Pretty Neat! Getting Organized Review (Giveaway Closed)

When I heard about the opportunity to review Pretty Neat: The Buttoned-Up Way to Get Organized and Let Go of Perfection, I had to smile.  Based on the title of the book, I think that authors Alicia Rockmore and Sarah Welch must have had someone almost exactly like me in mind when they wrote it.

Asked to write about "about an area in [my] life that has been a source of organizational stress," I looked around me and had no idea where to start!  Household clutter?  Check.  Overflowing email inbox?  Oh, yeah.  Too many things to do and not enough time?  Definitely.  I need this book!

All of these areas are sources of stress for me.  At the root of it all, though, is my tendency toward perfectionism.  If I can't do it perfectly, why even start?  The very first chapter contains two concepts that changed the way I looked at my lack of organization:

Why on earth, we asked ourselves, did ... women feel their "imperfect" ways left them short of the mark organizationally?  Perhaps it's because perfection has been held up as the gold standard when it comes to organization.  We think it's high time for a new standard of organization:  an imperfect one.

and

We often struggle with accepting an imperfect mind-set because we are afraid of what others will think of us.  They may think we are not good mothers, wives, or women if we suddenly stop striving for perfection.

Bingo.

We'd be here all day if I told you about all of my organizational challenges, so let's focus on the email overload.  I have eight email addresses, five of which I check at least twice every day.  I just added up the unread messages in just the three most-cluttered accounts:  9316.  (However, only 2562 are in the inboxes.)

photo © 2009 Chad Swaney | more info (via: Wylio)

I've been mass-deleting the advertisements, newsletters, etc., as they arrive.  Now I'm taking a tip from Pretty Neat:  When I get those messages, instead of deleting them immediately, I'll open the messages and click the unsubscribe links.  My goal is to unsubscribe from at least ten email lists a day.  Once the incoming mail is tamed, I'll work on the old messages.  (I don't think I'll need that free-shipping code from June 2006.)

The Bottom Line:  Not every chapter in Pretty Neat applies to me:  our family schedules are well-coordinated and I don't have a work environment to keep neat.  Some of the tips were not new to me, but many were.  Still, the concept of defining what "imperfect organization" looks like to me and setting that as a standard is more than enough to recommend this book to anyone with similar struggles.

Links for more information:

• Buttoned Up:  the authors' website, which contains purchasing info and many resources
• Read a book excerpt
• Buttoned Up on Facebook
• Buttoned Up on YouTube
• Buttoned Up on Twitter

Would you like to win a copy of Pretty Neat:  The Buttoned-Up Way to Get Organized and Let Go of Perfection?  This time there's a bonus.  Not only will one winner receive a copy of Pretty Neat, but one winner will be chosen at random from across all participating blogs to receive a $200 gift card (same as cash such as Visa or AmEx) plus a selection of Buttoned Up products (ARV: $50) to be used towards her own reasonable organizational goals for her life.

This giveaway is closed.

How to enter:  Leave a comment and tell me the area of your home or life that has become the biggest source of organizational stress.  Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you. Limit 1 entry by this method. This must be done in order to qualify for extra entries.

Here's how you can earn additional entries (please leave one comment per entry):

• Sign up for the Buttoned Up email list. (1 entry)
• Check out the free downloadable forms and tell me which is most useful to you. (1 entry)
• 'Like' Buttoned Up on Facebook. Leave a comment here with your Facebook name. (1 entry)
• Follow Buttoned Up on Twitter. Leave a comment here with your Twitter ID. (1 entry)
• Comment on a non-giveaway post on my blog. (1 entry per post, limit 3 entries total)

More details: Open to residents of USA, age 18 or older. No P.O. Box addresses. Giveaway ends 3/21/11 at noon (Eastern time). Winner will be chosen by the random number generator at Random.org. Winner will be contacted by email and must claim the prize within 48 hours, or another winner will be chosen. Prize will be provided by the sponsor.  Void where prohibited.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book, at no cost to me, for review purposes.  All opinions in this post are my own.  By participating in this campaign I will be entered for a chance to win a gift card (same as cash) plus a selection of Buttoned Up products (ARV: $50).  I learned about this opportunity through my membership in Global Influence Network.