Customer Reviews

Living Organized: Proven Steps for a Clutter-Free and Beautiful Home

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

First get ready to spend a lot of time reading why some people are Messy. The first half of the book is devoted to explaining why some people are messy and come across as a sales pitch for her other book(s) and Messies Anonymous.

Here is the plan... get three boxes, one for items to keep, one for items to give away, and one for items to toss. Now pick a room and clean it. If you come across an item that doesn't belong where it is put it in the keep box (and when you get to the place it actually belongs put it away), if it is something you don't want but is of some value put it in the give away box, and if it is trash throw it away. Once you have finished that room, go to the next.

Then buy lots of supplies so you can organize your stuff so it doesn't get messy again.

Your husband and children are worthless and will do nothing but hinder your efforts, and you should go around throwing away their belongings that you don't think they need.

Also hiring someone to take care of it might be a good idea.

Once you have taken care of the clutter then you can actually clean stuff and buy all new furniture and decor because you will realize how everything in your house is ugly.

I just saved you however many hours it would have taken you to read this book.

Yes this is the updated version of the Messies Superguide. And I'm so grateful. My Superguide was so well used, it was losing pages! Here and there, there is updated info.

Basics:
Each chapter ends with short questions for you to answer. These are questions to get you to the core of your problems as a messie. Once you know your weaknesses, you can fix them. In later chapters the questions get you to analyse, create strategies, and attack the problem....much like Morganstern's book, Organizing from the Inside Out.

Only this book was written first and explains WHY we do what we do.

This book is wonderful in explaining why some of us are messy, are packrats, are hoarders, are depressed, are afraid to have people over to our homes. And what makes this book so life changing is the fact that it isn't just Sandra's life(which it is) it is also Sandra's RESEARCH! She talks about research on how the brain works and why some of us are messy.

This was really helpful to me. It is one thing to hear, I'm a messy, your a messy we are ok. Lets try to figure out how to help ourselves. It is quite another to hear, research says this is why you are a messy. With this knowledge you can get to the core of your problem.

Another point that sets this book apart from others is Sandra is not a cleanie (This is a person who is naturally able to clean and organize). The benefit to her being "one of us" is that we are much less likely to feel put off or insulted. Then we are able to make progress.

While a previous reviewer is correct in stating there are no direct tips and hints on organizing your home, I believe that is one of it's strongest points. Many a cleanie has written books telling you how to arrange your house. How many of each item you should possess.

The problem, you don't fix yourself! You don't deal with the core problem so the house falls apart again and you go purchase the next book by a cleanie.

They make money and you add another book to your clutter. sigh.
With this book I have made great strides in decluttering and organizing and I have not slid back into the clutter of things everywhere.

If you are a messy, you gotta have this book!

When I moved into my first apartment I was faced with a terrible dilema. My mother had always kept our house in good shape, that is of course for myself and my sister's room who were in a continual state of disarray. Therefore I learned to enjoy a clean house without actually learning to do it myself. I was miserable in my own apartment! Thankfully for Christmas my mom got me Living Organized as well as Smart Organizing and The New Messies Manual by Sandra Felton. Living Organized is great for pointing out habits that need to be replaced that lead to disorganization, especially for those of us who are easily distracted, and Smart Organizing is more about what to do once you're aware of your behavior. I haven't made it to the third one yet, but am saving it for if I slip back into my old ways. It must be working because when my sister came to visit last night she said "wow, your place is so clean and organized."

Being merely an updated version of the Messies Superguide, I was a bit disappointed when I started reading this, since I wasn't aware of that fact before I purchased it. The book is fine, but I already had a copy of the superguide, and so I felt a bit ornery about it.

Nevertheless, the ideas in this book are sound, and have helped me to slowly start organizing my own house. Heavy on theory, and rather light on examples, "Living Organized" spends most of its time reassuring you that no, you're not a horrible person because you can't keep your house clean, and yes, there are solutions to your problems. It does take a rather traditional view towards housework (referring to the "motherly" jobs of keeping "husband and children" organized, etc), but if you're able to take it with a grain of salt, then you should be fine.

i was fascinated at first then i kept skipping through looking for the tools...im going to go through my clutter to find the book with the actual tools for organizing... organizing from the inside out. living organized was nearly a waste of my time but luckily it was free. clean out a drawer instead.

This book is directed to the folks Felton calls "Messies," the chronically messy and perpetually disorganized, helping them understand and, hopefully, overcome that chronic messiness. It provides good insight for Messies, those of us who can never find our keys, our shoes, or the remote control. It is more self-help than how-to, more about purging extra clutter than organizing what remains. I don't think it would be a good purchase for someone who is basically well-organized or clutter-free but looking to take it to a higher level.

Felton spends at least half of the book discussing how Messies' brains work -- including right brain / left brain differences, typical Messie coping strategies -- shopping for new clutter tops the list. Messies are typically stuff-focused and youth-focused; we like to surround ourselves with stuff, particularly stuff that evokes memories of our youth. Because our stuff is meaningful to us, it can be difficult to part with. We are also paralyzed by indecision because our brains race off in many different directions, cause us to think about so many possibilities, when we're trying to make a decision. We don't make decisions in what others would deem a logical, linear manner. We also become so connected to our things -- when we try to declutter or clean, we can get sidetracked easily. We're impatient.

If all this sounds familiar, read on. If not -- this probably isn't the book for you. After the first 100+ pages which is really about how the Messie mind functions, Felton gets into some practical tips for Messies, providing ideas for each room and area of the house. Much of the focus is on helping Messies understand how life will really be better if we are willing to take the risk of parting with our precious stuff.

One thing that distinguishes this from other "organizing" books is that is acknowledges and validates the Messie mindset -- it doesn't attempt to turn Messies into Neaties (which would not be a long-term solution), rather it helps Messies cope with their ingrained tendencies.

One minor comment -- Felton writes as if her audience is primarily married women caring for husbands & families -- which it probably is. If you're single or a man, this might not resonate so much with you. It's got useful tips nonetheless --

Sadly, this book did nothing but frustrate me. I found the author to be out of touch with reality and very sexist. Evidently (given that I'm a man), I sit around doing nothing but watch TV and expect my wife to wait on me hand and foot. Yeah, right.

Even looking past the obvious sexism, I couldn't find much that could be considered practical regarding new ideas for organization. About half the book talks about the psychology of what the author calls "messies", and the rest was just common sense. Nothing new. Nothing of value which I didn't already know.

Very disappointing indeed.

This book does help with you discover the root of the problem. Following an 'blue print' from a non-messie does not change the way I think & process information about my world. I find Sandra Felton's books come from the point of view of a former messie & I can relate to her better than someone who has always been organized. If you are a messie, this is a good book to read.

This book itself is in need of decluttering. It's a mess! If there are any real organizing steps, I never found them It seems to be written exclusively for housewives with lots of kids. I waded my way through an explanation of right brain left brain theory followed by a silly short story. I skipped chapters about the husband and kids I never had. I finally gave up in a chapter about my dream house. At least the price was right. I paid nothing and got nothing in return.

I initially thought this would be a good book with the right brain/ left brain concept of organization.
I did not like the way the author continued to categorize "messies" and "cleanies"- I'm not 9 years old. I fee like she went back & forth between writing for an adult and an elementary school kid. Her tone was somewhat condescending & I quit reading.
Glad it was free.