Organizing Plain & Simple by Donna Smallin

I wrote this review of “Organizing Plain & Simple” in April, 2015. Ms. Smallin is one of the most respected members of my profession, with very very good reason. And I still have the same reaction to her book today, as I’m studying for my credential as a Certified Professional Organizer. It’s a quirk of mine – I DON’T like “of course you can” books!! I’ve got a pile of ’em.

“I may be biased because I’m a professional organizer: Ms. Smallin’s book was a little too simple for me. I don’t like what I think of as “of course you can” books, books which list easy solutions and if you just follow the suggestions you’ll be fine. If the solutions were that easy, you might not need the books! But her book is a TERRIFIC resource for checklists that do help people build schedules, routines and habits into their lives which can be very valuable tools for getting organized. And her book is filled with possibilities – if a suggestion does make sense to you, try it! The worst that will happen is the technique doesn’t work for you after all, and you’ll still then have a clue about what might work instead, the clue that you need to try a different approach.”

Reading list for my CPO exam.