Product Description

Hundreds of thousands of people have broken through the clutter and streamlined their lives with Julie Morgenstern's proven techniques. There's no magic, no mystery. Getting organized is a skill that anyone can learn. The beauty of Julie's system, honed during her many years as a professional organizer, is that it enables you to design a unique organizing plan based on your individual goals, natural habits, and psychological needs -- a plan that will work with your personality rather than against it. Let Julie Morgenstern set you free to live the life you dream about.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #377199 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-01
• Formats: Abridged, Audiobook
• Original language: English
• Binding: Audio CD

From Amazon.com
It's about time! Julie Morgenstern has written an organizing book that covers a new way of looking at the task of organizing effectively without labeling or blaming the person behind the lack of organization. Rather, she says, people who don't organize just never learned how to organize, through no fault of their own--after all, it's not a skill that's taught in school. That said, she gets down to work helping you figure out an organizing system that will really work for you, not a system based on cookie-cutter filing concepts or special storage units.

Morgenstern's "from the inside out" system begins by laying out the possible reasons for a failure of organization: technical errors (like having a complex organizing system that breaks down), external realities (like not enough space for your belongings), and psychological obstacles (like fear of failure--or success). Then, her Analyze and Strategize steps help create a plan of action based on your needs and goals, and the brief chapter called "Attack: Getting the Job Done" offers basic ideas for making space. The largest section of the book, "Applying What You've Learned," addresses the specifics of organizing workspaces, home offices, living spaces, and storage areas. Each section has a "How Long Will It Take?" box that gives a realistic time estimate, and Morgenstern's "Julie's No-Brainer Toss List" for each area gives the permission and encouragement that most of us have been waiting for to get rid of things we'll never use again. The section at the end, "Tackling Time and Technology," is worth its weight in DayTimers and PalmPilots. Whatever your organizing issues are, you're not a hopeless case, and you don't need special equipment--just a little understanding of the problem and a willingness to plan before diving in.

From Publishers Weekly
Anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed by clutter and chaos will welcome this clear, easy-to-follow guide to organizing a room, home or officeAa companion to Morgenstern's bestselling paperback (Owl, 1998). Professional organizer Morgenstern warmly reassures listeners that organizing is a skill that can be learned and that any mess can be tamed. Most people make the mistake of simply diving in, which Morgenstern compares to driving cross-country without a map. Her strategy: first figure out your goals and how your space can best help you achieve them; determine what obstacles are holding you back (e.g., a subconscious psychological need to hang on to clutter); divide the space into "zones" of activity (a kitchen contains a cooking zone, a dish-washing zone, etc.); and organize the space so that all the supplies for each activity are stored in the appropriate zone. The tape offers quizzes to help listeners define their obstacles, and, as one would expect, the quizzes are well organized and audio friendly. Even better, listeners can grasp the author's solutions immediatelyAwithout having to refer back and forth to different parts of the tape or use a pencil and paper (problems often encountered with audio self-help books). Morgenstern's sense of humor and colorful examples of real-life client case studies make this tape as entertaining as it is helpful. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
As the creator of Task Masters, a full-service organizing company, Morgenstern has helped hundreds of clients overcome their failed attempts at managing their lives. She gives ways to overcome psychological obstacles that prevent us from maintaining an organization system and explains a plan called SPACE (sort, purge, assign a home, containerize, equalize). Covering the workplace and each room of the home, she provides sample time lines of how long the process will take and offers tips on what to toss and what storage products to use. A list of product catalogs is provided, as well as a section on how to organize time. A good book for public libraries.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.