Project Unclutter: Book Review

 One month ago, I wrote about Project Unclutter.  The first step of Project Unclutter was to read the book Unclutter Your Life in One Week by Erin Rooney Doland by the end of the year.  Well here it is December 28 and despite holiday madness and an increased work schedule I managed to make it.  In case you did not read my previous post, in Project Unclutter I will follow Doland's advice and see if I really can unclutter my life in one week.
  I initially scoffed at the title of this book.  I have been trying to get organized and uncluttered for years.  How can it be done in one week?  I still have my doubts, but with the guidance of Unclutter Your Life in One Week I should make tremendous progress.
  The first thing that won me over was Ms. Doland's testimony.  She admits that she was not always organized herself.  As she put it, she was "surrounded by stacks of papers, piles of shoes and clothes, and dozens of boxes of sentimental trinkets."  This is key.  Over the years I have read many articles and books on getting organized.  The only ones which have been of much use are the ones written by people who have actually changed their lives.  Someone who is born organized has difficulty understanding those of us who are not.  However, someone who has been unorganized herself knows what they were doing wrong and what they did to fix it.
  The book is organized by the days of the week, Monday through Friday with the weekend grouped together.  Each week day is divided into three parts: morning, at work, and evening.  This breaks the enormous task of organizing your life into manageable bite sized pieces.  I also liked the fact that she includes work.  I work from home now, but I can still apply her principles to my home office.
  As for the specific advice she gives, there is so much useful information that I could write about.  Some examples are, making a 30 minute playlist to clean to, and scanning information in your computer so you don't have to keep stacks of paper. There is much more, but instead of sharing it all now, I will let you know how it works after I've tried it.  Starting on Monday, I will begin the year by putting Unclutter Your Life in One Week to the test.  When I can, throughout the week I will let you in on my progress.
   Despite my initial scepticism, Unclutter Your Life in One Week is a very useful book.  I still doubt it can be done in a week, but I believe it will be a great help in my journey towards an organized life.