Organizing for the Creative Person: Right-Brain Styles for Conquering Clutter, Mastering Time, and Reaching Your Goals

I was often puzzled by my inability to stick with the organizing tips from the many books I've read on the topic. Finally I discovered this book. It explained to me the wall-to-wall stacks of paper that blanketed my office. My need to keep my work visible and accessible led to this "all out" array, but it also was hard to manage and retrieve. At last, I could understand where my resistance to traditional organizing originated. You will recognize a lot of the tips here from other books on organizing, but the author relates them to the creative mind and how it applies to your style. It also explained to me when my cleaning efforts often bogged down due to my "global" view. Getting me to focus on detail and tackle one small part, made it all more manageable.

This is a wonderful book that hones right into the heart of the causes of the organizational challenges of many creative people. I thought I was a hopeless case until I read this book. It gave me so much hope and helped me to identify the way my thinking style affected my disorganization. It helped me to find new ways to overcome my lack of order and I am now much more confident and organized. It's rather amusing that the few negative customer reviews actually prove one of the major points of this book: That left brain people have little understanding of the difficulties experienced by creative people, and, because of their analytical (and therefore judgmental) inclinations, they tend to be critical and think that there should be only hard and fast organizing rules, rather than methods that can be molded to individual needs. This book is a classic, on book shelves for over ten years, and is the organizing "bible" of creative people. Because I personally know a professional organizer, I know that it was chosen by the National Association of Professional Organizers as a study guide for it's members and it is still regularly recommended by many professional organizers to their clients. My recommendation: If you are the creative type and experience on-going organizational problems, buy this book! You will see yourself on every page. It changed my life, and it could change yours!

I have read this book about twice now and I believe the authors completely understand right-brained (RB) people and wrote the book in a way that works well for RB's. My belief is that the people that gave this less of a review were perhaps not as much in the RB mode as they suspected. The book uses diagrams, formatting, summaries, examples and specific advice very well, making it easy for us RBs to understand why we're different and how to make the most of it.

I read this book while on jury duty. We spent a lot of time in the hall on hard benches. I regularly startled my fellow jurors by slapping my open hand on the wooden bench, and laughing out loud. Yes, I am now diagnosed a "creative/right brainer" -- especially when it comes to organizing. I have a shelf of books on this topic; I have hired professionals; I have two assistants, and only now realize why none of them understands me. THEY ARE ALL LEFT-BRAIN ANALYICAL ORGANIZERS! I found dozens of useful tips and suggestions. The biggest thing I was left with is this: THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH ME. All other organizing books are written for left-brain thinkers. Thanks to Dorothy and Dolores for finally writing a book for me. Get it, keep it, and tell all your friends who need this. You know who they are.

Dorothy Lehmkuhl and Dolores Lamping have provided a unique look at issues related to getting organized. When the words "get organized" are uttered, at least half of the American population shudders. There is no early education provided for those not blessed with the organizing gene. These people live their lives seeing being organized as magical. They live with shame, guilt, anger, defensiveness, and sadness. I know that this is the case because I teach them about organizing in Denver, Colorado. My classes have been the site of tears and shouting over the frustration of the inability to create organization. I share this with you because the book, ORGANIZING FOR THE CREATIVE PERSON, is the antidote for the frustration. I recommend it to every group when I speak. It provides such a unique interpretation to the word organized.Creative people are visual and see this process of being organized in many different ways. They see it as limiting, as impossible, as an intrusion, as difficult to accomplish. They, too, yearn for time saved, relief from anxiety, and a way to increase their creativity and productivity. The analysis and understanding in this book of these issues act as permission to the creative to both get organized and to do it in ways which work for them. These are not conventional systems. Filled with tips about alternative ways to organize, solutions abound. This wonderful book can change lives.In addition, ORGANIZING FOR THE CREATIVE PERSON has been chosen for study by the National Association of Professional Organizers as a text from which the national certification examination has been written. It has value, not only to those persons struggling to become organized in new ways, but also to the professionals in the industry of professional organizing, assisting them with deeper understanding of their clients. Whatever you interest in organizing, this is a must read. Sincerely, Mary Lou Lundberg, better known as Bunky, Former Chair, National Certification Process Committee, National Association of Professional Organizers and Owner, CHAOS CANCELLED, Denver, CO