One Year to an Organized Life: A Week-by-Week Mindful Guide to Getting Organized for Good

by Regina Leeds

A comprehensive, week-by-week bible to completely streamline all aspects of your life—now revised & updated for a global pandemic world of working from home and learning to de-stress while you de-clutter. Who would you be if you felt at peace and had more time and money?  An organized life enables you to have more freedom, less aggravation, better health, and to get more done.
 
Regina Leeds has helped even the messiest turn their lives around.  One Year to an Organized Life is a unique week-by-week approach that you can begin at any time of year.  Regina helps you break down tasks and build routines over time so that life becomes simple, not overwhelming.  Whether you're living in chaos or just looking for new ways to simplify, this essential book will help you get the whole household organized-and stay that way. 
 
Covid has shaken humanity to the core and forced us to slow down and reimagine the way we use our living spaces.  In a flash, the space we knew simply as home was suddenly a classroom, our office and the gym.  And, at a time when stress and anxiety is at an all-time high, it no longer seems odd to meditate.  It feels life-saving.  If life is to be re-imagined, shouldn’t we also do that with our living spaces?
 
In this revised and updated edition of One Year to an Organized Life , Regina Leeds reveals how to optimize your space—for work, family and daily calmness (with plenty of new affirmations and reward systems built into her organizing tips).

Genres: Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

Published December 6, 2022

About the author

Professional Organizer. New York Times best selling author of 9 books. Speaker.

Reviews

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book just ultimately didn't work for me. The timeline is very strange. Some weeks you do virtually nothing other than maybe think about something, and other weeks you're supposed to spend your entire Saturday completely reorganizing your kitchen. Some weeks dragged on and I didn't know if I was supposed to just skip them if they weren't relevant to me (lots of them weren't) and then in other cases it was like "oh yeah, this week you're going to tackle a ton of impossible stuff for hours at a time."

I can't really fault the author because all of us have such different homes and needs. It would be impossible to write a book that really fit most of us. But that is what this is trying to do and it didn't succeed in my case. I would have greatly preferred averaging out the tasks so it was like an hour or two every week rather than huge bursts and then weeks of putzing. I'm also just not a fan of the endless journaling and pontificating. Just give me a checklist, lady. 🙂

I have to admit that I stopped reading somewhere around month 4 because I just couldn't keep slogging through what was supposed to come (it felt like too much work even reading about it!), but I felt like I got a good feel for her general scheme of things. I usually devour decluttering and organizing books but I couldn't make myself keep reading this one.

I suggest skimming it somewhere to see if it looks like a good fit for you. Two stars for me for it was okay.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

[Maude · Rating 1 out of 5]

I... did not enjoy this book. At all. Here is why :

- This feels like something that could have been an interesting self-help on home organization, but ends up treating its readers like children (literally - in the first few pages, the author tries to describe her audience and fails terribly. She seems to believe that people who will pick up this book are the worst slobs in the world, who don't know what an agenda is or how to operate their own laundry machine. Honey, that is NOT your target audience...)

- My other main gripe with this is that the author uses her platform to sneak in esoteric / fake medicine concepts (looking at you, page where she tells you that lifting your index and middle finger in the air will improve your immune system... no, it won't. Never.) and promote her favorite multi level marketing schemes (otherwise known as pyramid schemes, like the DoTerra aromatherapy oils company she recommends) to what she believes to be a vulnerable audience.

Not cool. Not cool at all.

Oh, and by the way - putting on a disclaimer that you "respect science" doesn't work if the next paragraph is essentially "oh no chemicals are bad we need to use vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda instead". Do you know why those products clean well ? Because they are chemicals. They produce a chemical reaction that cleans well. That's the whole point of it.

Overall : I recommend a lot of self-help books, and a lot of them are centered towards cleaning and organizing. I just don't recommend this one.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

First: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for a review on #NetGalley

I'm someone who's already highly organized, but I love reading books on organization to see if I can pick up anything new and to see how others structure their systems and processes. Since I was reading this more as a review copy, and less as an actual workbook, I may not get as much mileage out of this book as someone who really takes the time to work through it week by week.

I think this book would be really great for someone who is overwhelmed by their life in general and needs someone to teach them how to have a higher executive function in a step-by-step way. It covers schedules, not being late, unpacking childhood trauma and the roots of your habits. I’m not sure how much this would have an impact on someone who already has systems in place. Additionally, it not only has organizing information, but lots of information on breathwork, meditation, and so on. As someone who does not ascribe to that value system (but doesn't really mind it - it's just not for me), I just skipped those sections.

In between advice about that, the book lays out incredibly detailed organizational systems. I think the most valuable thing in the book (as an already organized person) was the incredible paper organizing system!

Now a few things on using the book as a tool:

The book starts somewhat slow. You spend the first month planning and dreaming and also setting up a social group to work through the book with you. If you are looking to dig straight into the home/life makeover, spend the first week doing the first four weeks (which you can arguably do on a child-free Saturday morning) and then go straight into month two.

