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Favorite home organizing books?
- This topic has 13 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 11 months ago by
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I touched on this on another thread (and received some good advice) , but thought I would like to expand it. I put it in habits because, after having the knowledge (which I am still seeking the know how in this area), it’s a matter of creating these new habits for ourselves.
I would love to hear other’s favorite and most useful books they’ve read regarding GETTING your home under control AND developing a system of daily, weekly, monthly, yearly duties and schedules. This is less about school organizing but actual home cleaning and organizing.
I would especially like to hear from those who were not raised on how to properly maintain a home and have a book recommendation and/or other pieces of advice that have been successful for you. I was not taught how to run a home, nor were good habits developed when I was a child.
Also, any of you that have chronic pain, as I do, your encouragement is needed in this area as it adds an extra level of inconsistancy and frustration to this endeavor. 😕
Thanks so much,
Rachel
Rachel…I am very fond of books by Emilie Barnes. She has tons and tons of tips for organization and she has been very helpful to me over the years. Her books should be available at your local library. Survival for Busy Women is one I particularly enjoy.
I like http://www.flylady.net I was taught to keep things clean, but all at once which was overwhelming for me and my brain. :o) I like the way flylady breaks it down into zones. (Taking a room at a time)And setting a timer to 10 mins and working on one thing at a time.(like paper clutter) Her book is good, “Sink Reflections”
:o) Jodi
Hi Rachel,
If you can get past the silly cartoon of a fly lady, I too HIGHLY recommend the book Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley. The author herself was not raised on how to manage and keep a home, so she has a wonderful testimony to share. Because I was never taught how to keep an orderly home either, I struggled in this area for the first 14 years of dh and I’s marriage. Marla makes it so simple and includes a system of daily, weekly, and monthly routines & schedules. I tried so many different ways to organize and keep the house clean, none of them proved to be successful… until flylady! I’m not crazy about her website however, because I find it confusing (I’m sure its just me) but I do LOVE the book!
Also, I know I mentioned this on another post but its worth repeating, Peter Walshs book “Its All to Much” shows you how to tackle bigger organization issues (something flylady was a little bit lacking on, imo).
I’ve gotten rid of all my other home management books except these two (Sink Reflections and Its All too Much) and I honestly don’t think I’ll never need another. These have really worked for us – tried and true!
I’m sure you’ll get many more suggestions!
Blessings,
Heather
(BTW, ‘Fly’ simply means Finally Loving Yourself ;))
OK Heather I think you have convinced me!! I am going to look at getting the FLYlady’s book. I have seen some stuff from her and it was sort of overwelming and her website (from what I remember) was confusing or just “to much” stuff to sort through. I’ll also look at the other book suggestion.
I am organized and like to organize things but as for keeping up with cleaning..I am not so good at. Like you guys I wasn’t really taught how to manage a home and keep everything going.
I have read some of Emilie Barnes books to and they are really good about organizing your home.
Shelly
I really learned alot with Deniece Schofield’s books, especially her ‘Confessions of an Organized Homemaker’ (sub-titled: The secrets of uncluttering your home and taking control of your life). In this book, she includes how to make your own housecleaning and home management schedule. In one of her books, she takes you room to room, giving you ways to organize and keep it organized. Her books are out of print, but I was able to get them from our library system and later purchased two of my favorites on e-bay.
Good luck on your endeavor! 😉
I really appreciate all of your suggestions. I have been able to find these at my library first to try them out, then I can purchase what works for me.
I feel the same about flylady and getting a room under control. She’ll be more useful after I get to a certain point.
I need help decluttering, going thru boxes and ‘stuff’ first, then I can make a more manageable schedule. Of course, most of the ‘stuff’ is my husband’s, so besides what can go into the shed, I have to figure out what to do with the rest.
Right now, I’m just going going all over the place and dealing with emergencies as they arise, but never really acheiving a sense of accomplishment (which is very important to me as I am a list maker who likes to check things off a list). Then on those days that I can do very little, things get even worse and I beat my self over the head with disappointment and failure as I look around and see what I didn’t do.
Again, thank you for your suggestions and I pray I can find a way to get this disorder under control!
