Organize for a Fresh Start: Embrace Your Next Chapter in Life

by Susan Fay West

Organize for a Fresh Start will help readers who have experienced major life transitions that have left them with homes, belongings and schedules that no longer work for them. Readers will learn step-by-step how to reorganize so they can hold on to what they need, let go of what they don't, and welcome new things that will help them in the next chapters of their lives. Readers will learn how to reevaluate the function of their homes and reorganize their houses to make them work for their current life circumstances. They will also learn how to manage their new lives' activities and systems and settle into a "new normal." Lots of tips, checklists, questions and exercises will help readers work through the process.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Reference, How To, Personal Development

155 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Elaine Dowling · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seriously unimpressed. First, the formatting needs work. The font size kept changing (Kindle edition). Second, it continually reminds you that if you need help with an organizational project you can always hire a, "Certified Organizer Coach and Certified Professional Organizer". Oops, I left out the trademark symbol. Don't worry, the author never did. If I wanted to hire a pro, I wouldn't have bought the book. Third, the book is very much about how to get started, not how to follow through or finish. Fourth, this book assumes that what you are organizing is a house in which the reader has raised children, accumulated tons of sentimental stuff, been widowed and now needs to reduce the tonnage. Sorry, that isn't me. I am sufficiently disorganized that I really didn't think I could read an entire book on organizing without learning something useful. I was wrong.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is designed to help readers who have experienced major life transitions that have left them with homes, belongings, and schedules that no longer work for them. The author gives guidance in a step by step fashion to help you reorganize so one can hold on to what they need, let go of what they don't, and welcome new things that will help in the next chapters of their lives.

"Organizing is cathartic and can help you process your emotions. As you go through your things, you’re not only thinking about whether to keep or let go of items, you’re thinking about the transition itself, the emotions, what you’ll do next, how you’re managing." I was already doing this when I started reading the book. I found that this statement was very true and that I was getting a lot of catharsis from cleaning every drawer and closet in the house.

[Dee Renee Chesnut · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had been a Free Friday selection, and it is no longer free.

This book helps a reader whose processes and systems are no longer working because there may have been a major transition in the reader's life such as empty nest, downsize to a smaller home, elderly parent moving in, changing careers, and others. West uses the acronyms of REORGANIZE and SIMPLIFY to help the reader stay on track until the job is done and the home supports you in your new life.

I'm finding the book's charts and questionnaires useful as I work through a smaller transition, having a household with two retired adults needing to use rooms differently for full-time hobbies.

[Marilee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! Could relate to a lot of this book! Am glad I found it! Really is helping me a lot! And no, I have not found the need to "hire" a professional since I am using her tips!

[Deserthomemaker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t find this to be particularly useful for me, but I think it could be helpful for someone else. There are some charts and questions that can be used to help a person understand what they need to get organized. So why only 2 stars? Because the number one suggestion, repeated ad nauseaum, is to hire a Professional Organizer Coach™️. In fact, the fallback suggestion for most things is to hire someone — professional organizer, therapist, life coach, cleaning service, errand service, etc. I find that less than helpful.

[Kiisha Hilliard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay

After reading the beginning pages, I realized that the book wouldn’t be ideal for me. It is very focused on overcoming large life transitions and many of the examples don’t seem applicable to my life as a person in my 20s. There are some basic things that can be helpful to learn about organizing for yourself or for helping someone else going through a transition in life.

[A.M.]

Waiting for another title at the library, this caught my attention. But it kid of doesn’t work for my ADHD brain and I ended up not reading it or renewing it before the library automatically returned it for me.
Did not finish at 40%

[Dogsandbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good ideas. Total Boox via dpl

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hoping for a Kondo like energy surge, I inhaled this last night. No revelations, though it might be a starting point for the recently bereaved or divorced.

[sjams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't quite finish this but got most of the way through. It was a good start for trying to figure out how to organize spaces in order to organize my life.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've checked this book out several times now, and for me, it would be worth buying. I like a lot of the thinking behind where and how and why we keep the items we do, and how this book helps one reevaluate your possessions and spaces in view of a life change.

What I did notice this time through the book is that there is not much included really on moving house altogether. It seems that this is strange, given that many people would be moving to a whole new place when a new chapter of life was beginning.

If I'm completely honest, I like the cover quite a bit, and it makes the book appealing. It is a little less so inside.

[Leanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very helpful book for those who are facing a big change in their lives -- a new baby, a parent coming to live with them, an empty
nest, the loss of a family member. It talks a lot about how to reorganize your house and its systems to be conducive to a new phase in life.

The chapter on going through one room at a time to declutter was very informative. Even though I liked the book as a whole, I thought some parts were very repetitive.

[Kathy Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of my favorite organizing motivators

I have a couple of other organizing books that have been helpful to me but this one seems to be the overall winner for me in ideas and thoughts to motivate me. There are no pictures of systems to use but there are suggestions on incorporating what you may already have. You figure out what works best for you, as she guides you with steps to take you through the journey.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate this for being the gentlest, least prescriptive organizing book I personally have read. I don't think the word 'minimalism' appeared a single time, which was refreshing. It did seem like a promo for professional organizing coaches at times, and at others it seemed a little clunky (*two* acronyms to guide this process?), but I will probably still return to it in the future if I find myself overwhelmed in the face of change.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I like the idea of organizing around life changes - however, this book is very limited to late-life changes. If that's where you're at, you may like this, but that didn't work for me. Was looking for advice on transitioning from life before kids to two children in my house and all the chaos that brings, but did not find this book useful.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Organizing for a Fresh Start is a good read and helps people through the transitions in their lives. Getting, keeping and staying organized through life's transitions can be hard, especially if the transition is not of your choosing. This book will help you to Organize for a fresh start.

[Victoriavanc · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a senior citizen and have moved twice in the past 6 years, having to downsize both times. I've read parts of this book, and will probably check back to other parts over time. Haven't seen anything I didn't already know, but, that in itself was encouraging! She has good ideas and they work.

[Stella · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very useful 'how to' guide for anyone facing or going through a transition in life such as divorce, arrival of a new child, job change/loss, change of living circumstances, empty nest, etc.
i may dive into this one from time to time again.

[Greta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good premise but could have done without the repetitive suggestions - multiple times within each chapter - to hire a professional organizer. I ended up only skimming the later chapters as it really started to bug me.

[Noelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I recently used pieces of this book to reorganize my life and so far its working wonderfully. Its written for anyone to follow

[Meghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was NOT as helpful as I hoped. A lot of theory and not enough examples. Plus, the editing on the Kindle edition was off.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good tips for general organizing, but this book really focuses on changing your systems to cope with life events. If you don't have existing systems then this book is not the one to read.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

different way to look at the house and where you put stuff.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Need to buy this book.