 Confessions
of an Organized Homemaker,
by Deniece Schofield
I am not an Ïorganized homemakerÓ. At least, not as organized
as I would like to be. I have visions of everything in its place and
nothing looking out of order. But IÌve never been this way, so
I have some bad habits that need to be undone. I bought Confessions
of an Organized Homemaker because it seemed to offer enough
concrete suggestions that I might be able to actually implement some
of them and move closer to my fantasy of an organized life.
I was pleasantly surprised when I started reading the book and came
upon this sentence on the first page of Chapter One: ÏWell, just
to set the record straight, there is no such thing as a house thatÌs
always clean.Ó We all know people who seem to keep immaculate
houses, where nothing is ever out of place and there are never crumbs
on the floor. ItÌs good to remember that likely, these folks have
either cleaned up prior to our arrival, or that while the few rooms
that we see ARE clean and tidy, that doesnÌt necessarily mean that
there isnÌt a pile of laundry sitting on top of a bed that needs
to be folded and put away. The author goes on to say, ÏWhat does
matter is that you have a happy, comfortable home and time to do the
things you love to do Ò not just the things you have to do.Ó
I started wondering at one point if I had bought a book written by a
woman plucked straight out of the Leave It to Beaver days, but the more
I read, the more I saw that no, this is a book for women today, whether
they work in the home or outside of it. So I kept reading.
Ms. Schofield outlines six basic organizing principles in her book:
Think before
you act
Discard and sort
Group
Be motion minded
Practice preventative maintenance
Use your accrued benefits
ÏThink
before you actÓ: Basically, sheÌs suggesting that if we
put a little planning into what we do, it will save time and effort
later. As she says, ÏWe become aware of our time-wasting habits
when we think before we act.Ó IÌve already started putting
this one into play. When I go from one room to another, I take a moment
to look around and see if thereÌs anything that I can take with
me to the next room, anything that belongs there rather than where itÌs
currently at.
ÏDiscard and sortÓ: This idea is probably in every
organizing book out there Ò the old process of whatÌs garbage,
whatÌs to donate, whatÌs to keep. But she does offer some
fresh alternatives for this task, for different mentalities: fast fix;
toss it; move it; tidbit; prove it; pile it; and letÌs party.
ÏGroupÓ: The idea of grouping is to put things where
youÌre going to use them, and to store things together that go
together whenever practical, given that the space and deign of your
house allows for it. The other idea is to give everything is your home
a well-defined place, so that itÌs easy for everyone to put things
away in their logical spot.
ÏBe motion mindedÓ: This has to do with being conscious
of being efficient with your movements Ò taking as few steps as
possible, using two hands instead of one Ò things like that. She
offers an example of her own experience, where she found that she most
often used the middle mixing bowl in a set of nested bowls but continued
to store them nested, which meant that she was constantly moving the
smallest bowl in order to get to the one that she needed. She finally
stored the smallest one elsewhere, since she rarely used it, thus making
getting to the bowl she most frequently used that much faster and more
efficient.
ÏPractice preventative maintenanceÓ: The author has
many tips about what preventative maintenance is all about, and she
suggests doing it daily. She says, ÏIÌm not suggesting top-to-bottom
housecleaning every day, just small, bare maintenance procedures that
will take care of the top layer.Ó
ÏUse your accrued benefitsÓ: She discusses what accrued
benefits are in other areas of life and then talks about how to make
them and use them at home. ItÌs about saving time and effort so
that you have more time and energy for the things you want to do.
IÌve enjoyed this book a great deal and am trying to put more of
her ideas into practice. What I like about it is that itÌs written
for real women, not June Cleaver, and so I feel like I can take the
ideas that I like and ignore the ones that donÌt fit or donÌt
feel right for me and my house. ItÌs an easy read and one that
will have good ideas in it for most anyone looking to get organized.
Copyright 2002
This review is available for reprint.
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