The Life Organizer: A Woman's Guide to a Mindful Year

by Jennifer Louden

Meeting with clients, hauling the kids to soccer, supervising the kitchen remodel — women today juggle so many commitments that many don’t find time to focus on their own dreams. First created for her own needs, Jennifer Louden’s Life Organizer is a datebook for the soul that helps women create the life they want. Divided into four sections, the first part defines “inner organizing” and explains how to use the book. Next, Louden defines “time monsters,” “minimum requirements,” “shadow comforts,” and other pertinent concepts. Fifty-two two-page spreads, one for each week of the year, include prompts for goal-setting and soul exploration. Stories accompanying each section show how other women have used the organizer to make a time for inner play and for finding the soul’s purpose. Most of all, the book helps women hold themselves gently accountable, giving them ideas to explore their inner needs and a place to record the progress they’ve made.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Personal Development, Reference, Spirituality, Womens, Productivity

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 10, 2007

Reviews

[Jennifer Louden · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say, it's my book!

[Create With Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a fan of Jennifer Louden’s since she published her first book. I have a special place on my bookshelf where I house my collection of Jennifer’s “comfort” books.

So – it is my pleasure to introduce you Jennifer’s latest book – the newly released paperback edition of The Life Organizer – A Woman’s Guide To A Mindful Year.

If you are the kind of woman who loves to meditate, reflect upon, plan for, and journal about your life – The Life Organizer was designed with you in mind!

The Life Organizer teaches women an intuitive, creative approach to planning their lives. There are no rigid rules to follow – no elaborate programs to complete – no guilt-inducing must-do’s to overwhelm you.

Instead, there are tips, stories, and prompts that help you identify what you really want out of life – what you need to do to take good care of yourself – and what you need to do to live mindfully.

The Life Organizer helps you to create a life that focuses your energies around the things you need to do to pursue your passions and dreams!

Jennifer’s Life Organizing process revolves around five unique but effective steps:

1. Connect: Acknowledge and engage with your own life force.
2. Feel: Tune into your heart, which gives you information your head cannot.
3. Inquire: Ask mindful questions to discover possibilities you couldn't see before.
4. Allow: Open to your next step, allowing love, inspiration, and your body and heart to inform and direct you.
5. Apply: Take action – the ultimate goal!

The heart of The Life Organizer is The Life Planner – which is designed to help you experience 52 weeks of mindful living. Each week consists of a two-page spread that will guide you through various aspects of your life. You’ll can write in the book – or you can create your own Life Planner using the tips Jennifer provides in the book!

The Life Organizer is filled with inspiring quotes, insightful questions, and intuitive strategies to help you get your life back on track when you feel you’ve lost your way.

If you’re looking for a more feminine, heart-based approach to life planning, then Jennifer is an author worth reading – and The Life Organizer is a book worth adding to your collection!

To read my review in its entirety, please visit Create With Joy.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes. However, the opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

[Lain · Rating 4 out of 5]

After trying literally dozens of time management systems and "life management" programs, I've finally found something that I can not only live with, but grow with. The Life Organizer offers a new way for creative-types to set directions in their lives, while recognizing that the answers we need are inside our hearts already.

Too many "self-help" books ask readers to give up their power and turn outwards for answers and life direction. Not so with Jennifer Louden's awesome book. It's entertaining, useful, practical, fun, and beautiful.

This book will be my constant companion for some time to come!

[Kelly Salasin]

I'm on my third year working with this book. I answer the weekly prompts every Sunday morning and write my responses right into my calendar. In this way, I shape my days from the inside out, first.

[Marisa Urrutia Gedney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by poet Naomi Ayala. It couldn't have come at a more important time in my life.
I use this book every week to help me remember to stay close to what I need to feel complete. It helps to ask myself questions I'm usually too busy or disconnected to think about. It always asks you to create a list of "let go" "could do" and "have to", but her introduction to the book is really inviting, if you don't have time one week it's OK, although I've made time for this because it's so important.

[Gina Lynette · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many "organizers" are designed around 15 minute blocks of time and making sure you are fitting it all into those blocks. This book approaches organizing in a much more organic fashion. Jennifer gives you permission to plan around your intuition, your dreams, your feelings... and to find flow in your day. She also lets you off the hook if you are an on again/off again planner. A very gentle approach... My only wish is that there were a set of Life Organizer Pages created for my Planner so that I could carry it with my "other" organizer.

[Loretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 3 star review is subject to change, because although I have read through the first part of the book, I haven't actually started doing any of the stuff, answering any of the questions, doing any of the journaling. There are, I think, some good insights, thoughts, and really excellent questions to ponder. I might work with those questions in a much looser, unstructured way, rather than follow the "52 weeks" scheme laid out in the second part of the book.

There is good stuff in here, for sure. But this is not so much a book to read as a book to spring off from, and it's hard for me to really review it because of that.

Editing my review almost a year later to up it to four stars. You really need to work with the questions and the journaling. You do not need to do it every week, or in order - I didn't (a year and half later I am at week 14) but I got a lot out of it those weeks I did work with it, and am going back to it after several months away.

