Before I comment on this book, you need to know that I'd spent the previous 20-something years of my life as a chronically messy person. If you'd walked into my childhood bedroom, my college dorm room, or any of the apartments and homes I've had since graduating, you would be greeted with the same dismal scene: Clutter everywhere...papers, books and magazines covering every surface and stuffed into or under every piece of furniture...clothes draped on anything and everything. More often than not, to reach my bed would entail an acrobatic series of leaps and hops through my bedroom so as not to disturb the falling-into-each-other piles. It was utterly depressing both for me and for anyone who had the misfortune to visit. And yes, I'd tried every cleaning/organizing technique known to humanity.
Two books changed that forever. One of them was this book. Why did a single book finally make all the difference? As Sandra Felton admits, it's because she is at heart a "Messie" herself, and therefore she understands our plight -- unlike the maddeningly perfect Martha Stewarts of the world who just DON'T understand! But beyond that, Sandra speaks to several problems I have that have contributed to my chronic disorganization: namely, ADD, perfectionism, procrastination, and "decision anxiety." Sandra applies this insight to solving the plight of the Messies, with an approach that involves both how you think about organization and how you actually set up your home and office for organizing.
An important distinction between The New Messies Manual and other books on organization: While many books address EITHER the act of clearing the accumulated clutter OR the "how to" of maintaining an organized home, few discuss both to my satisfaction. The New Messies Manual addresses both, beautifully -- first it holds your hand as you tackle the nightmare of a hopelessly cluttered home, step by step; then it guides you through establishing systems that WORK for the Messie-minded person.
Some of the key tips I gleaned from this book are:
* Write down an image of your life as an organized person (seems simple, but really makes a difference when you visualize how you want your organized life to run).
* The most important habit you can get into is that of Doing It Now. (Yes, all organization books beat us over the head with this rather obvious "tip." But something clicked when I read The New Messies Manual that's pushed me to really make this a habit -- and it really does make a world of difference! The Procrastinator's Creed on page 186 is worth the price of the book. I've printed it in a beautiful font on art paper -- what, you expect me to do calligraphy?!--framed it, and keep it prominently in my home office.)
* Create activity centers (a box where you keep items such as gift-wrapping supplies, crafts supplies, camping gear, etc.), and clearly LABEL them. (I've found the clear plastic boxes from the Container Store ideal for this.) Again, other books recommend this, but something about the way Sandra describes this system gave me the kick I needed to actually do it.
And much MUCH more. Sandra's resource list at the back is also outstanding.
If you are a nearly-perfect Martha Stewart type who needs tips on alphabetizing your two hundred perfectly-crafted scrapbooks, this is not the book for you. But if you've struggled much of your life to get and stay organized, especially if you are a perfectionist or a procrastinator or think you could have attention deficit disorder, I urge you to read this book.
FYI, the other book that impacted me just as much was Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston. I know, these books on the surface are completely different, but I believe they complement each other wonderfully. Whereas Clear Your Clutter gave me the motivation I needed to want to clear the clutter once and for all (she talks among other things about the direct relationship between clutter and depression, and other good reasons for WHY to clear the clutter), The New Messies Manual hit closer to home for me in terms of HOW to clear the clutter and then stay that way.
Clutter-free for five weeks, and counting!
