One Thing At a Time: 100 Simple Ways to Live Clutter-Free Every Day (Paperback)

by Cindy Glovinsky (Author) "Do you have one of those brains that goes naturally in twenty-seven directions at once?..." (more)
Key Phrases: big clutter, clutter piles, errand day, Fix-It Day (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Making Peace with the Things in Your Life

"Glovinsky is a compassionate, talented organizer who understands the root causes of people's clutter woes. This is a really helpful book."
- Judith Kolberg, author of Conquering Chronic Disorganization and co-author of ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life

"Glovinsky asks readers to examine the underlying psychological issues that they have with things....She takes Julie Morgenstern's Organizing from the Inside Out to the next level."
- Library Journal

Product Description
Simple, effective ways to put things in their place

Those piles of papers, clothes, and other things you thought you'd successfully de-cluttered have returned, and this time they brought friends. What's the use of trying to fight the clutter? Is there a better way?

This powerful and useful guide delivers solutions that work, no matter how overwhelmed you feel. The answer isn't an elaborate new system, or a solemn vow to start tomorrow. Instead, psychotherapist and organizer Cindy Glovinsky shares 100 simple strategies for tackling the problem the way it grows--one thing at a time. Here's a sampling of the tips explained in the book:

*Declare a fix-it day
*Purge deep storage areas first
*Label it so you can read it
*Get a great letter opener
*Practice toy population planning
*Leave it neater than you found it
Written in short takes and with a supportive tone, this is an essential, refreshing book that helps turn a hopeless struggle into a manageable part of life, one thing at a time.


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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (July 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312324863
• ISBN-13: 978-0312324865
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #12,040 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

116 of 117 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, November 29, 2004

By	Sheri (Gages Lake, IL) - See all my reviews

If you have clutter, this book is a must-have. The tips are practical and how-to without being just Band-Aids. They get at the root of the problem and show you how you'll feel afterward. Covers such things as preventing junk mail, shrinking a book collection, parting with coupons etc. that never get used, getting errands done in less time, and actually fixing the broken stuff that's been waiting for months or years. I can't say enough good things about this book--GET IT. And read it all.

163 of 167 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable read and good information, April 23, 2005

By	Blaine Greenfield "eclectic reader" (Belle Meade, NJ) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Enjoyed ONE THING AT A TIME by Cindy Glovinsky . . . its subtitle says it all: 100 SIMPLE WAYS TO LIVE CLUTTER-FREE EVERY DAY.

There's nothing here that you may have not already thought and/or read about . . . yet to actually do as Glovinsky suggests is a whole separate matter if you're anything like me; i.e., prone to have papers accumulate . . . it seems that whenever I get rid of piles of them,
their friends return in even greater force!

Glovinsky presents each tip in the form of a short chapter that contains such sensible bit of advice as the following:

One thing at a time;
Stop perfecting, start bettering;
Make a list of minitasks;
Throw away coupons;
Put up pictures now;
Move from quality to quantity; and one I need to think some more about:
Break the clipping habit.

There were several memorable passages; among them:
Invest a little time and money that may save you trouble in the long run. Buy 100 stamped postcards. For the next month, each time you receive a piece of junk mail from an outfit that has frequently contacted you, send its employees a postcard pointing out that they're wasting money and asking to be removed from their mailing list. If the junkmail
contains a 1-800 number or an e-mail address, use these means to contact them as well. Some businesses will ignore your request and continue to send you unwanted mail, but others will get the message. Dump all junk mail into the recycle bin as soon as it comes in the door.

If they're on the floor, put them in the hamper. If they're in the hamper, put them in the laundry baskets. If they're in the laundry baskets, put them in the washer. If they're in the washer, put them in the dryer. If they're in the dryer, hang them on the line or fold them and put them back in the laundry baskets. If they're on the line or in the laundry baskets,
put them in the closets and the drawers. Clothes that get stuck somewhere
in the laundry cycle create big mounds of clothes clutter, all of which can be easily removed. Just keep the clothes moving until they're all back in the closets and drawers and watch the piles disappear.

When you're ready to sort, stand next to a recycle bin and toss everything useless into it. Don't bother to open envelopes if you're really sure they're junk mail. Then divide what's left into three piles: items to send or give to somebody else, action items and file items. Get rid of the Send/Give pile ASAP by mailing or handling papers over to their proper recipients. Meanwhile, put the File items--papers you want to put away--in a to-file box. Its size depends on how often you're able to file and how many papers you typically have. Schedule filing time in your planner within the next week to empty the box.

87 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Advice!, March 13, 2006

By	Ariane Benefit "Owner, Neat & Simple Living, ... (NJ - NYC Area) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm a professional organizer and I loved this book! It puts in writing much of the advice I give my clients to help them maintain the organizing systems we put in place. Plus I picked up a few new tips! I know a book is good when I take notes from it.

One of my and my client's favorites is to make our own "Container Store". I've found that people who struggle with organizing usually have so many organizing tools we rarely have to shop for more! We just empty everything and put it one place. After purging the unneeded stuff and sorting like with like, we then choose the appropriate container from our "store". This is a new concept for some people. Many people buy the storage first then try to figure out what to do with it. The best way is to know what you are going to store and THEN buy the container...or better yet, get it from your own container store! When we are done organizing, we create a home for all the unused containers in the garage or basement.

There are a few out of the 100 that are kinda odd or not what I would have written, but for the 10$ there are many other great ideas in the book that you can really use. Even if you are fairly well organized, you are likely to find a few tips you can use!