Clutter Rehab

I discovered the Org Junkie website a few weeks ago and decided to do the 52 weeks of decluttering challenge. And then I discovered the writer had a book. I had to wait for a while to get this book - very popular at the library - and when I did get it, it only took a few hours to read it. It was good and I thought I'd actually go out and buy a copy (I couldn't do that before or it wouldn't count for the challenge!) but as often as I've picked it up in the last few days, I decided I didn't need to go buy it...not right now anyway. I'm trying to reduce my clutter, not add to it. And the website has pretty much all of it on it...I do like holding the little book in my hands though...we'll see, I might cave. But for now, I'm just going to try to keep renewing the book!

If you're trying to organize your life or your home or your office, I totally recommend your book. And if you're one of those well-organized people I aspire to be, I still recommend this book - she had some great tips and we can all use great tips!

Teaser Tuesday Goes to Rehab

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

As you might have noticed over there, I'm a bit wrapped up in trying to get our life organized and gain a little control over our stuff, so in keeping with that theme:

Just when you think you've got things all figured out at the top of the ride, the roller coaster of life dips down and spins you in another direction. However, with consistent practice and a good seat belt, you'll learn to expect those dips and turns and be ready for them.

Clutter Rehab, Laura Wittman, page 8

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT at Should Be Reading with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

One Year To An Organized Life

I finished July's book last week. It had to go back to the library (someone else had a hold on it), so there was some panic reading it. And now I don't have it in front of me to reference, so I'm going to wing it.


This month's book was One Year To An Organized Life by Regina Leeds. I saw it in Chapters one day a couple of months ago and thought I'd check it out. I'm not totally disorganized right now, but I don't feel like I'm as organized as I'd like to be. I'd been sort of dabbling with the whole FlyLady thing, but I didn't really feel it was working for me.

I liked parts of this book.

It put a strong emphasis on journaling and some of the questions seemed so relevant. The big one that hit me was a two parter - did my house always feel this disorganized and if not, how did it get this way. And then she tells you not to beat yourself up about it, but instead do something about it.

I thought about her questions, but I didn't do much journaling (maybe because I was reading 12 months worth of organizing tips, strategies and skills in three weeks). As I was reading, I kept asking myself, do I need to buy this book? I loved how it was broken down by month and then by week. Even the huge tasks seemed less daunting (although, again because of the library thing, I didn't really put anything into practice).

There were a few things that drove me nuts.

One was the constant references to The Container Store (which we don't have in Canada) just because I felt like she was saying there was no where else to buy boxes/containers/organizing equipment. The colour coding of the closet seemed a little over the top to me. And I guess that's where you let your own judgment take over. I group my clothing either by type (all sweatshirts together, all blouses together etc) or by outfit. Looking at a rainbow in the morning would not help me get ready faster.

So. Would I recommend this book? Yes. I think I would. It motivated me to get moving on some things I was procrastinating on. I think I got some good tips. Would I buy it? Maybe. It depends on how often I find myself wishing I could refer to something in that book in the next little while.

Has anyone else read it? What did you think?