Absolutely Organized: A Mom's Guide to a No-stress Schedule and Clutter-free Home

by Debbie Lillard

Do you run non-stop but never feel like you accomplish anything? Feel stressed out at home? Dream about doing things that you never get around to doing? Wish you had extra hours in your day? Well, here's something even better!

"Absolutely Organized" is "a book full of tips and hope" for overworked, time-crunched, clutter-crushed moms. It's brimming with practical, proven and, in many cases, very simple solutions for keeping order in every corner of your life, from your refrigerator to your file drawers, from keeping a newborn on a set schedule to getting kids to willingly pitch in on household chores.

Debbie Lillard, professional organizer and mother of three, shares her easy-to-use "Absolutes of Organizing" tips to help you gain and maintain order in the three key areas of your family's life:


YOUR TIME: Learn the tricks for streamlining cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping and other everyday duties. Get more done and have more time left over to spend on your kids, your spouse, projects around the house, and even yourself!
YOUR BELONGINGS: Use Debbie's simple but effective C.P.R. method (Categorize, Purge and Rearrange) to organize paperwork, photos, collections, toys, clothes, children's artwork and more.
YOUR HOME: Take it room by room—home office, kitchen, bathroom, family room and even (gulp!) the kids' rooms. Rid your house of clutter, make the most of your space, and make home feel more comfortable, functional and relaxing.
Follow "Absolutely Organized" from start to finish for a complete, full-life makeover. Or dip in here and there for help on one problem area at a time, such as that ever-growing mountain of paperwork, your collection of children's memorabilia, or that disaster area called a closet. Tried-and-true advice for every mom, "Absolutely Organized" will help you simplify your life so you can enjoy more and stress less.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Parenting, Reference

191 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2007

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Apparently, in order to be organized, us Moms need to have one day a week entirely free to do laundry and another day free to clean the house. We can't let our husbands help us grocery shop because they might not do it right, or they might spend too much money. And don't let husbands pack the car for a vacation, better to do it yourself so it is just how you want it. If you are a working mom then there is no other option than to just hire out the work (since you won't have an entire weekday to devote to cleaning and another for laundry). I think you could sum up this book by saying: you can't be organized unless you quit your job and do everything yourself!

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confession: I have a strange obsession with cleaning/organizing books, and have for quite some time. I'm sure I have read more than a hundred books on the subject. The earliest of these books I remember reading were some of my mom's, written by a professional cleaner named Don Aslett. (Decent reads, BTW, if you like that sort of thing.) The silly thing is, I'm still not the most organized person. There are stacks of papers sitting on my kitchen table. Dust bunnies live on the top of my fridge. You get the picture. The very silly thing is, if you've read five books on this subject, you've pretty much read them all. And yet...they call to me. I must read them. Maybe one of them will be the book to rule them all. This wasn't that book, but it had some good, helpful, interesting ideas.

(I realize this is not really a review of this book. Sorry.)

[Sheree · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a proffessional organizer and this book has some great tips. I have shared this book with many of my clients.

[Melony Merten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a lot of books about organizing and this was by far my favorite!!! I would recommend to anyone!

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an organized approach to being organized! Debbie Lilliard shows how to take charge of your time and bring order to your home in 19 simple chapters. Geared toward young moms but readable by anyone who wants a reminder that keeping tidy spaces doesn't require rocket science. Definitely reminded me of my tendency to overcomplicate life!

[Zanna Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should have got the compilation version . . .

[Adventuresofabusymom.com · Rating 2 out of 5]

Helpful tips. But, I’ve heard them before.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okay book about getting organized. I don't know how she can get by with only six loads of laundry a week, but that is great.

[Brandi D'Angelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise, cute little book that is geared well for the new mom and/or mom with young children.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

For Sale

[Liz Busby · Rating 4 out of 5]

It felt a little disorganized for a book about organization--particularly the last few chapters on organizing each room of the house where there was a lot of repeated material.

That said, there are so many fabulous tips in here, some new to me and some that I found out myself through experimentation. I wish I had had this book when first starting up a household. In particular, I loved her 7 day plan for packing for a family trip, which I immediately copied into my current packing list spreadsheet, with some of my own modifications:
6 days before: Stop mail & newspaper
Check trip location Weather
5 days Clean the house
Print packing lists
4 days Shop for trip items (snacks, sunscreen, new equipment, etc)
3 days Pack toys, books, music
Clean car
2 days Wash and pack clothes
1 Day Pack dry food
Set out luggage
Sweep floors
Day of Pack toiletries
Pack car
Pack perishable food
Take out all trash
Run dishwasher
Run garbage disposal
Set thermostat


I disagree with her about one cleaning day and one laundry day being better than distributing it though. I hated doing all my laundry in one day; now I have it distributed (but with a schedule) and I hardly even have to think to get it done. Same for cleaning.

