Year Published: 2005
My Rating: 5 stars
272 pages
An amazing book that opened my eyes to a lot of things I didn't seem to see while having it staring at my face. The author practically described my personality in great detail, I was convinced that she was spying on me and somehow wrote the book according to my life.. but how could she know what I was thinking too :)
The author divided people into two categories: Messies and Cleanies. She was a Messie but solved her problem 25 years ago and wrote this book to help fellow Messies to better their lives. I guess now you knoew which category I fit in :)
I can't remember when was the last time I read a self-help book from cover to cover, plus I enjoyed it so much and started to practice some of her methods. It really made an improvement that bought some beauty to my home, and I've just started.
Now I'm planning on getting more of her books and treating myself to the home of my dreams!
I recommend this book to anyone who is a Messie, that is lost and needs some guidance. It's GREAT!!!
Quotes I enjoyed from this book:
"It works if you work it."
Concentrate on the basics. Mount Vernon, the flipper, and the Three S system of organizing, used with persistance, will lift even the most hopeless Messie out of the morass of clutter she has fallen into.
Don't stop until you get where you want to be. Maybe the book will not be enough to keep you going.
Newton's second law of thermodynamics states that anything, left to itself, tends toward disorganization.
Felton's law is, "any house left to keep itself tends to disaster." Murphy's law applied to housekeeping is, "Any mess that can happen, will."
Not everything you face can be changed, but everything you change must first be faced.
Changing the way you think can influence your behavior permanently.
Housework is really the privilege of managing your home.
Cleaning your room is actually treating yourself with dignity.
Organizing is relieving the stress of chaos.
Keeping things picked up is embracing harmony in your life.
You got to have a dream. If you don't have a dream, How you ganna have a dream come true?
The bitterness of living in a mess remains long after the sweetness of resting is forgotten.
Reading. For bookworms, reading is quite a temptation - a wonderful way of escape into another world, which enables us to blot out the responsibilities around us. The piles around us grow dim as we lower our eyes to the book.
Television. The television is one of the few modern electronics that has made a significant difference in our time use. The time it saps from other activities causes us to feel rushed when we get up from the TV.
Computer. Undoubtedly the computer vies with the television for free time in many households. Computer games, the Internet, and email can be addictive. Hours fly by unnoticed and the house is forgotten.
What can be done at any time, is never done at all.
It is not so much how much time you have as how you use it.
We react to the idea of doing a job rather than just doing the part that is a problem.
The reason for this no doubt is because we are "thought people" not "visual people." We would rather plan an activity in an orderly fashion and then do it (or maybe never do it; but at least it is neatly planned) than do a little bit at a time.
Shopping on the Internet is perhaps the easiest of all - so easy we have to make sure we set boundaries on our spending.
Unfortunately, a cleaner is not the answer to the basic problem. One woman said she had a full-time maid but still had a problem. The maid just kept her piles dusted.
Basically, you are the only one who can organize for yourself.
Newton's law of inertia says that any body of matter at rest tends to stay that way unless some force moves it to get it started. Translated into housework, it means it win't be easy to break old patterns.
Doing housework the hard way is for those who have nothing better to do.
If you work and don't spend all day at home, you will have less time and less energy for housekeeping. Nevertheless, your goal can be achieved!
"Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of uncompleted tasks."
We have decided. We have organized. Now we have time to paint a few dreams.
"You alone can do it, but you can't do it alone." This is a favorite slogan for support groups.
For most people an ounce of morning is worth a pound of afternoon.
Also remember:
Early to bed, early to rise,
Makes your house neater than otherwise.
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