|
Mission: organization for a more fulfilling life
REVIEWS BY ALISON HOOD OK, come clean. Do you know where your keys are? Do you have to shift piles of stuff off your (unmade) bed at night? Is your to-do list umpteen feet long—and growing? First, take a deep breath. Second, browse these books by three professional organizers, each with a distinct clutter-busting style, that will help you create a more orderly and stress-reduced life for 2007 and beyond.
By Meryl Starr Chronicle, $24.95 170 pages ISBN 9780811849425
Small acts of organization
Like many professional clutter-busters, he advises that the first step toward getting rid of emotional and physical clutter is to decide you want to change, then imagine the life you really desire. The second step is to demystify the causes, costs and conflicts surrounding clutter, and to incorporate small acts of organization, or "daily rituals," into your normal routine. Next, Walsh tackles your home, from basement to attic, offering organizational strategies based on individual lifestyle choices and each room's function and purpose. He finishes up with a maintenance plan, a cleanup "checkup," and suggested monthly rituals for proactive planning and year-long order. "Get organized," says Walsh, "and I promise that every aspect of your life will change in ways that you never imagined."
By Peter Walsh Free Press, $22 256 pages ISBN 9780743292641
Chaos therapy
Norris, like other organizational consultants, offers a room-by-room battle plan for home de-cluttering (one strategy being to "zone" a space), but bases her solutions on a person's individual preferences, plus whether a room is a public, private or storage area. She identifies common causes and "hot spots" of clutter, offers family-oriented strategies for dealing with the messes that toddlers and teenagers can create, and warns about the financial and psychological drain of the offsite storage unit. "Organizing," says the author, "will not only liberate you from household chaos; it will give you a fresh start on life!"
By Vicki Norris Harvest House, $11.99 250 pages ISBN 9780736916486
Alison Hood plans to tackle her closets in San Rafael, California.
|
Do you lead your life, or does your life lead you, asks professional organizer (and InStyle and Real Simple contributor) Meryl Starr. Realizing that most of us are overwhelmed by our stuff and our to-do lists, Starr offers relief in The Personal Organizing Workbook: Solutions for a Simpler, Easier Life. This workbook jumpstarts a new, organized lifestyle by asking the deceptively simple question, "What makes you happy?" If you have no idea, or have lost sight of your goals, perhaps disorganization—which steals the time necessary for such reflection—is the culprit. "It's hard to look up over those piles of papers, past our crowded closets . . . but it's crucial to realizing the fulfillment and serenity you can achieve in your everyday life," Starr says. Four easy-reference, tabbed chapters are enhanced with Thayer Allyson Gowdy's (InStyle Home) enticing color photographs (of neatly arranged interiors, handbags, desks and closets), while feasible strategies offer guidance on how to manage your possessions, to-do list, relationships and any less-than-stellar habits. Self-evaluation tools, such as questionnaires, are included to promote self-awareness—the crucial foundation for lifelong change.
Support your 
Organizational guru Peter Walsh, the star of TLC's hit show, "Clean Sweep," takes a hard line on clutter in It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff. He has seen hundreds of chaotic home environments nationwide, and his book is liberally sprinkled with amusing (and occasionally appalling) client e-mails and case studies.
"Virginia called me today, and she was crying," reveals professional organizer Vicki Norris in her commonsense handbook, Restoring Order to Your Home. Buried in junk, Norris' client simply couldn't cope. Maybe you're not that desperate, Norris says, but "maybe your relationships or family is suffering because of household disorganization." Alleviating that suffering, she claims, is not about having a picture-perfect home or buying plastic storage bins. Instead, she says, "Ordering your life and your environment is about one thing: reclaiming your life." The foundation of Norris' organizing plan is understanding and fashioning a customized approach: if you take the time to truly divine the cause and effect of your disorganization, the better able you are to find solutions you can live with to banish chaos forever.