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It seems like I am constantly reading self-help books in an effort to iron out my personality quirks. Cleaning in particular has always been a big challenge for me, for a number of reasons. First, I am rather impulsive. When I have a good idea, I run with it and let everything else go to shambles while I finish my project (unfortunately cleaning is rarely one of those projects). Next, I am a perfectionist. I can’t just tidy up a room–I expect it to be magazine-ready when I’m finished. I have difficulty seeing the proverbial forest for the trees, and often get caught up in the minutiae, like reorganizing cupboards, rediscovering items of sentimental value, or figuring out the perfect furniture arrangement. I think I subconsciously feel that if I don’t have the time or energy to clean a room to my ludicrous standards, then why bother at all? Writing all this down makes it all sound very silly of me, but I know others can relate to how one’s psyche can impair one’s ability to just get things done.
A friend and I were recently giggling together about our mutual lack of housekeeping prowess and the ridiculously high standards we hold ourselves to. “I hate to say it, but you will probably never change,” she said. Maybe so, but I’m determined to try! That’s why I jumped at the opportunity to review a new housekeeping book called Totally Together: Shortcuts to an Organized Life, by Stephanie O’Dea. The author’s name may sound familiar if you have ever visited her popular website, A Year of Slow Cooking. Turns out convenient meal-making isn’t the only thing she has down to a science.
I have read other books and websites devoted to the housekeeping-challenged, and I have found all of them to be helpful to some degree. That said, the other methods I have tried have all shared the same drawback; they take too long to learn. I just don’t have enough time to read and study a lengthy chapter book or in-depth website and commit the strategies to memory, all while working from home and raising a toddler. I get distracted and veer off course when I’m told to buy organizational items, or create complicated charts that my new-found methods depend upon.
I found the format of Totally Together to be very different from everything else I’ve tried. When I first received the book, I thought “Oh, great…I hope I have time to read this!”. However, I discovered that the actual reading material consumed only the first 45 pages of the 171-page book. Could something so brief really help me?
Totally Together included some familiar themes that I have read about before, like keeping your kitchen sink empty, using menu plans and chore lists, and easy-to-remember acronyms. Where it differed was that it gets straight to the point. O’Dea does not spend time psychoanalyzing, examining the why’s of messiness or dwelling on self-esteem issues. The result is a quick and easy read that I was able to finish in one night before bed. The remaining pages are devoted to weekly chore charts, menu planning charts and a grocery shopping checklist. I like that the book is spiral-bound so it lies flat and is easy to write in or copy from–it’s the minute details like this which make things a little easier for a perfectionist like me.
The book begins with an introduction to Stephanie O’Dea’s “Clean Less, Play More” philosophy. She uses a variety of shortcuts to maximize a few minutes of cleaning time each day. She also touches on time management and the importance of being able to say “no” if you’re the type who overcommits to “time-wasters” outside the home. Next, she introduces “The Daily 7 for a Highly Successful Household”, with a paragraph or two that describes each of the seven simple chores necessary to keep a home tidy all the time. Her PROM method (Purge, Remove, Organize, Maintain) helps tackle bigger cleaning jobs when time allows. I enjoyed her chapter about family cooperation, and her lists of kid-appropriate chores (organized by age) gave me some great ideas to involve my son in daily cleanup rather than trying to handle it all myself while he undoes my handiwork.
I finished the book with a positive, can-do feeling. I realized that I was overcomplicating things when I thought about cleaning, and I wasn’t making the most productive use of my time. I’m really optimistic that this book will make a difference for me. Even if you’ve already found another system that works well for you, I think Totally Together would serve as a nice complement to what you already know. If, like me, you have often wished that you could apprentice yourself to one of those enviable people who seems to always have their act together, let Stephanie O’Dea show you how.
About the author
Stephanie O’Dea is a New York Times bestselling author, award-winning blogger, and mother of three. Before becoming an author, Stephanie ran preschool centers for underprivileged kids. She graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in English Literature and holds an Early Childhood Education Administrative Certificate. O’Dea has appeared on “The Rachael Ray Show” and “Good Morning America” and has been featured in publications such as Real Simple, Woman’s World, Prevention, the Washington Post, the New York Post, the Los Angeles Times and Publisher’s Weekly.
For more information:
www.stephanieodea.com
www.totallytogetherjournal.com
Buy it on Amazon.com
Totally Together: Shortcuts to an Organized Life
Win it! (ENDED)
The publisher of Totally Together would like to send a copy of the book to one lucky reader!
To Enter
Leave a comment below telling me about your biggest housekeeping challenge.
Extra Entries
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Rules
Open to U.S. and Canadian residents age 18 and older.
One entry of each type per person, limit two entrants per household.
Contest ends at 9:00 p.m. ET on Friday, August 12, 2011.
One winner will be chosen randomly from all eligible entrants and notified by email. If winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen.
