Dorothy Lehmkuhl

I have read quite a number of books, blogs, etc. about organizing, cleaning, etc. This is one of the few that acknowledges that organizing is a tradeoff for many of us. We might tend to be big-picture thinkers or ADHD, be right-brained, creative, visually-oriented, forgetful, too frugal to throw stuff out, or just plain busy. The authors seem to be inside my head! And they are very calm and supportive, without rambling on and on.

The book includes different techniques for recording project plans (what about mind mapping, or using Nightingale's coxcomb for a calendar), managing time/tasks, identifying priorities and motivations, and organizing and containing documents and "stuff." The emphasis is on more visual and global approaches, such as open storage and "departments."

Even though more of this advice is being absorbed into mainstream organizing books (and no wonder--who is more likely to need self-help about organizing?), this is a nice place to get some of it all together, and to help us reflect on our efforts.… (mer)