Organizing from the Inside Out for Teens: The Foolproof System for Organizing Your Room, Your Time, and Your Life

by Julie Morgenstern, Jessi Morgenstern-Colón

From Organizing from the Inside Out for Teens:

Jessi Says

What's My Payoff?
My bedroom is my home base and keeping it organized is a must. If my room isn't in solid condition, it's difficult to keep the rest of my life on track. Here are some other reasons that motivate me to keep my room organized:
- My room is the only space on the entire planet that is solely mine.
- My organized room allows me to maximize my space and time.
- My room boosts my confidence.
- My room gives others (especially my mom!) confidence in me.
- Organizing my room allows me to do what I want, when I want.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Parenting, Unfinished, Childrens

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 3, 2002

About the author

Julie Morgenstern, dubbed the “queen of putting people’s lives in order” by USA Today, is an organizing and time management expert, business productivity consultant, and speaker. A New York Times bestselling author, Julie's five books are timeless reference guides that are insightful, reader-friendly and jam packed with innovative strategies. Each volume features techniques and observations culled from her 20 years of experience as a consultant to individuals and companies.

Julie’s company, Julie Morgenstern Enterprises, is dedicated to using her philosophies and methods to provide a wide range of practical solutions that transform the way people and companies function. They provide one-on-on coaching, productivity consulting and training to Fortune 500 companies, organizations and agencies around the globe.

A contributor to O, The Oprah Magazine from 2001-2007, Julie has also been featured in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Time, Business Week, and Glamour and makes frequent appearances on national television and radio programs, including the Today Show, Rachel Ray, The Oprah Winfrey Show and NPR’s Fresh Air. Since 1989, she and her team have worked with clients such as American Express, GlaxoSmithKline, State Farm Insurance, The Miami Heat, the New York City Mayor’s office, Viacom/MTV and Hearst Magazines.

For more information, visit www.juliemorgenstern.com.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mother borrowed this book from a friend of hers and subsequently lent it to me; hoping that, maybe, this would be the breakthrough to getting and keeping my room clean and organized once and for all. I have always been a disorganized person, however that didn't mean I wanted to stay that way. To be fair, I really am only disorganized in one aspect of my life- my room. That made the chapter regarding how to organize and maintain your bedroom the most intriguing part of the book.

I loved this book. There were so many great suggestions of ways to organize your life; things I'd tried and other things I hadn't. The partnership of the mother and daughter team is what really made this book great. Julie (the mother, also my mother's name!) provided insight into basics of organization and Jessi (the daughter) used real life examples to illustrate and show how to put that into use.

To be honest, this book was not a "breakthrough". My room continues to be messy (and I read this book at least 6 years ago), however it isn't as disorganized. There is a difference between the two. The book provided me with some helpful suggestions and sparked my imagination about redecorating and reorganizing my room, which has now gone through several different phases and plenty of weekends moving furniture around. Needless to say, I'd recommend this book for any teen or pre-teen looking to organize their time, bedroom, locker, backpack, papers, etc. I still sometimes flip through it to get ideas (oh, and my mom's friend let me keep the book because I liked it so much!).

[Penny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up at a library sale since it was cheap, seemed easy enough to understand and because I'm soooo disorganized. It was only a few weeks ago when I lost my wallet that I decided it was time to get serious about getting my act together and start reading this book! And I have to say I absolutely LOVED it!! The book teaches you some valuable techniques to break down even the toughest messes with simple steps. Since I have no organizational skills almost every page and every tip was like an epiphany to me. Keep in mind the intended audience is teens as it takes you through not only how to organize a mess but also includes how to manage your time, social life and school assignments. With a little imagination those chapters can be easily adapted to your office or job just as well. This book is an excellent place to start when spring cleaning!

[Lauren Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m writing this as a 52-year-old, not a teenager. But for my money at least, this is NOT just a reprinting of Julie Morgenstern’s “Organizing from the Inside Out.” Julie’s daughter Jessi offers an independent, spirited and insightful young person’s fresh opinions about Julie’s techniques which hopefully make organizing relevant and accessible to teenagers. Jessi translates her mother’s techniques convincingly, and adds in a few of her own, to help her audience achieve accomplishments as diverse as having more time for a church youth group to playing more music. Julie and Jessi polled a wide range of young adults to define this book. I have tremendous respect for the results.

Lauren Williams, Owner, Casual Uncluttering LLC, Woodinville, WA USA

[Venkataraman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am big fan of Julie Morgenstern's Organizing books. I have read her "Organizing Inside Out", "Time Management Inside Out" books. She is genius organizer. Her books ought to be read by every person interested in tidying, organizing the books.
This book is written by her daughter and Julie together. This book is combining both Organizging, time management together in a simple to follow guide. This book is written targeting teen readers and makes it live with lots of drawings and boxes to make it very interesting to read.
It was kind of rehash for the things she already covered in her Organizing books. But, it refreshed my concepts again.
Thanks Julie for writing this book. Highly recommend.

