Order from Chaos: A Six-Step Plan for Organizing Yourself, Your Office, and Your Life [Paperback]

Liz Davenport (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 18, 2001

The Six Steps to Organizational Freedom

Do you:
*Miss important deadlines at work?
*Forget to return urgent phone calls?
*Lose papers that were “just here a minute ago”?
*Have multiple layers of sticky notes on your computer?
*Leave projects unfinished for days, weeks, or even months at a time?

If any of these sound familiar, then you are among the ranks of the disorganized—whether mildly or completely—and Liz Davenport has written this book just for you. Order from Chaos is the organizing book for disorganized people. In six easy steps she offers a system that will help you clean up your act. She demonstrates how to clear your desk by teaching you what's trash and why, reveals what a calendar is really meant to be, and provides a no-fail system for prioritization. At the end of the day, your desk will be clear and your mind will be free to relax.

Rather than offering overcomplicated instructions for filing systems and time management plans, Order from Chaos focuses on ease of use. There is not one person—from office assistant to CEO—who will not benefit from this straightforward, easy-to-maintain plan.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Three Rivers presents two related self-help titles in December. In Order from Chaos: A 6-Step Plan for Organizing Yourself, Your Office, and Your Life, Liz Davenport offers specific practical suggestions to those who feel overwhelmed by physical and mental clutter. Davenport, owner of an organizing business with the same name as the book, teaches readers how to distinguish trash from necessities, organize their desktops (a Desktop File, an In Box, a To Read box, a To File box), keep their planners manageable and many more time- and mental health-saving devices. Dec.)

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Davenport owns a business called Order from Chaos, and this book, based on her work, is a six-step guide to time management through organization. Davenport walks the reader through getting one's office under control, what to carry in the attache, and scheduling time throughout the day to maximize effectiveness. She uses a system she calls Air Traffic Control, which is the key to her time-management system. You become your own pilot and your office is the cockpit. The aeronautical terminology used throughout the book actually puts an interesting spin on a logical system to re-organize behavior. Davenport goes beyond mere organization, prompting readers to examine their daily habits, which can be the root of organizational problems. She outlines a plan to readjust those habits to provide you with more free time to--fly. Eileen Hardy
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1 edition (December 18, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609807773
• ISBN-13: 978-0609807774
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.5 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #435,411 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book changed the way I work, June 2, 2004

By 

Dave (Indiana) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Order from Chaos: A Six-Step Plan for Organizing Yourself, Your Office, and Your Life (Paperback)

In hindsight, the author's advice seems like obvious common sense tips. But that's the way all great ideas work: once discovered, you can't imagine how you didn't think of that before.

I've loaned the book out to several co-workers and friends, but none of them have opened up the book, so their lives remain chaotic. Buy the book. And read it. You'll be glad you did.

Prior to reading this book I had stacks of paper and files scattered around my office, and dozens of to-do items scribbled in three different notebooks and on scraps of paper. I work hard but I never felt productive because I was aware of all of those action items around me that I wasn't finding the time or energy to get to.

After reading the book, my desk is clean, my floor is clear of stacks of "stuff", and there's a set of trays on my desk that gets cleaned out in a methodical manner. When I'm not at work, I'm not thinking of the hundred things I need to get accomplished the next day, because I have a plan in place. All thanks to the book.

The author's cockpit idea is brilliant, and I'm in the process of trying to apply that idea to my garage and my kitchen at home. I'm confident that this books will allow me to bring Order to those chaotic spots just like it did for my office.

One side note: the author spends a few pages towards the back of the book trying to sell you her planners. You might benefit from those planners, but you can adopt most of the author's tips and tricks using standard Franklin or Day-Timer planners instead.

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Personal organization made easy and practical, January 16, 2002

By 

B. Pomeroy "bpomeroy54" (Sewell, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Order from Chaos: A Six-Step Plan for Organizing Yourself, Your Office, and Your Life (Paperback)

Davenport provides a comprehensive, easy-to-follow strategy for getting one's life in order. In an increasingly complex world, a simple yet effective method of organization is crucial to one's success and sanity. It doesn't matter what kind of job you have -- or whether you have a job at all -- for Davenport's methods can apply to anyone.

One weakness of the book is the rather minimal amount of time spent on e-mail, PDAs and other digital data. At a time when many are cutting back on the use of paper, these media are becoming increasingly important, yet Davenport largely ignores them. She is especially dismissive of PDAs -- something that's become an organizational lifesaver to me and many others -- and those looking for strategies for more effective use of digital media won't find much here. Especially as this is such a recent book, such oversights are surprising; hopefully they will be addressed more thoroughly in future editions.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Treasure of Practical Help, February 1, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Order from Chaos: A Six-Step Plan for Organizing Yourself, Your Office, and Your Life (Paperback)

What a terrific surprise to get "Order from Chaos". I read it in one day because I couldn't put it down. What an important book! A treasure of practical help.

It's just what I needed, especially now. I've already organized my office, garage and storage shed, and gave away and threw out lots of "stuff". I feel more in control and less burdened already. And I love my pending file.

I know I'll keep referring and rereading Liz's book to help me learn to prioritize continually--my biggest weakness.