Organized for Success!: 95 Tips for Taking Control of Your Time, Your Space, & Your Life

by Nanci McGraw

This book was written for you if you're so disorganized you don't have time to read it. Even taking brief, random glances at the Taking Control Tips throughout each chapter will give you the ammunition you need to begin reclaiming control of the chaos in your life. You'll discover new ways to solve old problems and practical new advice to help Cope with clutter; lay out your work space to fit your work habits; match your work style to achieve greater productivity; adapt your reading backlog; set up a filing system to organize and find documents fast; use your computer to speed up routine tasks; get the most out of your trusty organizer and briefcase. (from back cover)

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help

188 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is dated but is a super fast read and does offer some helpful suggestions for becoming more organized. To become organized, first create a personal mission statement and then establish priorities. The formula I x U = P (where I means important, U is urgent and P is priority value) helps in focusing priorities when making a daily list.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book years ago as part of a one day SkillPath course I took on managing projects and deadlines. It was somewhat useful then, but I didn't stick with much of the advice. Years later, I found it very useful after I had read Getting Things Done by David Allen and had been following the GTD advice for a while. After finding this book on my shelf again and leafing through many of the tips (the book is very easy to just pick up and browse), I found ideas that I used to help me better implement the GTD philosophy I had been working to follow. In particular, tips 12 and 13 about explicitly using the urgency AND importance of a to do item in setting priorities filled in a valuable missing piece in my practice of GTD.

Other tips in the book are consistent with GTD methods. My lack of effective use of the tips in Organized for Success! when I first read the book over 10 years ago as opposed to my current success using GTD (with a few tips from Organized) may be attributed more to my maturity and experience as a professional now (and lack of experience then) rather than a particular problem with the book.

[Crystal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Information is good but in light of the technological advances for calendaring and apps to help with to do lists, I found the book to be dated for 2014.