[Mycala · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed this from Bookswim, and then immediately went out and bought my own copy. I raved to my Mom about it and she went out and bought one as well. If you like journaling, this is a great resource to help you figure out what you want and need from life. The questions are designed so you can go through every week or every day, as desired. You can also go through by mood -- if you're feeling sad, or concerned about finances, there are stories and questions associated with those feelings that can help you work through them. It's an incredible book, and one that I will be using often!

[Aubrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I attended one of her retreats in October 2006 and purchased the book there. I had no interest in it prior to that because the title really did nothing for me. I have, however, learned quite a few things from reading it. It's set up differently than a standard book with some text in the beginning (very insightful) and then weekly pages to maintain your focus. I haven't "finished" it, but that's okay because it's a book to go back to when you're in the right place.

I love her relaxed, "you are okay" approach to self-improvement.

[Tammy Lavine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't just read cover to cover & be done with this one. It's one of those you pick up, absorb a passage or a chapter, or more, dwell, in it, journal, & go apply, & return to again & again. Such a easy read that meets you deeply at your core & leaves you feeling vulnerable but like you just got a shot leaving you more alive than ever.

[Marybeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this workbook,more then any other I have ever purchased.
If you visit Jennifer Louden's site you can read a thorough description of what this magical book is all about! I am still working in it. It sits by my bedside and is visited several times a week.

[Char · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book! Have gone through it several times with a group. Still in process.

[Maura Alia Badji · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ideas to organize your life and your thinking. Big help: clutter busting, of course. I still refer to this book.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not for 'organizing' stuff, but rather your mind and spirit

[Serena · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a very chaotic book. Not at all what I expected, since it's on organising your life. Unfortunately this was a definite miss in my eyes.

[Suzan L VanDeWiele · Rating 3 out of 5]

still going back to reread some marked pages...a lot to digest

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I mentioned in my review earlier today of "The Comfort Queen's Guide to Life," also by Jennifer Louden, skimming this book was a response to taking a five-day online creativity re-boot with the author. "The Life Organizer" is 52 weeks of "tips, stories and prompts to focus your needs and navigate your dreams." Every three weeks are stories and inspiration, then a page a week for intention; questions for letting go, could do-s, and have to [which are always related to deep desires and kindness to one's self]; an inspirational saying; additional questions. The weekly pages have space for writing but Louden suggests that one not limit oneself to these pages, providing pictures of creative organizers of others who have used her format and questions. Again, in semi-retirement, not something I need to follow assiduously, but I am going to work at shifting my thinking around "have to."

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of this book is misleading as there's really very little in it about "organizing." Instead, it provides weekly thoughts to help women discover their true selves and what they really want to be doing. The planner blocks are about the size of what you would find on a wall calendar, so not a ton of room to capture information, but sufficient for writing down appointments.

[Annburnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading the daily organizer. It was very helpful in many ways.

[Amy]

DNF. Way too Christian AND woowoo for me. I only made it about 5 pages.

[Lori · Rating 1 out of 5]

I skimmed this and realized it was a bunch of new age crap. Returned ASAP!

[Lilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most women in today’s world, I pile way too much on myself and always wish the day would some how mystically grow longer to abide me time to finish what I take on. Alas, I wake up and realize that will never happen. In comes Jennifer Louden, a personal coach and columnist for Body + Soul magazine. She has devised a book full of tips, stories and prompts to help women to focus our needs and navigate our dreams.

Designed in a weekly sense, this book allows for daily writing or as a template to create your own journal using the traditional methods or the latest in high-tech blogging. What is most important of all is that it awakens your creativity and helps you balance social and family obligations with the right amount of time for your own body and soul.

[Relyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I requested an interlibrary loan for this book because I really enjoyed Louden's Women's Comfort Book years ago. While this book was intriguing for a few pages, it just didn't grab me. The idea was basically to make your life choices based on the emotional resonance you feel. I felt it was a complicated version of a too-simple idea. You can't direct your life based on gut feelings.

Maybe the above is an over-simplification, but the book just wasn't worth any more review time to me.

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay-the general idea is good and I like the thought provoking questions each day/week, but the premise is wishy-washy for using it as it was intended ("Life Planner") and the author seems to have no concrete idea of what and why this works; it was a headache just reading her intro chapters to get to the planner part. Good in theory, but not practical. There are better "spirit-centered" and "live life to its fullest/your purpose" books out there in my opinion.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book as a present to myself. I bought two other copies as presents for others.

This is my new strategy for dealing with a new year and trying to do a better job of balancing life and work. Already, thinking through a few goals for the first few weeks of 2008 makes me feel better organised.

Feel free to ask me in a few months whether it's working.

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best "organizer" books for women that I've never followed... I like Louden's writing and her approach to "comfort" and I like the questions she asks. A great journalling tool if nothing else...

[Frangipani]

This book so far seems to me to be written from a childless perspective. It seems to assume that you have time to focus on yourself and planning where you want to be. Whereas what I am hoping this book will do is GIVE ME the tools to carve some more ME TIME out of my hectic schedule!

[Mimi]

Totally grounding.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book I use almost everyday as I strive for balance, harmony and fulfullment.

[Lisa]

Life