[Chelsea]

I read this as a teen when it first came out and loved it! Strangely, I was into organizing by grade school, but this was a great resource for new ideas and a sense of camaraderie given how unapologetically messy my friends were. Oh, the memories!

[Cate]

Oh. My. Goodness. This book was great! This book is so helpful, it has tons of good advice, and I was able to get a lot of my room organized thanks this book.

[Kadee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was helpful and gave some good tips and tricks to help clean my room. I’m probably going to buy this book so I can write in it and it can help me more in depth.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. I read it as a teenager and the principles have stuck with me through life.

My favourite thing about the book is... actually the whole point of the book. The idea that the best type of organising is to do with YOU, not what your friends think is the best way, or your parents or whoever. It's about the way you think, what comes to mind first for YOU when you are looking for something. Whether you like things colour-coded and boxed, or in piles on the floor. It doesn't matter, once you can get your activities done quickly with minimum stress and you enjoy living in your space. And this book helps you to sort through your thoughts and see what works best for you.

Example of how this book has stayed with me through life: I move around a lot, and every time I move into a new room, I shift things around to create the 'Kindergarten Zones' as described in this book. You wouldn't believe what a difference it makes to the morning flow and to concentration vs relaxing, to have things organised so that only certain activities take place in each zone! e.g. if the room isn't perfectly square, I always put my desk, computer and study-bookshelf in that area as a little 'study zone' so that I'm not distracted by having it in the same area as the bed ('relaxing zone') or my wardrobe ('dressing zone').

[Rachel Fessenbecker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, so I must admit that I’m a bit of a neat freak, totally interested in topics of all things organization. So, my rating may be biased. I imagine a teen who is forced to read this by a parent or guardian might not find it so fascinating. However, I think the authors took reluctant readers into account. The layout of the book is interesting with a nice flow of picture, text, and charts. The tone of voice wasn’t preachy or overly parental, more of a friend. The authors (a mother and daughter team) show young adult readers how to not only organize their space (bedroom, closet, backpack, locker) but also their time. I took a Saturday afternoon and followed the steps carefully on how to organize my bedroom --( because it’s one thing to read the text, but following their advice could be another). Overall, I found the advice clear and precise and ended up with a good result. Teens who read this should have patience because some of it can seem overwhelming, especially if it’s read in one sitting.

[Emily M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Organizing from the inside out for teens By Julie Morgenstern and Jessi Morgenstern-Colón
Non-fiction
214 pages

This is a great way for those un-organized kids to become clean. The book has simple fun, and really easy ways to make space and still have a nice looking room. From little baskets, a dresser, or book shelf, this book has all the ways in the world for a teen to put all their stuff away but still have a fun room. Colorful labels help, and so do drawer dividers. The three parts of this book each help with on over all clean life. Starting with the basics, then your space and finally, your time. If you think you cannot do this, start by clearing your time then it slowly adds up to one perfect and livable life. I give this book four stars because it is a really good way to quickly get organized. This book basically had all the details that are needed for that clean life style.

[Katthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first forays into the world of books about organization, decent in its contents while simultaneously creating a distinctly juvenile impression. Even when I was in middle school I thought the illustrations were sub-par. However, It imparts a decent amount of wisdom with the SPACE method of organizing, which has created a lasting impression. Everything else has been replaced with other information that I preferred from other books. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up was exceedingly useful when used in conjunction with the SPACE method, and I probably would have foundered aimlessly without it.

I give this book 3 out of five stars, since I did find it useful when I was younger. Recommended for children from eight up to thirteen due to its simple vocabulary and dated illustration style.

[Erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

IF i could team this book up with: Where's My Stuff?: The Ultimate Teen Organizing Guide By samantha moss.
Then this book would be golden, because wheres my stuff isnt as thick but fills in the holes that this book leaves, i purchased this book hoping for a little more info into organizing, and though outdated, it really helps!

[Kari · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little old for my elementary student (well, obviously, in the title it says "For Teens"), but even I gleaned a few tips and techniques from it. I think it will definitely be a worthwhile purchase for my kids when they're older--it's nicely geared to the specifics of teenage life.

[Sarahjane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scanned through some parts to preview for my daughter. Think it will be motivating and life-changing for her if she reads it. Makes organizing easy to work into teen life by showing how they will LIKE being organized!

[Rosie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Hasn't worked so far. Needs a willing participant. ;)

[Betty]

But I still can't keep my room clean.