Title: Organized Simplicity
Author: Tsh Oxenreider
Genre: Self-Help
Publisher: Betterway Home
Publication Date: November 21, 2010
Pages: 256
Format Read: Book
Standalone or series: Standalone
Where I got the book: Library
Date finished reading: May 5, 2019
Goodreads Description: Remove the Mess, Add Meaning
Simplicity isn’t about what you give up. It’s about what you gain. When you remove the things that don’t matter to you, you are free to focus on only the things that are meaningful to you. Imagine your home, your time, your finances, and your belongings all filling you with positive energy and helping you achieve your dreams. It can happen, and Organized Simplicity can show you how.
Inside you’ll find:
A simple, ten-day plan that shows you step-by-step how to organize every room in your home Ideas for creating a family purpose statement to help you identify what to keep and what to remove from your life Templates for a home management notebook to help you effectively and efficiently take care of daily, weekly and monthly tasks Recipes for non-toxic household cleaners and natural toiletry items including toothpaste, deodorant and shampoo Start living a more organized, intentional life today.
My Review: Since purchasing my very first home two years ago, I have been a little obsessed with trying to find the best resource for helping me achieve organization in my home. Like many people I work an intense full time job, so when I come home at the end of a work-day, the last thing I want to do is housework. Then I spend my precious weekend hours doing housework instead of spending time with friends and family or relaxing.
In the age of Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I was happy to find Tsh Oxenreider’s book at the library. I believe Organized Simplicity states many of the same techniques/methods but is much more useful than Kondo’s book. Tsh Oxenreider focuses on all aspects of organization including time, resources, emotions, finances, and more. Here are some steps I plan to take with the guidance of this book to create a loving and more organized home life:
- Create a personal statement. This statement should represent what you/your family want to get out of life. This statement should be simple, timeless & general but not too general.
- Create short & long-term goals. These goals should directly help you achieve & live by your personal statement.
- Create a budget. This will help your financial well-being. It will be a stepping stone to becoming debt-free or save for the future (ex: travel, house improvements, emergencies, retirement).
- Be more ecological. This means that you need to be more mindful of what you have. Make sure the things that you have are things that are useful to you (including emotionally). Things that are not useful to you may be useful to others, so you can sell those items or donate. This mindset will help you prevent waste in your home.
- Clean and clear in steps. House cleaning does not have to be done in one day. Set a cleaning schedule that helps you not have to spend every day of your life cleaning your home. Focus on cleaning the rooms more often that are used more frequently. Use the tips mentioned in Organized Simplicity to find the best cleaning and organizational supplies that will help you with this and prevent you from having to clean and clear all the time. This book provides you with a 10-day plan to a cleaner and more organized house. This plan is good to replicate either once a month, once a season, or however often you can based on your own time constraints.
- Enjoy your life and home more. After following the above steps, I hope to:
- Be less overwhelmed when I walk into my house after a long day of work
- Have more time to spend with family and friends
- Be overall less stressed and healthier
There were so many great resources (blogs, websites, tools, etc.) within Tsh Oxenreider’s book as well, and the appendixes give examples of to help with creating a budget, time management, etc. I am definitely happy I read this and even excited to get started toward working on a more organized, simpler and happy life.
My Rating: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
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