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?
I need to get reading! I hope I can get this book from my library. I am not usually a 'self-help' book kind of person but I am striving to be a better house wife so I hope it helps.
ReplyDeleteHey Melynda,
ReplyDeleteI don't usually read self-help books either, but I wanted to try something new because what we were doing with our house wasn't working as well as I would have liked.
And, oddly, once I got into this book, I wondered if maybe Laurie Perry had read it because there is a part of her book where she talks about making a collage (I can't remember what it's called in Regina Leeds' book, but she called it that too, a dream board maybe) and then trying to organize her life....hmmmm...