One Year to an Organized Life: From Your Closets to Your Finances, the Week by Week Guide to Getting Completely Organized for Good

While this book says 'one year to an orgazined life', I don't think it would take that long. The point is to be willing to put in the time now and get it done. And once you are done, you can sit back and finally relax inside your orgazined home. I liked the fact that not only was it about organizing your closets, but your finances, as well. It was, for me, one of the better books on the subject. A recommend. I also recommend The Big Clean: How to Clean and Organize Your Home and Free Your Mind (Revised and Updated).

There's books to help you get organized, and then there's books to help you get organized- and this book is great! I think what makes it so different than your typical book on organization is that is leads you through the organizational steps and process so well....EVERY WEEK FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR!! And this, I feel, is its main strength. So how does it accomplish the lofty goal of getting one organized? According to the book, the magic formula is as follows: 1) eliminate 2) categorize and 3) organize! If it sounds simple, it is- or rather should I say that this book makes it about as simple as it can get. Three steps, eliminate, categorize, and organize- and that's about what you can expect to do for each month of the year for a specific disorganized area, easily broken into down steps, week-by-week. Here's some of the areas of your life the book tackles: -the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, attic, the home office and living room -additionally, the book covers getting organized while traveling, while moving, while entertaining, as well as the busy school time and holiday seasons. As you can tell, the book is really complete and will guide you to a more organized life, week-by-week for an ENTIRE year. Get it if you're lazy like me and need to be led by the hand. If you can't get past just reading the steps, try The Sixty-Second Motivator. Good luck!

Out of all the organizing books I've read--more than I'd like to admit--Regina Leeds' "One Year to an Organized Life" stands out as the most comprehensive and inspiring book yet. The book is organized into 12 sections--one for each month of the year, starting with January, although as Regina points out, there's no time like the present to get started. She takes you through not only the main areas of your home--the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom all get their own sections, as well as "common rooms" and, intriguingly, "hidden areas" which includes the attic, basement, garage, laundry and guest rooms--but also devotes sections on travel, entertaining, creating a festive atmosphere, and paper organization. I'm especially drawn to July's section, titled, "Fun in the Sun: Scrapbooks, Memorabilia, Greeting Card Collections, and Your Address Book." There are also sections on Back-to-School and Moving, both of which offer general tips and strategies anyone can apply--even those who don't have kids or are planning to move. The sections contain an introduction, a summary, and four chapters that correspond with the weeks in a month. Each chapter opens with a bulleted list, encouragingly titled "This week you can," followed by a time estimate for how long it takes to complete the task. The short essay at the beginning of the section introduces the "Habit of the Month," while a week-by-week summary, followed by a "Bonus tip," and "Affirmation of the Month," provides review and closure. It's been two months now since I received "One Year" and the difference in my home is evident in almost every single room. Just following the "Habit of the Month" alone can make a significant difference. While some reviewers apparently are uncomfortable about the spiritual aspect of organizing that is part and parcel of Leeds' approach, I LOVE this about the book. It's obvious that organizing is so much more than learning "tips or tricks." The perils of chaos--and the benefits of organizing--are undeniably linked to one's emotional health. If you want to get organized and treat yourself in the process, I recommend curling up with a nice cup of tea and plotting your own year to an organized life.

I own over 30 Get Organized books and by far this is the 1 that has made it finally happen for me. The author is witty and straight forward. Organization Tasks are broken down into categories (i.e. kitchen, bedroom, etc.)and are assigned to you to do during a specific month of the year. However, where this book made a difference for me is each month is broken down into weeks, and each week we are given assignments to be completed that are not overwhelming ... just baby steps that are part of the huge overwhelming mess we have created by being unorganized. I highly recommend this book as it holds your hand and never allows you to have to decide "what am I going to do next". It takes the guess work out of organizing, and where my hiccups come in, is trying to decide where to start - well this book removes that by braking everything down for you. Very simple organizing education, it is like having your own personal organizer with you every step of the way, every day.