to break things down into managable size. She offers useful and humorous warnings against "another good idea that doesn't work." As an older book, the book shows no awareness of how Felton's tools could fit into a small electronic PDA, but a reader who prefers a PDA to paper can figure that out.

This book is an easy read (once I started it, I had a hard time putting it down!)and made a huge impact on my life! I am now calling myself a "former messie". My life will never be the same after having read this book. It will encourage you, humble you, and make you laugh at what the Author writes about changing her own ways. READ it, even if you are a "cleanie"!

Only a Messie understands another Messie. She gets to the emotional reasons as well as the debilitating thinking patterns of a Messie. She found out how the Cleanies MAINTAIN their homes to keep from having all jobs require excessive time and energy. The only book you'll ever need. No other organizational or clutter-busting book compares. You deserve to own this book. Buy it and get your dignity back.

I never thought of myself as a "Messie", I just thought I was just behind on a few things! Sandra Felton in her wonderful writing style makes you want to sing out loud and expect more from yourself and your home. This book is not for you if you want to learn how to clean but it is for you if you want to organize your home and life. Her system on organizing your cleaning and day to day life are quick painless and ultimately change your messie ways forever!