Rachel
This is a major area that I struggle with as well. I am constantly on the lookout of more tips on organizing and scheduling cleaning. I have been to the FlyLady site but it is so visually cluttered that I just can’t do it.
I bought a book at convention called “Life Skills for Kids: Equipping Your Child for the Real World” by Christine Field. It is great in that it shows you haw to get your children prepared for living on their own (starting when they are young). I will be using it this year to start us on a good chore track.
I have also checked out every organizing book from our library that they had. I usually purge every 4-6 months – and we only have a 900 sq. foot apt. I found a book at my craft store called “Organize Now!: A Week By Week Guide To Simplify Your Space And Your Life” by Jennifer Berry. It is great because it has everything laid out in checklist style so you know all the steps to complete your task. The main headings are Organize Yourself, Organize Your Papers, Organize Your Things, Organize Your High-Traffic Areas, Organize Your Personal Spaces, Organize Your Storage Areas, and Organize Your Special Events. Each of these heading are broken down into a total of 52 different areas to organize.
I would love to hear some recommendations for chore lists. This is my main problem area. What chores need to be done in what frequency?
Rachel,
One thing that has helped me with organizing, is to make a “Room Function Chart” (I got this idea from the Peter Walsh book. Though its a secular book, it proved helpful to tackle clutter). Take a piece of paper, listing each room in your home. Now, ask yourself (dh and dc too) the following questions of each room?
1) What is the Current function?
2) What is the Ideal function?
3) Who uses it?
4) What should it contain?
5) What has to go?
This simple chart helped me to see through all the clutter, gave me a goal to shoot for and helped me decide what really had to go.
Have a great day!
I just wanted to add my plug for “It’s All Too Much” by Peter Walsh. His book, for me, really gets to the heart of the matter… and the title expresses the feeling of my heart when I see my cluttered basement or flat surfaces. I do like FlyLady and others, but Peter’s book is by far the one that actually made the biggest tangible difference.
For me, a lot of it has been about making the journey to a simpler life, which I always wanted but previously felt too overwhelmed to move forward and do it.
Another book that I’ve really enjoyed is “This Year I Will…” by MJ Ryan. If you’ve struggled for years with making much progress on a goal (like decluttering, losing weight, etc.) you might find it encouraging. Short chapters — just a couple of pages each, so it’s easy to read a chapter a day.
A friend recently loaned me “Conquering Chronic Disorganization” by Judith Kolberg. I was very resistent to reading the book because of the title and because the book looks a little cheesy. I do not consider myself disorganized so I assumed the book would not be helpful. But one day when I had to get my hair cut, I grabbed the book to read while I waited for my appointment. I loved it!
It’s the first home organizing book that “clicked” with me. I used to think there was the one perfect way to handle household chores, but this book taught me to go with what works for me…and it really has helped me find my own style. With my own style, it’s more enjoyable to do the chores.
I also like flylady, but not the emails. So I wrote down all the great tips from the website and put them into a binder. I have one page per day with flylady chores along with a daily meditation for that day of the week in a page protector. As I go through the week, I’ll slip in notes inside the page protectors of specific tasks I need to do that day. This system works well for me, and it doesn’t need to be re-created if I slip off schedule. I just flip to whatever day of the week it is and proceed without looking back at any tasks I missed because they will pop again soon enough.
I use the MotivatedMoms planner. The more you use it, the tidier the house gets.
I 2nd Field’s book Life Skills for Kids, it’s really an eye opener if you weren’t raised to be responsible (like me). Her book the Harried Homeschooler is great too.
I always think the Maxwells (Titus2) are helpful in this area.
I have enjoyed “Home Comforts – the art and science of keeping house” by Cheryl Mendelson – she has a lot of good tips and instructions for organizing, cleaning, and scheduling (even suggesting what things should be done weekly, monthly, etc.). There are a lot of things in there that remind me of the Heloise books and I use it a lot as a home reference manual. I have another friend who had her older daughter read it as a home-ec. course. She has a lot of the science of things in there that really attracts the nerd in me. It is a book I continually go back to for advice and motivation. It also makes a good gift for a new bride.
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