Organizing for the Creative Person: Right-Brain Styles for Conquering Clutter, Mastering Time, and Reaching Your Goals [Paperback]

Dorothy Lehmkuhl (Author), Dolores Cotter Lamping (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 1993

The right-brain way to conquering clutter, mastering time, and reaching one's goals: the first book to show creative people how to arrange their desks, their time, and their lives in a style consistent with their unique way of perceiving the world. Suggests a host of practical solutions, all in harmony with the way creative people think and act. 20 line drawings.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

The right-brain way to conquering clutter, mastering time, and reaching one's goals: the first book to show creative people how to arrange their desks, their time, and their lives in a style consistent with their unique way of perceiving the world. Suggests a host of practical solutions, all in harmony with the way creative people think and act. 20 line drawings.

About the Author

Dorothy Lehmkuhl is the founder and president of Organizing Techniques, a service that consults on time management and office procedures.  She has worked with AT&T, PaineWebber, and many other groups.

Dolores Cotter Lamping, C.S.W., is a psychotherapist who has counseled individuals, couples, and groups, and has taught self-development at colleges in the United States and Canada. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1 edition (December 28, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517881640
• ISBN-13: 978-0517881644
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #114,611 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

151 of 160 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New and Different Approach to Organizing, February 21, 2000

By 

Mary Lou Lundberg (Denver , Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Organizing for the Creative Person: Right-Brain Styles for Conquering Clutter, Mastering Time, and Reaching Your Goals (Paperback)

Dorothy Lehmkuhl and Dolores Lamping have provided a unique look at issues related to getting organized. When the words "get organized" are uttered, at least half of the American population shudders. There is no early education provided for those not blessed with the organizing gene. These people live their lives seeing being organized as magical. They live with shame, guilt, anger, defensiveness, and sadness. I know that this is the case because I teach them about organizing in Denver, Colorado. My classes have been the site of tears and shouting over the frustration of the inability to create organization. I share this with you because the book, ORGANIZING FOR THE CREATIVE PERSON, is the antidote for the frustration. I recommend it to every group when I speak. It provides such a unique interpretation to the word organized.

Creative people are visual and see this process of being organized in many different ways. They see it as limiting, as impossible, as an intrusion, as difficult to accomplish. They, too, yearn for time saved, relief from anxiety, and a way to increase their creativity and productivity. The analysis and understanding in this book of these issues act as permission to the creative to both get organized and to do it in ways which work for them. These are not conventional systems. Filled with tips about alternative ways to organize, solutions abound. This wonderful book can change lives.

In addition, ORGANIZING FOR THE CREATIVE PERSON has been chosen for study by the National Association of Professional Organizers as a text from which the national certification examination has been written. It has value, not only to those persons struggling to become organized in new ways, but also to the professionals in the industry of professional organizing, assisting them with deeper understanding of their clients. Whatever you interest in organizing, this is a must read. Sincerely, Mary Lou Lundberg, better known as Bunky, Former Chair, National Certification Process Committee, National Association of Professional Organizers and Owner, CHAOS CANCELLED, Denver, CO

99 of 103 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't stop laughing and/or being grateful !!!, August 1, 2001

By 

Coach Yoda "Six Eyes, counting contacts" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Organizing for the Creative Person: Right-Brain Styles for Conquering Clutter, Mastering Time, and Reaching Your Goals (Paperback)

I read this book while on jury duty. We spent a lot of time in the hall on hard benches. I regularly startled my fellow jurors by slapping my open hand on the wooden bench, and laughing out loud. Yes, I am now diagnosed a "creative/right brainer" -- especially when it comes to organizing. I have a shelf of books on this topic; I have hired professionals; I have two assistants, and only now realize why none of them understands me. THEY ARE ALL LEFT-BRAIN ANALYICAL ORGANIZERS! I found dozens of useful tips and suggestions. The biggest thing I was left with is this: THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH ME. All other organizing books are written for left-brain thinkers. Thanks to Dorothy and Dolores for finally writing a book for me. Get it, keep it, and tell all your friends who need this. You know who they are.

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hope for the organizationally challenged, October 25, 2004

By 

Kay R. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Organizing for the Creative Person: Right-Brain Styles for Conquering Clutter, Mastering Time, and Reaching Your Goals (Paperback)

This is a wonderful book that hones right into the heart of the causes of the organizational challenges of many creative people. I thought I was a hopeless case until I read this book. It gave me so much hope and helped me to identify the way my thinking style affected my disorganization. It helped me to find new ways to overcome my lack of order and I am now much more confident and organized.

It's rather amusing that the few negative customer reviews actually prove one of the major points of this book: That left brain people have little understanding of the difficulties experienced by creative people, and, because of their analytical (and therefore judgmental) inclinations, they tend to be critical and think that there should be only hard and fast organizing rules, rather than methods that can be molded to individual needs.

This book is a classic, on book shelves for over ten years, and is the organizing "bible" of creative people. Because I personally know a professional organizer, I know that it was chosen by the National Association of Professional Organizers as a study guide for it's members and it is still regularly recommended by many professional organizers to their clients.

My recommendation: If you are the creative type and experience on-going organizational problems, buy this book! You will see yourself on every page. It changed my life, and it could change yours!