Organizing from the Inside Out, Second Edition: The Foolproof System For Organizing Your Home, Your Office and Your Life Paperback – August 12, 2004

Wow, I finally found a GREAT book about the underlying reasons why we struggle so much with getting -- and staying -- organized.Most of my co-workers think I'm really organized, but at home things were a mess. I just hid the mess inside closets and drawers. Reading this book helped me start tackling each room methodically, one area, one shelf or drawer, one little piece at a time. A key insight is that each thing must "have a place." I was constantly losing my keys, reading glasses, favorite earrings, checkbook, and cell phone -- but now after reading this book I have a designated place for everything. This makes it so easy to find them! For example, now I have one little drawer for all my reading glasses and I've found over 20 pair in the past couple of months that used to be scattered all over the place.I also love the book's idea of creating "zones" -- like a "money zone" in my office where I now keep all my financial records, checkbook, spare change, and bills to pay. I also created a "gift zone" where I keep presents and wrapping paper and boxes, a "fix-it zone" where I keep my tools, glue, and various broken things that need to be fixed, and a "play zone" for all the jigsaw puzzles, board games, and scrapbooking supplies that I like to play with in my spare time.I really enjoyed the inner work that the first few chapters addressed, such as what are the costs of being disorganized and what would my life be like if I were organized? So many books about getting organized address only the "technique" (like divide your clutter into "keep" or "donate" or "toss"), but this one really dives deep into why it matters and how to build on what already works in your life. It made me feel increasingly successful as I continued to work through the excellent exercises in the book. I've only been using it for 3 months but my life and belongings are already SO much more organized, and I feel so much less stressed.The author Julie Morgenstern makes getting organized fun and fascinating. I've already recommended this to many friends. Well written, funny, human, and a huge help!

I am an INFP. Introverted, creative type. I prefer mentally stimulating activities over mundane physical tasks.I have read plenty of organizing books and they have helped some; I've learned creative ways to store things, I've learned to throw things away if I don't use them, you know.. the basics. I'll read them and get motivated and do some organizing, but I never seem to maintain my system for very long. Then my house gets messy and the cleaning process becomes a huge task.Enter this book. The author first helps you figure out why you have organization problems. She says organization is a learned task achievable by everyone, and that some of us just never learned how to do it. Then she helps you create a system based on what will work for you personally. You analyze whichever area you want to organize before you jump right in to the project, and this is where the book became a game-changer for me.For those of us who love to figure things out, the creative types, suddenly the planning and strategy of creating an organization system becomes a stimulating and fun project. Since the book discusses many different types of problems that affect different people, I just read the necessary parts and the ones that applied to me and began mapping out my kitchen. I became significantly more motivated having created a plan first, because once I had the plan figured out the actual process of putting it into action went quickly and easily. Instead of moving stuff around aimlessly based on where it fits, you put things where they will work best for your personal way of living.For my kitchen, which I started off with because it was the room that bothered me the most, I found that was able to leave half of my cabinets empty. I don't even know what I'll do with the extra storage space yet, but I'm sure it will come in handy.While I was tempted to move from one room to the next, the book suggested I work on one space at a time; not an uncommon suggestion but one that I usually ignore anyway. Somehow, though, the organizational concepts in this book were so promising that I stuck to the system because I knew it would work.On a side note: there is one part where the author mentions having no visible room on her bedroom floor as a child. Now she's a professional organizer. As someone who also had that issue as a child, I was relieved. Anyone can learn to be organized- you just need to create a system that works for you.

The principles it shares, the tips, the ideas...I LOVE THIS BOOK! Thank you Julie!

It’s great advice from an organizing guru. Some items the talks about are a bit outdated because it was published a while back. Overall useful. Easy to listen to while driving. Good advice for organizing an office or house or even just a room.

Full of practical ideas. Helps you to sort out your priorities and act accordingly!

J'ai du mal à dire pour quoi, mais ce livre me semblait redondant, par rapport à d'autre chose que j'avais lu.

I would highly recommend this book for organising your home and life. It has the refreshing view that it is not all about throwing things away to create more space but the writer has a more methodical approach to organising by way of themes and knowing that there is a place for everything and everything in its place. The ideas in the book are on reflection common sense but it made me approach the task of organising in a different way. It is divided into sections for rooms of the house plus office and even down to your handbag! Highly recommended.