The Office Clutter Cure: How to Get Out from Under It All!

Rating:
Summary: Offices and Classrooms
Review: I don't work in an office. I work in a classroom. However, I found that much of what is said in this book applies to me.

I teach science, and have worked in 2 different schools where I inherited the previous teacher's mess. In the first one, I applied many of Aslett's principles without even realizing it. There was so much junk that I couldn't even work. I did almost no labs my first year because I couldn't find anything!

At my new school, started by organizing. Recently, I read this book and was inspired. I went through my storage area and threw out every broken piece of equipment. I also snuck out a few pieces of equipment that I knew I would never use.

It has been a wonderful feeling. I now have room to have a sort of "office" in my storage room. I can find equipment quickly, making me more likely to do labs, and I have created room for the equipment I plan to order that I will use.

I see no obvious connection, but I now get my work done a lot faster. I write a lot of my own material. Before I did my decluttering I was working until midnight or later. Now I'm going home for supper, and coming back and working only a few more hours.

His book is not so big on specifics. That is why I did not give it a fifth star. A few more specific ideas on organizing papers and the clutter I'm required to have would have helped. Overall, however, he covers the general principles of clutter removal and organization, he is inspiring, and, most important, this book is a help.

Honestly, this book made me a better teacher!

Rating:
Summary: Offices and Classrooms
Review: I don't work in an office. I work in a classroom. However, I found that much of what is said in this book applies to me.

I teach science, and have worked in 2 different schools where I inherited the previous teacher's mess. In the first one, I applied many of Aslett's principles without even realizing it. There was so much junk that I couldn't even work. I did almost no labs my first year because I couldn't find anything!

At my new school, started by organizing. Recently, I read this book and was inspired. I went through my storage area and threw out every broken piece of equipment. I also snuck out a few pieces of equipment that I knew I would never use.

It has been a wonderful feeling. I now have room to have a sort of "office" in my storage room. I can find equipment quickly, making me more likely to do labs, and I have created room for the equipment I plan to order that I will use.

I see no obvious connection, but I now get my work done a lot faster. I write a lot of my own material. Before I did my decluttering I was working until midnight or later. Now I'm going home for supper, and coming back and working only a few more hours.

His book is not so big on specifics. That is why I did not give it a fifth star. A few more specific ideas on organizing papers and the clutter I'm required to have would have helped. Overall, however, he covers the general principles of clutter removal and organization, he is inspiring, and, most important, this book is a help.

Honestly, this book made me a better teacher!

Rating:
Summary: This book decluttered my mind
Review: I received an autographed copy of this book from Don Aslett a couple years ago after writing to him in praise of his "Clutter" series of books. So huzzah to Don! :-) I found this book, like his others, to be entertaining and eye opening. The only reason for four stars is that it seems geared toward a smaller office, where the decision to pitch files and streamline may be handled a little more easily. I think more space might have been devoted to how to deal with "bureaucratic" offices such as mine, where useless stuff must be "archived" with the okay of the higher ups. So much stuff I would love to pitch in the trash can, but can't, due to red tape. So someone who has full control of what stays, what goes, might glean more useful advise from this. I particularly enjoyed his office "types" list...Homefront Hannah, etc. I think everyone can identify with these.

Rating:
Summary: very motivating
Review: This is classic Aslett -- it will have you pitching half the papers on your desk in no time. Aslett has some good ideas on how to begin to conquer the clutter of accumulated paper, and ideas that can be used in discrete time increments. Of all the clutter / office organization books I've read, his are the only ones that actually make me eager to get to work.

Two reasons I gave this book four stars rather than five, are (1) because of Aslett's gratuitous name-dropping & boasting (when my coimpany was cleaning AT&T, when I was consulting with the top executives of IBM, when I was making one of my many TV appearances with Regis & Kahie Lee . . . ); and (2) because Aslett seems to consider himself an expert on all things rather than sticking to what he knows best. Of course, I've read most of his books, and there is some redundancy, as if they're just regurgitations of former material. If you haven't read his other books, you might not have this perception. Nonetheless, every time I read one of his books I can manage to throw out several boxes of stuff, and after reading this, my office at work no longer has any hidden stacks of papers waiting to be dealt with.

Rating:
Summary: very motivating
Review: This is classic Aslett -- it will have you pitching half the papers on your desk in no time. Aslett has some good ideas on how to begin to conquer the clutter of accumulated paper, and ideas that can be used in discrete time increments. Of all the clutter / office organization books I've read, his are the only ones that actually make me eager to get to work.

Two reasons I gave this book four stars rather than five, are (1) because of Aslett's gratuitous name-dropping & boasting (when my coimpany was cleaning AT&T, when I was consulting with the top executives of IBM, when I was making one of my many TV appearances with Regis & Kahie Lee . . . ); and (2) because Aslett seems to consider himself an expert on all things rather than sticking to what he knows best. Of course, I've read most of his books, and there is some redundancy, as if they're just regurgitations of former material. If you haven't read his other books, you might not have this perception. Nonetheless, every time I read one of his books I can manage to throw out several boxes of stuff, and after reading this, my office at work no longer has any hidden stacks of papers waiting to be dealt with.

Rating:
Summary: This book decluttered my mind
Review: When I was the secretary and the executive assistant, I was the best and most organized person any boss could want. When I became the boss, I became buried in meetings, interruptions, customer service and problems, no one to delegate to, and fear of losing something important. In the past 7 years I have bought many "organizational" books - some I even bought twice because they never got through to me (didn't even impress me enough to remember I had bought them before!) to help me tackle the piles of paper. I pretty much shuffled stacks around until I bought Don's book. I started reading it yesterday, and after being out sick for one week, I went in today (Saturday) and in 4 hours, cleaned out 3 years of paper. I didn't just clean - I got rid of. I looked at everything with new eyes. Don has a way of putting all that paper into clear perspective - you can look at paper and see if it should go or stay. It was incredible. Now my mind is decluttered too - just like he said. I would recommend this to anyone who has a lot of paper (and facts) to deal with. His common-sense approach helps you make it your own - there's nothing to learn - he just puts it all in perspective so you can know how YOU want to deal with it. I've never written a review before - but couldn't wait to write this one. I hope this helps some other person tackle their paper. I accomplished more today than I can remember in one day - and know this will help me stay organized and cut back on the 70 hr weeks I normally put in. My employees respect me, but I always felt out of control with all that paper staring me (and everyone else) in the face. Now my office looks like I am in control! Thanks, Don!