The Bottom Line
One Thing at a Time is subtitled "100 Simple Ways to Live Clutter-Free Every Day," and it's exactly that - 100 clear, easy-to-implement strategies for improving your personal environment. You probably won't respond to all 100 - but even if just 20 or 30 percent of the tips speak to you, you'll gain a great deal from this book.
Pros
- Variety of tips means there's something everyone can use
- Sensible ideas, stated simply and directly
- Takes into account the different types of people who are disorganized
- Tips are uncomplicated
- Easy to get started using the tips
Cons
- Can't think of any cons at all!
Description
- Some tips ("It's just a problem") involve changing self-talk from negative to positive.
- Some tips are for specific types of clutter (toiletries, books, pet care products, etc.).
- Other tips ("Carry a clipboard") will help you get into a more action/organization-oriented state.
Guide Review - One Thing at a Time, by Cindy Glovinsky
Four words: I love this book.
Out of 100 tips, I highlighted 29 as being especially important or useful to me. That doesn't mean there were 71 useless tips, far from it - in fact, there were only a few I couldn't apply to myself at all. For example, "Keep a phone log" doesn't strike a chord, because I hate telephones and only use mine when it's essential. (On the other hand, maybe I should give this tip a second look for use at work?) Another tip I didn't feel would help me much was "Rethink your photo habits" - I'm not a gung-ho photographer and now use a digital camera exclusively. But it's a good tip for those who use up a whole roll of film every week or two.
Tips I did highlight include:
- One thing at a time
- Carry a clipboard
- Look what I just did
- Put up pictures NOW
- One type of thing, one home
- It's just a problem
- Square the corners