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44 Responses - add one
cleaning my 12 foot ceiling
My biggest housekeeping challenge is the laundry. I HATE doing laundry. Oh, I am fine with throwing it in the washer, then transferring it to the dryer…but actually folding it & putting it away? Ugh. I’d rather do anything else!
Being a full time student who also has only one income (MINE)! I am extremely busy…I like everything in it’s place and I like to be super organized. Having said that…I struggle daily to keep my desk, my clothes and my PURSE the way I want it. I manage to keep the kitchen and the bathroom up to my standards…but need help with papers, clothes, and a bizzilion odds and ends. p.s. I craft a lot and have a hard time balancing all my creations in progress that I feel the need to leave out. HELP:)
I have already liked Jen Spends on facebook. I see now I could have just listed the biggest household chore: keeping my closet and clothes organized!
Dusting. It makes all 3 of us sneeze. Actually, it makes the kitten sneeze, too!
I relate to All. I put clothes in the washer and dryer fine, butt like Jenn said , it’s the putting away part. Hm, so I guess if I think about it it’s a total lack of organization in every room of my house. Dang, it makes me feel so lazy, even though I feel I’m over worked
Clutter, clutter, clutter! That’s my biggest challenge. Misc. toys, junk mail, etc. just crowd our tables and countertops. It distracts me and discourages me from addressing more important housekeeping issues around the house.
Umm..my biggest challenge is NOT having a challenge? LOL! I need help..like yesterday
My greatest challenge is cleaning the entire house on a weekly basis – as a single mom with three children, it is tough to keep on top of the cleaning! Most days it feels like every room in the house is a mess, and that feels really overwhelming.
I like Jen Spends on Facebook
(Jenna Nicole)
Jenna, if you read this, can you please redo your original entry? For some reason it ended up in my spam folder, and when I marked it as “not spam” it disappeared! So sorry for the inconvenience.
my biggest challenge is cleaning the bathroom and keeping it clean. I grew up with 2 sisters and before I got married and had boys I had no idea a bathroom could get so dirty in a day. Girls have lots of clutter than needs to be put away but boys are just plain messy!
My biggest housekeeping challenge is keeping up with my busy fifteen month old son and my husband, neither of whom are especially tidy. I have my messy tendencies as well (so as not to throw stones from my glass house), and between the three of us we can clutter up the house something fierce! I am MUCH less likely to clean a room if I have to spend long amounts of time picking stuff up first, so I find myself spending time each day tiding the main clutter areas so that cleaning can go faster.
I have already liked Jen Spends on Facebook.
I am just like you!!! I was reading this and I was like “oh wow, that’s how I am!”
Thanks for the giveaway.
pjames330 at aol dot com
Fb fan
pamela j
pjames330 at aol dot com
twitter follower
pj436
My biggest Housekeeping challenge is keeping my kitchen clean! It never fails when I load the dishwasher & start it up, the kitchen miraculously gets filled with dirty dishes!!
Like you on FB-Susan Huffman-Bryant
follow you on twitter @Susanbryant1972
Keeping the house dusted!!!
Liked your FB page
Followed you on Twitter @erikabird
My biggest challenge is keeping on top of the clutter. People like to collect things!
jason(at)allworldautomotive(dot)com
Jen Spends Facebook Fan
Jason D Nickolay
jason(at)allworldautomotive(dot)com
The spare bedroom needs a little lovin’!
My biggest challenge is keepng the floors clean
Keeping up with laundry for 6 people is my biggest challenge.
kerrie@mayansfamily.com
I follow you on twitter as kmayans.
kerrie@mayansfamily.com
My biggest challenge by a long shot is clutter, my husband and both my girls are pack rats, and I am always looking at/cleaning up/hiding their clutter
I like you on FB as Tracy Taylor
I follow you on twitter as mom2girls1974
my biggest challenge is my kids leae clothes everywhere just this morning i have been throwing a bunch away if it has a small stain or just looks a little ragged in the trash u go
like you on facebook kathy l pease
kathypease(at)gmail(dot)com
my biggest housekeeping challenge is getting it all done, i am so busy, i feel as though i do not have the time to clean
My biggest challenge is organization. It’s hard to clean up and put things away when you don’t know where the stuff belongs!
I liked Jen Spends on facebook
Following Jen Spends on twitter as CMKuno
I’m not a very organized person. It is hard for me to keep everything orderly
i like you on facebook
i follow you on twitter
@JCoyne1031
My biggest housekeeping challenge is the bathroom. It’s in terrible shape so I just hate going in there at all.
sklyn@mediacombb.net
Your description of yourself sounds very much like me. I tend to become obsessed with something to the exclusion of everything else. My entire home has been a mini version of Hoarders just because I’ve been bringing things in (like mail) but not throwing away the unneeded items.
I’ve temporarily solved that problem by allowing my son and daughter-in-law to come in and go through everything. I’m sure they have thrown away many things I would have preferred to keep, but as long as I don’t actually see it leaving I’m okay with that.
There is no one area that is hardest for me. It all tends to become over run.
I follow on Facebook.
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