The Fast and Furious Five-Step Organizing Solution: No-Fuss Clutter Control from a Top Porfessional Organizer Book

I am an organization junkie. Does that mean my house is perfectly organized? Anyone that really knows me would laugh at that question. BUT, that doesn't me I can't strive for that goal! I read a lot of these books and they all tend to say the same thing: Get rid of stuff you don't use. Simple.

This one puts it into 5 "Fast and Furious" steps. Whoopie! The five steps are:

1.) Plan - Set a date (or multiple dates) and have the things you need on hand to organize.
2.) Weed and Sort - Pull out everything and take a good look to see if you really need it or if it logically belongs somewhere else.
3.) Remove - Either put the items where they should go or get it out of the house.
4.) Name - Set boundaries for the items.
5.) Containerize - Divide things up, if necessary.

One things I love that she pointed out is the pitfall many organizers fall into: the need for beauty above all else. We've all seen pictures in a magazine of a darling little set-up with rattan baskets perfectly lined up. But the reality is that if they are not named and labeled, you will grab every basket looking for the one you need! I completely agree with this and have waited a long time for organizers to call out their fellow organizers on this problem.

She says that the biggest pitfalls for weeding are that you will get rid of items that
1.) you may need someday down the road
2.) they are/were expensive
3.) they were gifts
4.) they are mementos
5.) they are beautiful, but are space hogs (ie fance serving plates, etc)

I have a real problem with #1 and #4. She points out that in organizing, you will get rid of things that you will someday probably need or want. Basically, just prepare yourself mentally for that day and don't kick yourself when that day comes. It's okay. You may buy duplicate items over the years. This one is really hard for me, especially since we've lived on so little money for so many years. I tend to keep things "just in case." I'm working on it. ;)

In Step 4, she really does single me out specifically as she discusses memorabilia overload and rubs my nose in my issues. She writes:

"Anything more than one chest of memorabilia becomes a millstone around our present, and to others it can seem just slightly creepily self-absorbed."

Haha! I love that quote! Here's another

"A single album displaying the best of your child's artwork and "journaling" from infant to graduate is charming; four boxes can be pathological for parent and child."

The final, and my favorite quote from this chapter is:

"Even Michelangelo's mother couldn't possibly have kept every random, youthful scrawl of stick figure floating next to a spiky sun." LOVE THAT!

The second half of the book goes through each room and has pictures of REALISTIC organization techniques. The home doesn't look straight-out-of-a-magazine-perfect and that's why I LOVE them. ;) Overall, this book really does go over the same information that other organization books have, but because of the three quotes I listed above, I'm giving it 5 stars. I know those will stick with me for a long time.