How to Organize (Just About) Everything: More Than 500 Step-by-Step Instructions for Everything from Organizing Your Closets to Planning a Wedding to Creating a Flawless Filing System [Hardcover]

Peter Walsh (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 28, 2004

Professional organizer Peter Walsh presents this witty and enormously practical guide to getting it -- and keeping it -- all together. With more than 500 easy-to-follow how-to instructions, How to Organize (Just About) Everything is packed with shrewd advice and insider tips to make your home, your workplace -- indeed, every imaginable aspect of your life -- run more smoothly. Step-by-step solutions help even the most organizationally challenged take on:

Kids

Schedules

Storage

Photos

Lists

Politics

Education

Remodels

Meals

Weddings

Finances

Holidays

Parties

Vacations

Emergencies

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As this massive guide shows, anti-clutter expert Walsh’s expertise extends well beyond closets and cabinets. The star of TLC’s Clean Sweep offers advice on how to organize your whole life, from education ("Plan Your Course of Study in College") to finances ("Organize a Loan Application") to social life ("Plan a Prom"). And while you may not think you need to know what to do in case of an Ebola outbreak, can it hurt to be prepared? Most of the 500 subjects are covered in a page of clear, commonsensical advice, with warnings and extra little tips highlighted along the margins of the page. You may think more than one page is needed to explain how to be happy, but Walsh actually offers a concise summary of the basic points found in hundreds of self-help books. You could save yourself a lot of time by getting this useful compendium.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Don't fool yourself. This is so much more than simple organization; in fact, cable TV Clean Sweep host Walsh has corralled 11 contributors to help cover the universe of how-to's. Inside the 16 sections are 501 activities, both the usual and out-of-the-ordinary tasks, from getting organized and planning a remodeling project to joining the Peace Corps or becoming an astronaut. Each features the step-by-step procedures, tips, a warning (if necessary), and "who knew?"--additional advice designed to make the activity a success: for instance, for running errands, arrange sticky notes in the sequence of the stops you need to make. A personal favorite may turn out to be the last activity--be happy--which features steps like dream big, make a conscious decision to be happy, eat chocolate, work out, find satisfaction in little things, and take care of yourself. A great humane reference anytime, anywhere, for any occasion. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 576 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (December 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743254945
• ISBN-13: 978-0743254946
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.7 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #83,809 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #53 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Weddings > Planning

More About the Author

Peter Walsh is a clutter expert and organizational consultant who characterizes himself as part-contractor and part-therapist. He can be heard weekly on The Peter Walsh Show on the Oprah and Friends XM radio network, is a regular guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and was also the host of the hit TLC show Clean Sweep. Peter holds a master's degree with a specialty in educational psychology. He divides his time between Los Angeles and Melbourne, Australia.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

202 of 214 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Oddly Disappointing February 6, 2005

By Peggy

Format:Hardcover

It's hard to describe a book of over 500 pages as superficial, but that's exactly what it is. Chopping up complicated problems into a half-dozen "steps" might make them seem more achievable, and it does make fairly entertaining reading, but it trivializes the very real problems that I think most people would buy a book on organization for. I don't think it will help you get a handle on your paperwork or household clutter, won't help you organize your weekly schedule any better, and won't give you a more serene approach to inevitable problems. Elements of those challenges are touched on in dozens of one-page chapters, but not in a systematic way. This book makes you work way to hard to dig out the advice you need.

Reading through the other reviews, I note that most say they look forward to reading the book or plan to keep it as a reference. That's fine, but it doesn't make it a great book on organization for those who want to get or stay organized. For them, a single page to "Create a Flawless Filing System" is inadequate and a comparable amount devoted to "Become President of the United States" is absurd.

183 of 198 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Big Disappointment March 11, 2005

By Anne Masterson VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I had high hopes for this book based on the 5 star reviews, and they were not even close to being met. Many of the lists were overly simplistic without any helpful organizing tips at all. Even more annoying was that virtually every list crossed referenced at least one other list, so one had to keep flipping around to get some sort of cohesive idea of what the organizational tips were. Perhaps if less time had been spent on titles like "how to win an academy award" , "how to fend off pirates" and/or "what to do in an ebola break out" (I am not kidding, these are actual lists)and more on actual real life organizing, I would have gotten much more out of this book.

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars disappointing July 25, 2006

By A. Yee

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Perhaps if the book had been titled differently, I wouldn't have been so disappointed. It seemed like many articles would be a stretch to be categorized under organizing and so specialized it seemed like many people wouldn't even find helpful: "Become a concert violinist," "become a catholic nun," "Organize an archeological dig," "start a knitting circle," "organize a film festival," etc.

Those subjects that were helpful were so short and general that it seemed to be total common sense, and usually could be distilled into 1. clear out the place 2. toss what you don't need 3. go shopping for things to help you organize and 4. put it all back neatly in groups. I'm being overly simplistic but those who are looking for detailed nuts and bolts for getting organized will be disappointed.

If they had called it "500 Ways to Getting It All Together" it would have been more appropriate. However, calling it a book on organizing only fits in a loose sense.

On the positive side, I do have to say it was a nicely organized book in terms of layout and logical order!