Simplify Your Life : Get Organized and Stay That Way

Rating:
Summary: Great Ideas that really help in organizing your life!!!
Review: I am a professional organizer that lives in the western suburbs of Chicago. I read many many books on organization. I think this book rates at the top. I have read it cover to cover and I absolutely love it. What a wonderful book! I love the Simple Prayers. It's so nice to read a book that is faith based. What a refreshing idea. So many of my clients would appreciate this
book and I intend to buy it for them or at least recommend it.

Bravo - great job!

Rating:
Summary: Simplify Your Life: Get Organized and Stay That Way
Review: I am a professional organizer that lives in the western suburbs of Chicago. I read many many books on organization. I think this book rates at the top. I have read it cover to cover and I absolutely love it. What a wonderful book! I love the Simple Prayers. It's so nice to read a book that is faith based. What a refreshing idea. So many of my clients would appreciate this
book and I intend to buy it for them or at least recommend it.

Bravo - great job!

Rating:
Summary: Simple, Yet Powerful!
Review: I have read a lot of organizing books, and this is one of the best! The advice is simple and straightforward. Reading it felt like I was getting great advice from a trusted friend or an older sister who's sharing her wisdom with me. The short prayers at the end of each chapter are beautiful and simple, and can work for any type of faith or level of spirituality. I have put into practice some of the tips in this book, and it is making a difference in my life already!

Rating:
Summary: Great Ideas that really help in organizing your life!!!
Review: I just finished this book and absolutely loved it. I am a mother of seven children ranging in age from 13 to 9 months and things can get crazy. The suggestions in this book have really helped. Some days are deinitely better than others but the advice in the book is so helpful it is easy to keep plugging away.

I plan to re-read this book in a couple of months just to refresh myself with all of the great ideas!!

Rating:
Summary: Real Life Experience
Review: I purchased this book by accident, intending actually to purchase the book "Simplify Your Life" by Elaine St. James. After reading Ramsfield's book I was left overwhelmed and disgusted. There no mention on the front and back cover of the religious undertones carried throughout the book. As a person who follows a different spiritual direction I was irritated by the prayers at the end of each chapter and by the christian overtones throughout. Marcia Ramsfield assumes (as another reviewer noted also)that all of her readers are harried mommies. It also assumes that the head female in the household does absolutely everything from the cooking and cleaning to errand running and party planning. Does she not realize that relationships are considerably more equitable these days? Perhaps an alternative to her ridiculously excessive time budgeting and list making strategies for women could be facilitating equal delegation of tasks among family members so that mommy doesn't snap from the pressure of carrying the weight of the whole family. You want real, modern solutions to simplify your life? Look elsewhere

Rating:
Summary: Real Life Experience
Review: Marcia Ramsland seems to draw from real life experience and feedback from her speaking engagements. Her ideas are fresh, based on biblical principles and very practical! She helps to make the transfer from knowledge to application easier.

Rating:
Summary: down to the basics
Review: The previous reviewer needs to keep an open mind when reading books like this. Look on the bright side, if you are a single person, you have the benefit of only having to organize one person-yourself. The tips in this book can be applied to any situation, just keep an open mind and a positive attitude about it. I found the book to be very informative, with lots of real-life examples. It was easy to read. I appreciated the Christian theme as well, but that was not a significant part of the text. Just a short prayer at the end of each chapter. I like the fact that the author emphasizes staying organized once you are there and what to do in crisis situations. I highly recommend this book, and for the price, it can't be beat.

Rating:
Summary: simple and straightforward advice
Review: This book is very useful in that it deals with the basics that many of us unorganized people need. For example, suggesting putting away your laundry the same day you wash it. I have had a serious problem with that, even when I've brought it back from wash and fold! (Sad but true.) Making it part of the laundry chore and that it must be done as a part of it, is helpful advice.

I've already made a list, as she suggests, of additional organizing projects to clean up clutter and it's helpful to include the time it will take (just 1 hour??) and the personal benefits. I'm looking forward to completing many of the previously daunting tasks that now seem manageable.

Of course, organizing takes willpower, but I believe if you have it this is great book to help you get there.

Also, I am single and I think the advice carries for everyone, whether you are like me, or have a family and share the work, or have 10 kids, work full time and are the sole homemaker. (Of course, good luck finding any time to do anything recommended!) It's very basic, as I mentioned, and applies to all situations.

One caveat - yes, the prayers and constant religion references. I personally just skip them and take the organizational gems she offers. If you have a problem with this, however, you will have a problem with the book. It's not subtle.

It is interesting, as an aside, that the negative reviews received the most negative feedback....I wonder if that's psychological...