Customer Reviews

Organize Now!: A Week-by-Week Guide to Simplify Your Space and Your Life

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have struggled for years to clear my home of clutter. There never seems to be enough time, space, etc. I have ADHD, so that doesn't help. I'll begin decluttering one area, only to think of six more I should work on at the same time. I work full-time, and have a 16 month old and a 12 year old. Time is at a premium in my house. I work twelve hour swing shifts, so every week brings a new work schedule and a different shift. Add to that cooking, errands, grocery shopping, paying bills, balancing the household budget, cleaning, quality time with the family, football and baseball practice and games..... Life quickly takes over and the house is a mess yet again. any progress made is quickly struck down.

I have read through many of the chapters in this book. Each one is a week's worth of "to-do" checklists, and is designed to organize one area each week. You can do the chapters in the order they appear in the book, or you can skip around and do them in the order you choose.

I think this book will be one of the keys to getting my house, and life, organized. The checklists should make it easy to get things in better shape. I can focus on one mini-task until it is complete, helping me achieve my goal of getting our home and lives into the shape it should be in. I can just tell myself that I can't move on to the next task until that box is checked. Any ideas on other tasks can be added to the list. This book should serve as excellent guidance along my purging journey.

I do think that some of these tasks will take less than the allotted week. However, in my house, some of these areas will take more than a week to get through. I think it will be harder for families with parents who work, in or out of the home, to get each area done in seven days. Some of these areas are quite large for just one week. I think, though, that it will all even out in the end. My goal is to finish the entire book in 56 weeks or less, even if a few areas take two weeks to complete. Some areas will be easier for me. For instance, I already meal plan and have a system set up for grocery lists, coupons, etc. I can mark this area off fairly easy. My bedroom closets, however, will take some real effort to overcome.

All in all, this book is worth buying. The easy-to-follow format and having each area broken down into individual chapters makes this look easy.

This is a good tool for those who like checklists, making notes, and breaking up the process of organization into smaller, weekly jobs. The first chapter gives the basics of organizing, outlining the cost of clutter, dealing with the emotional side of letting go of stuff, and getting motivated. This is followed by 56 weekly chapters that focus on specific spaces around the house as well as organizing things like holidays, moving, back-to-school, a morning routine, meal planning, and even a pregnancy. Just about every area of home and life is covered.

This book is formatted like a workbook. The chapters are brief and each one includes a checklist of the week's goals for organizing the specified area, a list of tips, a section for writing down notes, and another checklist for keeping it organized once it is done with monthly, half-year, and once a year suggestions.

For someone who is overwhelmed by the organization process and needs to take it a step at a time with specific suggestions, this is a good resource.

I am 46 and have ready MANY books on how to organize, both philosophically and literally. This book is the FIRST one I've seen and purchased which took a timely, week-by-week approach to help the common person come to grips with the daunting chore of both living simply and organized. Thank you, Jennifer Ford Berry, for taking this approach and writing about it. Yes, there IS hope and you have shown the light!

There's not a whole lot of tips in here I hadn't thought of myself, but if I were to attempt to write down everything I'd need to do in order to organize my home and life, I'd probably end up with this book. All the information and tips you need to get organized is right here in one convenient place. Well worth the money I think as it has saved me lots of valuable time not having to organize my thoughts on organization before I can get started. The author clearly has a mindset towards minimalism which is not greatly elaborated upon before jumping straight into your organizaiton to-do lists (there are a few pages of common sense stuff), you pretty much already have to know WHY, for yourself, you want to be rid of the JUNK in your house so you are not tempted to balk at the suggestion to get rid of your precious hotel toiletries collection and such. Make sure to buy yourself a good personal planner with this book.

I honestly wasn't all that impressed with the preview and I really should have said no right then and there - but I liked the bright, pretty colours and how the categories were divided into weekly "assignments". So, I purchased this book (along with Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider, which I felt had more value in the end).
Organize Now! was more like a list of tips and suggestions than any kind of plan or system to get a person organized. It was like putting a finger bandage on a bullet wound - it's not gonna fix the problem. I felt like quite a bit of the information was "commom sense" and could be found relatively easily on the internet. (Though, I could see it being a good book to check out of the library, buy an inexpensive second-hand version of, or a gift to a new college student.)
It you want a *solution* and a *system* for organizing your home, getting on top of clutter, and not feeling buried by the mess or disarray of your home, and you want it to be relatively simple and painless, then I would suggest checking out either FlyLady.Net or "Sink Reflections" by Marla Cilley. (the author of Organize Now even quotes and refers to Marla and her FlyLady website!) Most of what is included in Marla's book can be found for free on FlyLady.Net - and it has a *whole* lot more value than this book!

I am a person who struggles to get my space organized. I loved this book and the practical advice it offers. This book is easy to read and has great tips. I have easily adopted suggestions given in this book. I am off to a more organized year with this great book!

I like the format of this book as it is broken down into weekly steps - you don't need to follow it in order - you can choose the area you feel you need to work on and flip right to that section. I also love that is is hardcover and spiral. I really like the checklists as well.

The book is set up in a week by week way to help you to organize. Since everything is done in simple changes it makes it easy to follow. It also lets you know when you should update the thing its asking you to add to your life.

Love the format of this book! Don't have to follow it in order, just tackle those things most urgent to you first. The tone of the author is very calming and non-threatening. I bought two, one for me and one for my husband.

I really loved this weekly guide. It's easy to follow and is actually helpful. I found it helped me to organize myself, which was the first big problem I had to work on.