[Mishqueen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Keep in mind as I write this review, I have read hundreds of organizing books, and so I can't help but compare it to its competition. As an organizing book goes, it was fairly simple, and didn't contain anything brilliant or out of the ordinary. In fact, it would probably make a good first organizing book for someone with normal busy lives, but not a good book for someone in a crisis. It does pay homage and special attention to the needs of a busy mom (things I know nothing about, mind you). For me, the book felt like a no-brainer, but it was well set up and easy on the eyes. There have been books with way more information that just bored me to tears because of their setup, so this book did better in that regard. The author did claim that there is no right way to organize, "only what works." But then the advice she offered sounded a bit rigid after all, and I highly doubt it would work for anyone who is not just mainstream cluttered. However, there are so many fantastic organizing books out there, that this one doesn't hurt to be the start of a long learning process.

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generally, I liked this book. It's very simply organized and there isn't any clutter in the book itself, which is cool. The most useful chapters are probably the ones for moms organizing babies and kids on a schedule. The rest of the chapters are pretty simplistic and repetitive, along the lines of "you shouldn't have a cluttered hall closet, only things that go in the hall closet should be in the hall closet.", etc.

[Carolyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Liked the lay-out of this book and the information was easy to access. Lillard offers some good nuggets for organization and this book would likely be a gold-mine to someone brand new to the genre. However, Lillard's advice felt rigid and I found myself being annoyed at her. Skimmed the second half. Also, and I hope I don't offend any friends, but I hate hate hate Babywise and she has her own version of this which completely bugged me.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great little book. It is just over 162 pages, but has lots of pictures, chart and diagrams. It didn't take long to read, I got it done in one afternoon. It has a ton of tips, schedule ideas and recommendations for helping you maintain some sanity in the craziness of life. It has practical, real solutions for every room of the house.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very broad book about how to be an organized mom. It talks about organizing your home, preparing for trips, even having an organized Christmas and a good schedule to put a baby on. It also goes over time management. The ideas weren't new to me, but gave me some good reminders.

[Amy Brown (amylikestoreadalot) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am LOVING this little book so far,and I've hardly read it. I think I'll get a lot of info and it juts makes sense. I've looked through a lot of organizing books, but the systems were too much for me. This seems sensible, and of course, it's for a Mom! :-)

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sure this would have been a great book for those who are organizationally challenged. But I am a very anal organizer, so it was old news to me. I didn't learn a thing that I could implement, as I am already living the book.

[Krystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were several things/ideas I already do which made me feel like I'm already doing a good job, but there were some additional ideas that were very worthwhile! I recommend this book to anyone who feels like they need a few extra guidelines to get organized!

[Terra · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I learned from this book at the time I read it was that I am pretty well organized. That made me very happy. Since then, I have added a child making me a mother of 4 now..... might have to go back and reread it!

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you really have no idea how to organize your house this might help otherwise it had a few useful tips.

[Johyne' · Rating 2 out of 5]

So far, I like it! A great, concise look at becoming organized now that you're a mom.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

On my quest to make my life more organized and less cluttered, this book has been more helpful than anything I've read yet.

[Meagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was simple. An unorganized person needs that. It didn't offer tons a fresh ideas, but did motivate me to make some changes. the format is good for referencing when you have a question later on.

[Noelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some useful tips. Some "duh, why didn't I think of that" and some "you've got to be kidding me! That's so simple. Doesn't every woman do that?"

[Mrs C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had some suprisingly useful tips grouped by areas of the house. It offered a lot of tips for stay-at-home moms or moms in general for dealing with time management.

[Joni · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute, simple, useful book, full of practical advice (except the section on scheduling babies, which is completely useless).

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The irony that I couldn't read this book for weeks because I couldn't locate it, is not lost on me. A good organization book for working moms, but I think I may be a lost cause.

[Sunshine Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not ground-breaking. Not particularly inspiring. Not really anything new and different. Not really extensive.

[Elaine Pasky]

Did not finish.