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This week I am hosting a giveaway for the book I have been reading and reviewing: Pretty Neat, the buttoned-up way to get organized and let go of perfection by Alicia Rockmore and Sarah Welch.
Below is a partial description from Amazon:
Negative self-image. Fantasy-induced overspending. Marital tension. A new kind of airbrushed concoction is wreaking havoc on homes and psyches, and Sarah Welch and Alicia Rockmore have a name for it: org porn. It’s in magazines, coffee table books, advertisements, and TV shows, promoting a perfect — and entirely imaginary — world in which everything is always pristine, serene, and flawlessly organized. Pretty Neat is a handbook that embraces the chaotic reality that lies beneath org porn’s glossy veneer, offering pithy anecdotes and candid advice from experts and real women alike on tackling organizational inertia.
Here are the other posts based upon this book:
Putting your priorities where they belong
If you could use some help organizing your life in a more balanced way, be sure to enter the drawing.
Here’s how to enter:
(This one is required!) Be a subscriber by email or RSS feed.
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*Leave a comment sharing your current organizational challenges!
*Leave a comment with your best organizational tips! Maximum of 3
*Send a tweet about the giveway. Use this one if you’d like- I’d love to win @getbuttonedup’s book Pretty Neat at http://wp.me/p1i2I5-KK Pls RT! @womanonajourney
*Share a link to this page on Facebook- http://livingthebalancedlife.com/2011/pretty-neat-giveaway
This giveaway runs through midnight, Sunday June 26th, be sure to utilize all the different ways to enter!
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My current organizational struggles are keeping things that are behind doors (closets, shelves, pantry, sometimes whole rooms) clean and organized. I’ve tried buying bins and having a spot for everything, but in a hurry things just get thrown in.
My organizational tip is to keep plastic Tupperware sorted by size and keep all of the lids in a plastic bin so you can easily pull it out of the cupboard and look for the matching lid.
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My best organizational ntip is purge often…and if you have kids, make that a part of life early. My kids now know that pre birthdays and holidays we pick out toys to donate because we know new stuff is coming soon…
I am a subscriber!!!! I am still working on being organized. :/
My current challenge is being unemployed and trying to sell my house. Keeping everything picked up all the time consumes so much time. I am trying to purge but having to pull everything out creates such a mess that I would rather leave it behind closed cabinets.
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I love the perspective you give and hope to give up my day job someday, and live in balance, making money doing what I love, not just working.
My organization tip that works for me…
When purging your closet, take everything out. Toss/donate all things that shouldn’t be in there. What’s left? Things you “wear”. Now, put everything back on the hangers and put the hangers in BACKWARDS. As you wear it, you can replace it in the closet with hanger the normal way. At the end of the season, you can (easily) tell what you haven’t worn. At this point, you must commit to donate these clothes!! Someone else can use them because they are just taking up space at your house.
(For folded clothes, put them in backwards also, and when you put clothes away that you’ve actually worn, put them “under” the pile instead of on top. If you find yourself always trying to get around a certain folded tee or sweater, it’s time for it to go.
ALso, keep a basket in your closet for items to donate. I have one in my room, and on for my kids, and take it to donate each time we have a full bag.
Thanks!
I am a subscriber! Thanks for the giveaway!
My organizational challenges are my office and computer stuff. We have too much of it and my husband wants to keep all of it.
I’ve covered cardboard boxes with cute fabric to hide some of our junk.
Hi,
I am a subscriber. My challenge is PAPER. I am trying to store more on my computer. I have started using Evernote. I might try Dropbox.
My challenge is also storing information for all the volunteer work I do. How do I store it effectively?
I also write – so storing what I write; sending it out and keeping track.
Blessings
Jan
Jan recently posted..SIMPLY SATURDAY – Write!Canada
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Some days I am too fragmented to motivate myself to accomplish anything worthwhile. So I “15 minute” myself through those days. I look around and decide what I can do that will make the most impact. Sometimes, it is a physical chore like clearing the kitchen counters or rebooting the laundry. Another time it might be an organizational task- usually sitting down with the calendar helps me to regain a feeling that I am in control of my schedule (as opposed to my schedule controlling me). With either type of activity I give it my all for 15 minutes. Then I decide whether totake a 15minute break or to keep going for another 15 minutes. I usually become that fragmented when opportunities and obligations come at me so fast that I feel I’m running a race that I’m losing. I prefer to be proactive and plan ahead, but every once in a while it seems that this gets out of balance and all I can do is react to life. That is when the 15 minute plan works wonders for me to focus on a task for 15 minutes. It is remarkable just how manageable a mere 15 minutes is- while at the same time how shocking that so much can be accomplished in such a short amount of time.
