Organizing from the Inside Out for Teenagers: The Foolproof System for Organizing Your Room, Your Time, and Your Life (Paperback)

by Julie Morgenstern (Author), Jessi Morgenstern-Colon (Author) "So, you want to get organized..." (more)
Key Phrases: kindergarten model, electronic planner, assigning homes, New York, Enjoyment Compatibility Supportiveness Other, What's Holding You Back (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Another mother/daughter team joins forces in Organizing from the Inside Out for Teens: The Foolproof System for Organizing Your Room, Your Time, and Your Life by Julie Morgenstern with Jessi Morgenstern-Colon. The comprehensive volume opens by assessing the symptoms of disorganization, providing a diagnosis and offering a prescription for change. Subsequent chapters put readers in "Analyze-Strategize-Attack" mode as they take on messy bedrooms, backpacks and cluttered social calendars. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 7-12. Morgenstern, author of Organizing from the Inside Out (1998) for adult readers, teams up with her daughter Jessi to offer practical advice to teenagers who want to get organized. After considering what might be holding them back and the three steps to success (analyze, strategize, attack), the discussion shifts to the two major areas of concern: managing space and managing time. Readers who aren't interested in reshaping their entire lives could benefit from reading a section of the book devoted to a specific challenge, such as getting long-term school projects done. To her mother's practical approach, Jessi adds her own comments and experiences as a teenager learning to bring order to her messy room and overcrowded schedule. In addition to small charts and diagrams that bolster the text, occasional cartoon drawings enliven the presentation. Useful advice in an accessible paperback format. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks; 1 edition (September 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805064702
• ISBN-13: 978-0805064704
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #65,455 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars So you're life feels out of control?, January 19, 2003

By	Courtney L. Lewis "Sassy Librarian" (Kingston, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This joint effort between organization guru Julie Morgenstern and her daughter, Jessi, is really a valuable read for teens. So many teenage boys and girls feel like their life is out of control and for many of them this manifests itself in the feeling that they can't find things, they don't have enough time in the day, that "stuff" is taking over. "Organizing from the Inside Out for Teenagers" accomplishes what the adult version does - it takes you through steps in order to evaluate what's important in your life and then helps you develop a system that works for you (giving you some non-binding advice about what has often worked for other people).

I think my only criticism of this book is that it really assumes that readers come from comfortable economic backgrounds where parents with ready cash can go out and buy containers or certain items to help teens organize themselves. While I'm sure any parent with the money will cheerfully buy anything their teen feels will help organize them, many young men and women do not have the financial means to accomplish these goals and will have to stick to the less expensive suggestions. Overall though, an excellent book that will have positive impact in multiple areas of your life should you implement the suggestions and get control over your stuff rather than it having control over you.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Abracadabra!, August 31, 2003

By	Yuko (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

I'm 13 years old, and a former mess addict. People would tell me that it looked like a tornado had just passed through, and they were right- you couldn't see the floor and the mess was literally a foot high. It was so disgusting, and I could never invite my friends over because there was actually a stench to my room and no place to hang out in.

I'd been trying to clean my room for the longest time but nothing seemed to work- I wasn't motivated enough and I just couldn't figure it out. Things never seemed to be in the right place and even if something worked initially, after a while the system grew old and I couldn't keep it up anymore. I tried all kinds of books and systems and was even considering hypnotherapy (!!!), but none of them seemed to last or even appeal to me, until I found this book.

I read the organizational part straight through and I got so inspired to organize that I just started cleaning the minute I finished reading the first part to the book (the second is time management). I finished in three days and have been able to keep it spick and span clean ever since (over three months). If there was ever a magical cure, this is it.

I think the magic to this book is that the systems aren't limiting- it's written as a guideline so you know where to get started and how to do it. This enables you to incorporate your personality and lifestyle so that you can actually keep up with the system that you yourself design. The time management part is excellent too- it really helps you cut down on wasted time. It is written in the same manner as the organizational part, as a guideline so you can tailor it to suit yourself.

This may be more directed to teens than adults because teens, like me, live mostly outside, in school, and in their bedrooms, and worry about different aspects of life than adults. While adults may deal with bills and their kid's important papers and that kind of complicated mish-mash, we're dealing with homework and social lives and our own kind of complicated mish-mash. Since we're living in separate worlds with separate concerns, I think it's only right that we have separate systems. I'm not saying that adults wouldn't appreciate this book- it gives lots of great ideas, but I think that the organizational and time management problems being dealt with in this book are directed more to a teen's world than an adults.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I never thought of it like that!!!!, August 13, 2002

By	"montala14" (Helena, MT, USA) - See all my reviews

This book is extremely helpful. My room is always such a mess and I can't find anything, I always forget assignments or appointments, and this book just put it very clearly about the steps I needed to take! It's really a very good purchase for people, teens, who think they're are disorganized!