Customer Reviews

How to Get Organized Without Resorting to Arson: A Step-By-Step Guide to Clearing Your Desk Without Panic or the Use of Open Flame

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For those of you who may not have known me in my "other life,"
I used to be quite disorganized . . . in fact, I once wanted to enter HOME OFFICE COMPUTING'S "Most Disorganized Office" contest,but couldn't find the application for three years because it was buried on my desk. (True story!)

So when I saw HOW TO GET ORGANIZED WITHOUT RESORTING
TO ARSON by Liz Franklin, a self-described
Cultural Anthropologist, I just had to read it if just for the title . . . and I'm glad that I did . . . the book delivers on its promise.

Franklin uses humor to get her points across, yet she also
provides a lot of very concrete advice . . . in addition, she
doesn't tell you what you have to do, and she recognizes the
fact that everybody is different.

And any author who manages to incorporate one of my
favorite stories into her writing has definitely managed to
catch my attention . . . she writes:

Albert Einstein once went to dinner with a friend and a new
acquaintance. Over dinner, the new acquaintance asked
Einstein for his phone number. "Sure," said Al. He got up,
left the table, and walked back toward the phones.

"Where is he going?" asked the acquaintance.

"I don't know," said the friend, with a puzzled look on his face.

Einstein came back and handed the man a slip of paper with his
phone number on it. "My God, you're Einstein!" said the guy.
"Why do you have to look up your own phone number?"

Einstein said, "Why should I keep in my mind the little things
I can find anywhere?"

There were several other memorable passages; among them:
* Paper flow starts at hand level. It comes into your office via people's
hands. You open the mail with your hands, you take it from the fax,
printer, or copier with your hands, you scribble notes with your hands,
clip interesting things out of the paper with your hands, and input to
your computer with your hands.

Why all the emphasis on hands? So you'll remember this important
secret of organizing: paper always lands on the first available hand-
height surface. And what do we find at hand height? Furniture. Paper
lands, and stops, wherever there is a convenient piece of furniture.
Preferably a flat piece of furniture, but almost any hand-height
furniture will do.

* Sit back in your chair, crumple some scratch paper, and let it drop
from your hand. That's where your trash can belongs. If its new
location interferes with your traffic pattern, of course you can make
adjustments. Just be sure it's easy to toss trash from your chair to
the can without bending, leaning or stretching all day long.

* Put this sign on your Central Headquarters box: "DO NOT DISTURB!
WET PAINT!" I'm not kidding! If you don't protect your stuff now,
you won't find it later. And for some reason, this is a sign that gets
people's attention. Who cares it they laugh-at least you'll have
achieved your objective: to keep them out of your stuff.

It's been my Bible since I took a look at it in a bookstore...and couldn't put it down. Now I carry it around with me. Or it sits in clear site, so that if I slow down or space out, I can pick up where I left off and keep tweaking my life to work better.
It's more than just "how to straighten up your office" although it does that more compassionately and with more humor than any book or person I've seen.
Since the eighties I've used the services of members of National Organizations of Organizers, and read various books, listened to tapes, but this book is the one that finally WORKS for me, maybe because my nervous system isn't wired like most organizers, and Liz Franklin takes this into account.
Besides, have you ever met an organizer who's FUNNY?
I recommended this book to my boss, who, although has a lot of heart and is a great guy to work for, is even more disorganized than me. And I recommend it unequivocally to anyone.
What happens as you start to give yourself the space and time to do what works for YOU, not for an organizer, all sorts of other wonderful things unfold in your life. Try it. I was surprised.

Wow, did I love this book! I've seen a lot of organizing books, but this one was full of ideas and suggestions I hadn't seen before. They were very, very easy to implement quickly and cheaply.

I particularly loved her suggestions on labelling files in way that's actually meaningful to you - labels and folders that make you WANT to do the work inside rather than avoid it. That was a huge change in my way of thinking. I'm also an out-of-sight-out-of-mind person, and I liked her suggestions on using simple clear/translucent containers (as opposed to all kinds of 'specialty' single-use containers that just add to my clutter).

A must-read, particularly for creative types.