In addition to buying a journal, I would probably buy a big calendar that you can use to keep track of tasks. There are a lot of tasks and suggestions in paragraph format, and it's really up to the reader to distill these down into a sequence of actionable tasks. Someone without high executive function may get lost in the text so a calendar can really help you sort things out as you read. There is a list at the end of each month, but a visual schedule would also be helpful.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I waited to write this review to give myself some time to sort out what I want to say about this book.

Pros:
- The author has been in the organizing business for decades, way before it became a popular thing, and I respect her knowledge about how to organize things.
- She offers many good tips, and I have highlights and notes throughout the book for future reference. The book is ultimately useful.

Cons:
- In her decision to make this book a "mindful guide" to getting an organized life, she tried to be everything to everyone - counselor, therapist, spiritual guide. For me, this took away from her message. I picked up the book to get better organized, not to examine my childhood, journal, practice yoga, or be given affirmations.
- The amount of extraneous material felt like a bombardment. Why are we talking about child labor, personal views on climate change, aromatherapy and OTC supplements, gardening, multitasking, delegating, trauma, and random stories about animals???
- As a type A personality reading a non-fiction book, I was after the facts and only the facts. Reading through all of the extra material was very frustrating to me (frankly, it drove me nuts).

Summary:
This book holds a lot of good information; unfortunately readers must spend a lot of time wading through surprising and inapropriate topics to get to the nuggets they are looking for! Information is key, and you can now make a better decision for yourself. I wish for us all an organized and joyful life.

My thanks to Hachette Go for allowing me to access an ARC of this book through NetGalley. It is scheduled for release on 11/29/22. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is literally One Year to an Organized Life!

It breaks it down week by week what you're goal is, how to get there, and there's monthly affirmations. I don't know what I was expecting going into this book but this is way more! I like that each week is something different and you have projects to complete. It's not just reading about how to better your life - it's helping you do it! This isn't religious so it works for everyone. There is meditation and better eating habits listed in here and I think after living through COVID we could all use that in our lives! It does do some aromatherapy which isn't really my cup of tea but it was interesting to read. I really love the quotes at the top of each chapter - they were really inspiring!! At the end of each month is a round up of what you accomplished that month along with your bonus tip and self care. This really covers all aspects of your life and home! I just took what applied to me and left the rest!

[Rosemary Rey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well-crafted planning book. I loved how it was broken down into weekly/monthly formats so the tasks can be done without too much disruption in one’s life. I love how the book was organized. If I need to organize my office, there is a four week chapter for that. And for relocations, there’s a moving section too. I like the idea of just picking up the chapter relevant to my needs at the time. But it’s wonderful if it can be done from beginning to end. I’m excited about keeping this book as a reference for those times when I need to reset my process and spaces to be organized and have peace of mind that my home and office run efficiently.
Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Dione Hanke]

Better organization is always something I am interested in.

The book is organized with a location to organize for each month. Regina Leeds makes a point of telling you to prepare to get organized. I think giving someone a new focus by the month is a great idea. Keeps you from trying to do it all in one week and when you are not successful quitting.

What I did not like was her telling me that she knew me. Which she does not. I do not lose my keys. This part of the book was really a put off to me. Giving me new ideas for getting organized would work better without this part of the book.

This is not a book I can recommend very highly. People that need help should not have to feel worse to get it.

[Tara Weiss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps we've all been ruined by Influencers on TikTok and Instagram . . . One Year to an Organized Life feels like following the #selfhelp hashtag on Insta. Lots of sound advice, but you've probably viewed the content before in some form or another. Yes, there are benefits to following a program, a bound and printed pathway to getting better at living, but there wasn't anything novel or new. I love that all the advice is in one place. There is a breakdown of timeliness, an interaction through narrative reading that will be a better model than a quick, fleeting video that automatically moves to the next idea before you've fully digested the previous tidbit. Slow down and read, and you could be better organized.

[Katelyn Hamaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a one year journey to organizing your entire life! I read it in less than a couple weeks in order to do my review, but I was able to pick up a ton of tips along the way. I really enjoyed the mindset and meditation tips that were included with each section. A highlight for me was the sections at the end that focus on how to be organized around the holidays. We entertain for both Thanksgiving and Christmas and these ideas were really helpful! This is a read everyone can use because there are a lot of things in life you may not think of that need organization that are addressed. Thank you Hachette Go and Netgalley for the free review ecopy!

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

The parts that are good are SO GOOD and the parts that are cringey are painfully cringey. But the good outweighs the bad, especially for the first 50% of the book. Definitely going to be scanning back through the parts I loved a few more times and skipping the rest.

[Manuela · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mix of self help + midfullness + organizing tips.

The beginning is stronger, and I confess I jumped some parts. I still learned interesting organizing tactics, specially on the kitchen, one of my biggest roadblock.

Overall, an interesting book, though it gets a little too repetitive at times.