Books
Books on organizing life fall into several categories. To complement the topics of this book, you may want to look into some of the topics and books below.
If I wanted more information on improving my life organizationally, I would go to my local bookstore and look for books in the household section. The latest books on organizing including some classics are nestled among the books on decorating and home repair. Books about taking control of and simplifying one’s life are scattered throughout the self-improvement section.
A second place I would look, depending on its proximity, is the local library. It may or may not have the latest books, but it will have books that are no longer on the bookstore shelves. The oldies are often the goodies.
The third place to look is at an online bookstore. Type in the words household organizing (if you put in organizing alone, you may get information on starting a union) or simplicity. Look to see if reviews of books by other readers are available.
I encourage you to refer to my other books, all published by Revell: The New Messies Manual—the flagship book for change; The Messie Motivator; Messie No More; Neat Mom, Messie Kids; and When You Live with a Messie.
Simplicity
Davidson, Jeff. Breathing Space: Living and Working at a Comfortable Pace in a Sped-up Society. New York: MasterMedia Limited, 1991.
Jones, Sheila, ed. Finding Balance. Billerica, MA: Discipleship Publications, 2002.
Time Management
Davidson, Jeff. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Managing Your Time. New York: Alpha Books, 1995.
Macgee-Cooper, Ann, with Duane Trammell. Time Management for Unmanageable People. New York: Bantam, 1994.
Otto, Donna. Get More Done in Less Time. Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1995.
Clutter
Aslett, Don. Not for Packrats Only: How to Clean Up, Clear Out, and Dejunk Your Life Forever. New York: Penguin, 1991.
Campbell, Jeff. Clutter Control: Putting Your Home on a Diet. New York: Dell, 1992.
Neziroglu, Fugen, Jerome Bubrick, and Tobias Yaryura. Overcoming Compulsive Hoarding. Oakland: New Harbinger, 2004.
Organizing
Cilley, Marla. Sink Reflections. New York: Bantam, 2002.
Lockwood, Georgene. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Organizing Your Life. New York: Alpha Books, 1996.
Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House. New York: Scribner, 1999.
Rich, Jason. The Everything Organize Your Home Book: Straighten Up the Entire House, from Cleaning Your Closets to Reorganizing Your Kitchen. Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2002.
Roth, Eileen, with Elizabeth Miles. Organizing for Dummies. New York: Hungry Minds, 2002.
Williams, Debbie. Put Your House in Order: Organizing Strategies Straight from the Word. Houston: Let’s Get It Together, 2002.
Paper Organizing Tips
Barnes, Emilie. The Fifteen-Minute Organizer. Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1991.
Smallin, Donna. Unclutter Your Home: Seven Simple Steps, Seven Hundred Tips and Ideas. Pownal, VT: Storey Books, 1999.
Winston, Stephanie. Best Organizing Tips. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996.
Parenting
Elkind, David. The Hurried Child: Growing Up Too Fast Too Soon. Cambridge, MA: Perseus, 2001.
Felton, Sandra. Neat Mom, Messie Kids. Grand Rapids: Revell, 2002.
Rosenfield, Alvin, and Nicole Wise. The Over-Scheduled Child: Avoiding the Hyper-Parenting Trap. New York: St. Martin’s, 2000.
Tinglof, Christina Baglivi. The Organized Parent: Three Hundred Sixty-Five Simple Solutions to Managing Your Home, Your Time, and Your Family’s Life. New York: Contemporary Books, 2002.
Websites about Organizing
Websites have a limited life, but by using a search engine, you will be able to find many that can help.
www.messies.com—The website of Messies Anonymous, founded by Sandra Felton. Contains a lot of information for those who struggle with disorder in their lives. Join online groups for regular support in making changes.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/The-Organizer-Lady—Sign up for daily encouragement and reminders from Sandra Felton to keep on track and in focus.
www.OnlineOrganizing.com—“A world of organizing solutions.” Read excellent articles, join discussion groups, get questions answered by professional organizers.
www.OrganizersWebRing.com—Professional Organizers Web Ring or POWR. Their motto is “You’ve got the POWR to get organized.” Find a professional organizer in your area and read articles on many subjects that affect your everyday organizing life.
www.nsgcd.org—National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization. “The premier online resource for anyone interested (personally or professionally) in Chronic Disorganization.”
www.napo.net—National Association of Professional Organizers. Locate a professional organizer in your area or learn how to become one.
www.faithfulorganizers.com—This is a website for Christian Professional Organizers. It is the only place where faith and professional organizing meet. This site helps people all over the country locate professional organizers in their area who also share their values. They are a resource for churches to find speakers for their women’s groups and moms’ groups.
Catalogs for Organizing
The Container Store catalog at www.containerstore.com or 800-733-3532. They offer many organizing solutions for the home or office, including closet design, with free personalized planning service in the stores, over the phone, and online.
Get Organized catalog at www.shopgetorganized.com or 800-803-9400. Check out their many “space-saving innovations to unclutter your life.”
Hold Everything catalog at www.holdeverything.com is a catalog of storage and household ideas from Williams-Sonoma.
Lillian Vernon catalogs at www.lillianvernon.com or 800-545-5426. Their household organizing catalogs Neat Ideas emphasize decorative organizers and tools for every room in the house.
Organize-Everything catalog at www.organize-everything.com has clothing storage items.
Organize It catalog at www.organize-it.com has lots of clothing storage products.
The Storage Store at www.thestoragestore.com has a nice variety of storage boxes.
Catalogs for Cleaning
Clean Report, from Don Aslett, America’s Number One Source for Cleaning Information at www.cleanreport.com or 800-451-2402. Don has available many books and videos on cleaning as well as cleaning tools and products.
Home Improvements: Hundreds of Quick and Clever Problem-Solvers! at www.improvementscatalog.com or 800-642-2112 has lots of interesting things for use around the home, including many unique organizing products.
Home Trends at www.hometrendscatalog.com or 800-810-2340. This catalog emphasizes cleaning products but offers organizing products as well.
High- and Low-Tech Cleaning Schedule Resources
The Flipper is a system of organizing cleaning jobs available from Messies Anonymous. For information: www.messies.com or check how you can make your own in The New Messies Manual or The Messies Superguide.
The Internet has several cleaning schedule lists available online from various groups. A recent search on Google under “household cleaning schedule” turned up 5621 links, several of which looked excellent.
Create your own daily schedule using your computer calendar or online reminders, which may come with your provider service.
Online Cooking Resources
Type recipes in your search engine, and your poor little computer will sag with the weight of the responses.
Check out www.30daygourmet.com for cook and freeze suggestions.
Filing Resources
Hemphill, Barbara. Taming the Paper Tiger at Home. Washington, D.C.: Kiplinger, 2002.