Smart Organizing: Simple Strategies for Bringing Order to Your Home [Paperback]

Sandra Felton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2005

Consolidate. Condense. Containerize. The Organizer Lady introduces these organizing ideas plus seven routines and habits to help get your life under control and keep clutter at bay.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Has clutter got you down?
Has housekeeping become and endless and impossible chore?
Are you looking for some solutions that will work for you?

For most of us, organizing one's home and family is something that is always on the to-do list but never gets scratched off. If this is you, the Organizer Lady™ can help. In this new book from trusted organizing expert Sandra Felton, you'll discover the key to turning your house into a clutter-free home in no time at all.

Smart Organizing is full of chore charts, commonsense tips from women like you, helpful websites, books, and other resources. At the heart of the book, Felton offers a fool-proof three-point plan for keeping your house in its prime. She shows you how to identify and maintain the most important 20 percent of household tasks so that your house will never be a mess again.

Yes, it's really that simple. If you're ready to move forward one closet at a time, Smart Organizing is the book for you!

About the Author

Sandra Felton is the founder and president of Messies Annonymous, a group established to help women organize their households. She is the best-selling author of The Messies Manual and Messie No More. She lives in Miami, Florida.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Revell; Reprinted edition (January 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800759788
• ISBN-13: 978-0800759780
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,133,599 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

In 1982 Sandra Felton was a disorganized wife and mom with three kids
and a full time job. Plus a chronically messy house. Desperately seeking
relief from clutter, she sought help from information in books and from friends.
She found the "secrets" that finally worked for her. Sandra's first book, The
Messies Manual unlocked how naturally disorganized people could apply those
secrets successfully to their lives. More books followed. With humor and good
will, sandra reaches out to those she calls Messies with words of hope and with
practical techniques that really work

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Principles that work for organizing stuff by changing focus, April 14, 2007

By 

R. A. Higgins "rsahiggins" (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Smart Organizing: Simple Strategies for Bringing Order to Your Home (Paperback)

In the last month since I have been reading "Smart Organizing" my use of time and space have been revolutionized by appling the 20/80 principle that Sandra Felton discusses her book. The principle states that 80% of the results we get in our lives are from focusing our effort on the most important 20%. Each day when I have felt overwhelmed by the list of things to do in my limited time, or things to buy with my limited money, or things to store in my limited space I have asked myself, what is the most important 20% to do today with my time, money or space. It has been wonderful to see the results! I am making steady progress in organizing my space, time and money and feeling so much better about my decisions. This book also focuses on specific areas of the house, plus suggestions for taking care of laundry, meals, and even messy cars. Very helpful in finding motivation to change and suggestions of how to change. Thanks, Sandra.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Making your house a home with as little effort as possible, February 29, 2008

By 

snooks "Former clutterer" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Smart Organizing: Simple Strategies for Bringing Order to Your Home (Paperback)

I would recommend this book to anyone who cringes at the idea of having friends over for dinner and anyone who wants to transform their "house" into a "home".

This book is not just about housekeeping but about how to put the least amount of effort into any project and get the biggest effect. It stresses the difference between being a perfectionistic housekeeper and one who is effective. Perfectionists put off cleaning because they don't have time to do everything perfectly; effective cleaners put 20% effort into a project, and reap 80% benefit for their efforts.

Learning to be an effective organizer is a skill that can be applied to time management, budgets, and just about any other aspect of life. I highly recommend this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A philosophy book, January 23, 2010

By 

carynification (Florida) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Smart Organizing: Simple Strategies for Bringing Order to Your Home (Paperback)

This book was not what I expected. It is more of a philosophy of organizing rather than actual tips. However, for what it does do, it does great. It will help to change your mindset which I guess can be better than actual tips along the lines of giving a man a fish will feed him today, but teaching him how to fish will feed him for a lifetime.