I’m overwhelmed with information overload. Instapaper helps me cope almost as well as xanax.
Thanks for the opportunity!! I NEED THIS.
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My organizing tip that I am starting to do is to never leave a room empty handed. When I am going from one room to another I take things that need to be put away in the other room as I go.
My biggest organizing challenge is paper. I have piles and piles of all types of paper.
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Emily Joyce recently posted..I Refuse
My current challenge is organizing for a move. I’m trying to pack in an organized way so that unpacking will be easier this time!
Emily Joyce recently posted..I Refuse
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My biggest challenge is keeping all of the kids toys organized and my crafting stuff. I end up cleaning up one room and then the next room is disorganized. What is wrong with me.
suscribed
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My biggest organizational challenge is clothes! Mainly my kid’s clothes. He grows so fast that I’m constantly replacing things …keeping up with getting rid of is a little harder for me.
S
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Krissa recently posted..Cooking Together…Roasted Potato and Spinach Frittata with Feta
I’m having a hard time containing all our clutter.
Krissa recently posted..Getting Started on Your Own A-Z Unit
My best organizational tips:
1. Pick up every night.
2. Add dates to your online calendar for paying bills, switching out toothbrushes, etc.
3. Get rid of stuff–I need to do this!
Krissa recently posted..Cooking Together…Roasted Potato and Spinach Frittata with Feta
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My current challenge is to find space for the holiday decorations in a storage unit. I want to get rid of that monthly charge.
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Shari recently posted..Encouragement and my very first GIVEAWAY from DaySpring!
Tweeted! https://twitter.com/#!/rainintorainbow/status/83057296531394560
Shari recently posted..Encouragement and my very first GIVEAWAY from DaySpring!
My current organization challenge – not only is it current but it is recurring – is PAPERWORK. It is the bane of my existence. Seriously.
Shari recently posted..Encouragement and my very first GIVEAWAY from DaySpring!
My best organizational tips? Hmm, let’s see…
1) When folding bedsheets, fold the fitted and flat sheets (and extra pillow case if applicable), then slide the bundle into the remaining pillow case. Fold the extra fabric around neatly, then place in linen closet.
2) Containerize. I containerize everything. I may have a container addiction actually!
3) Find one online service, whether it’s Evernote, Remember the Milk, Pinterest, whatever, to organize all those “must remember” items you find on the internet. Nothing is worse than remembering something you’ve seen/read but not being able to find it again.
Shari recently posted..Encouragement and my very first GIVEAWAY from DaySpring!
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Marie recently posted..Nine Tips for Accomplishing Great Things
My organizational challenge is that I’ve moved into a house that’s twice as big as our old one and somehow my family thinks that means we can have twice as much stuff. I’m on a mission to purge it out and make the space work better.
Marie recently posted..Top Tips for Better Vacation Photos
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Sally recently posted..Springtime Slideshow
Organizational challenges? Do you have a week? LOL But it all boils down to not managing my priorities and time.
Sally recently posted..Springtime Slideshow
The one thing that helps me most is my Google calendar. It sends me email reminders, and I have it synchronized with my iPhone so I get alarms as well.
Sally recently posted..Springtime Slideshow
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My biggest organizational challenges are clutter and the paper tiger.
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I subscribe. My latest challenge: organizing my priorities.
Tip: a silverware drawer organizer for the junk drawer.
Tweeted! http://twitter.com/#!/LindaCarmical/status/84648696909799425
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Linda Carmical recently posted..25 Thank You’s to My Dad – Happy Father’s Day
I subscribe and just love the way you write!
[...] the book Pretty Neat, there is a whole chapter on Learn to Just Say No. Saying Yes too many times is what has gotten [...]
[...] my last post reviewing Pretty Neat- the buttoned-up way to get organized and let go of perfection, I wanted to address clutter. We all [...]