This is so refreshing! It's a totally different approach to finding your own personal organizing methods rather than using the traditional one-fits-all ways. I am already using Liz's hints as they apply to my personal style, and have noticed a definite reduction in the stress level, dealing with office matters. I can recommend this book to anyone who is ready to end the customary confusion of tracking their paperwork, their hobby, their lists, their calendar --- whatever. She's got it down cold.

I've read quite a few books on organizing. After awhile, they all come out about the same in advice, each with their unique point of view and maybe a couple of "wow" moments. This book though, had something different to offer.

Liz Franklin addresses disorganization - not as an issue of laziness or bad habits but of not organizing ourselves how we work naturally. We each are different in personality, so why do we need to organize our spaces the same? We don't. This is something that I've personally learned over the years - but never saw it written in concrete terms before reading this. Though my desk was already organized (I'm a spatial), it helped me to show and help others how they could organize themselves to fit their personality.

There was also application in the back, with pictures of ways that helped different personality types. The book is packed full of helpful and thoughtful things yet it's easy to understand. It's also down to earth so that you can actually start carrying out what you've learned without the "inspiration high" many self-help books give.

Though I enjoyed this book, there was one drawback. I wish there had been more applications as to how to carry this out. I wish this book would have been longer!

All in all, this is one of the best books on organizing an office that I've come across yet. It's helped to define the real causes of disorganization and frees you to be who you are, and organized at the same time. I hope someday soon she'll come out with a book on how to organize a home!

There are some very nice reviews already listed, but I think this book still deserves praise. If this Bk got more marketing, I'd bet it would be on the national best seller's list! The writer is a true organizational anthropologist(self described or not). An obvious expert, who's thought deeply about real people and their challenges with getting organized & staying organized.

I still use addtl software and digital storage tools, but this bk has provided me with the framework to know when I may need software and when I need "pen & pad". It's Not about one method, its the method/s that effectively works for you,based on ur personality type & ur willingness to continue using it!

The Bk could be finished in a day, but I spent about a week= reading, buying supplies & developing a system. There's no need to rush, it's best to carefully absorb the concepts.

I really want to meet the author. Her insight on behavioral and functional organization is very refreshing and inspiring. I would certainly buy her future work.

Right now, this is my own personal #1 BEST source on organizing. I find it better than the F. Covey system, but I still use Covey software b/c I sometimes need electronic reminder tools, etc.

Read the Bk; if U get disorganized again, just re-read & keep practicing ...
Excellent work!

I've always lived in "organized chaos", desperately trying to conform to someone else's idea of organization but after reading Liz's book, I realize that I would NEVER get organized THEIR way... I had to do it MY WAY!!! I don't know if you need organizing tips but if you or anyone you know just can't seem to get it together, I highly recommend this book. I'm reading it now and it's made such a difference for me at my job that I'm going to put her tips to use at home and if it works at home, I'm going to have to call her Saint Liz because she will have performed a miracle!

I have bought nearly every book on organization from many how-to gurus. None really helped. Thinking back, they were stuffy and complicated with stale, rigid rules. This book is the only one that makes sense to me and gives real life solutions that actually work. The fresh, ingenious recommendations ideas found here are great for linear thinkers, creative types and for people who are a mixture of both. And if you have a bit of rebel in you - this book is definitely for you.

This unassuming book offers solid advice on organizing your life that is really easy to implement. The day after I read it, I went to the office supply store for colored files, plastic bins and vis-a-vis pens and my life has been MUCH better.

I am re-reading it right now and will keep it as a valuable reference. As I follow the book's suggestions, I am realizing how lucky I was to stumble upon this little gem. It's one of the few how-to books that will save you money and time. If you allow it, this will be a life changing book.

The unusual approach to organizing is refreshing. Everyone is different, and Liz's book gives you clues to your personal style, making it possible for you to do your organizing in a way that will work for you. And it's humorous. I laughed out loud several times while reading it. And these things work!

I bought this book for 2 other people who struggle as I do. The suggestions of how to place furniture and items in my office really did the trick! Sure my desk can get crazy but then I do a clean sweep of the area and am able to think clearly again. In celebration of my office being organized I got new carpet, desk, blinds and painted the old (dark 70's)wood paneling! Now it is a healing celery green! Now I can welcome people into my office.