5 Days to a Clutter-Free House: Quick, Easy Ways to Clear Up Your Space by Sandra Felton ~the organized lady~ and Marsha Sims ~sort-it-out, inc.~ ©2013

ISBN 9780800721077

Paperback; 224 pages

Publication Date: February 2013

 Would you like a professional organizer and a time-management expert to come to your home?

Well, you've come to the right place. That is ~ they are lending you their plan for keeps in quick and easy ways to clear up your space. Look around your computer space to start. Those organized piles where you know where everything is.

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The easier the system, the more likely it is to be successful.

On your desk:

Action ~ Keep Action papers in view where you can see them in some kind of to-do file. An open desktop file sorter keep them easily accessible, but also keeps the area looking organized. Label each file folder with what needs to be done with that paper. "Send back to school signed." "Order this."

In a file cabinet:

Keep ~ Each Keep paper needs to go into a folder, either one of its own or one for similar papers. File the folders by category. You may want to use one color for the files or labels of each group.

Make a master list of files. On that list, you'll note each file you put into the file drawer. That way, you'll know what files have already been created, what you've named them, and where they're located.

A good way to make the master list is on a computer, so you can add and subtract files easily and neatly on the document. Keep your list in the first hanging file folder in the cabinet so you'll know where to find it for easy reference.

This is a skip-around sample of this topic. ~ pages 170-171

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This part caught my eye, because this is where I am sitting. I do have a file cabinet for keepers to put my fingers on ~ medical, insurance, treasures from grandchildren. Since I do reviews I have a notebook for orders coming and received, and a calendar for dates to post. I liked the above ideas and wanted to share them with you.

The book covers a preparatory overview of what you would like to accomplish, a five-day plan of having friends come, taking a room, a section at a time through the five days. This would work if they had a week to give you, but I can see this working too if they were able to work in one room until they either completed it, or were able to mark off where they stopped. Also by going by the sections per day, it would avail someone else to come in and continue where the first person left off, and know where they were to begin. The plan is to sort into boxes, labeling where the items were (you know, the pile where you know where everything is on the top left of your desk) and the destination room. This would even work if it were to stay in the room it is in, but there are several piles of paper. The object is to clear the surfaces, defining the purpose of the room ahead of time, putting things where they go. The person boxing is not making the decision of what is no longer needed. At the end of the day the storage boxes are taken to the labeled destination room. By de-cluttering, I take it to mean "out of place" or "no longer needed." The five days give the plan a start and a finish keeping on task, not for you to stop "to read everything" and getting bogged down.

Section two explains how to keep your newly ordered house under control including "the ten minute tidy challenge (not dropping things when you come in, but putting them away or hanging them up) and clutter-buster habits." There is experienced advice and helpful hints for going through the boxes and creating a place for what remains in your home.

Also throughout are examples of what people have done following this five-day plan.

Professional Organizer

Sandra Felton, The Organizer Lady, is a pioneer in the field of organizing. She is the founder and president of Messies Anonymous and the author of many books including Organizing Magic. Sandra lives in Florida.

Felton and Sims detail their proven five-day method that begins by assembling a de-cluttering team, clearing surfaces and sorting everything that doesn't belong into labeled boxes. 

Time-Management Expert

Marsha Sims is a national speaker who has taught seminars on time management and organization, managing the front desk, and projects and priorities. She has been a professional organizer for fifteen years as the founder and president of her Miami-based company, Sort-It-Out, Inc.

“You can have a home that refreshes and inspires you,” write Felton and Sims. “Real, long-term change will come only when the heart and mind passionately embraces the dream of an organized way of life, which fills our lives with what we really love – beauty.”

Thank you to Revell Blog Tour for sending me a copy of this book to review in my own words. No other compensation was received.

Available February 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, offering practical books for everyday life.