Customer Reviews

ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life: Strategies that Work from a Professional Organizer and a Renowned ADD Clinician

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Yes, finally a book that helped me keep up with things I need to do, places I needed to go, items to buy, etc. This book has ideas that work for people who aren't going to use a big notebook, or develop a love of paper work, or suddenly become single-minded about a task.
Use of color, flexibility, and multiple ways of conquering disorganization are explained. Having a "support" person is a tremendous help I found personally, but I did get a good start on my own.
This is the best book I've found on organization period!

I would recomend this book to anyone with ADD, after reading books and magezines trying to organize my life this one was the best ever! It is so easy to follow with ending notes after each chapter to remind you of the important points in that chapter. It gives diagrams, pictures, and illistrations, everything an ADDer needs in a good book. Every chapter was like looking into a mirror but ACTUALLY getting help from it! Not just another ADD book that tells you you need therepy and this is what is wrong with you, it explains why you do these things and then give simple suggestions that are easy to follow. I would recomend this to anyone who has organization problems even those who don't but have ADD. I am going to pass this through my whole family so maby it can help them too!

I have read 7 or 8 books on ADD, all of which promised to suggest organizing strategies that someone with ADD can implement and maintain. Those books spent 95% of the time defining the problem, and the other 5% on general advice like, "you need lots of structure." I learned more about ADD in general from this book than any other, and I recognized several traits that I'd always struggled with, but hadn't realized were common among ADDers. This book gave me practical, useable advice on HOW to simplify and structure my life, so that I can achieve and maintain order and reach my goals without becoming overwhelmed and giving up in frustration. By implementing the maintenance strategies first, I now feel that I can tackle the chaos and clutter a little at a time, and get out from under. I can feel my depression lifting, and I feel hopeful for the first time in a long while. Great book!

When I got this book I thought that I finally might find organizing strategies that work for me. This book does offer strategies for finding what works for each individual rather than a one size fits all approach which is why I gave it 3 stars instead of less.
The book seems most helpful for those who have roommates or family to provide support during the process of setting up new systems. Or for those with the money to hire a professional to work with them on this process. I have friends who want to help me make more life more livable but none has the kind of time that this book requires.
I picked up a book called Outwitting Clutter by Bill Adler. It may be simplistic for some of the readers here. I found it very helpful. It's the first book that actually led to organizing action on my part.

For most of my life, I have known that I don't quite organize my things or thoughts etcetera like most people and all of the "Get your life organized" or traditional methods detailed in organizational books never seemed to help me.

Then, perhaps a year ago, I picked up this book and what a transformation. Even the structure of the book is to capitalize on the attention span of those with ADD as each chapter is broken up into short pieces to make its point and then move on to the next one.

Like anyone with ADD, I find that while doing some of the work on my own has been helpful, I definitely need to follow up with some of the "other support people" that the book describes. I might carry through one day or even for a string of days, but can quickly slip back into old, inefficient patterns (that often have been habit forming over a lifetime of being disorganized).

I find that this book is very positive and makes you feel like having ADD can be a strength rather than a weakness.

I hope you find it helpful.

This book presents a lot of good ideas and classic organizing principles with a twist to make them work more for an ADHD individual. This is a good thing-as an ADHD person, who hasn't tried lots of things and read lots of books on organizing? However, I had mixed feelings on the format and the tone of some of the writing. I do not need a larger-than-normal-print, large format book just because I am ADD. I do not need to have concepts overly simplified. In a few places I felt distinctly patronized. It's unfortunate, because while I find the information useful, I find myself getting a bit irritated if I read it for too long-and I'm the "disappear into a book for hours and never notice" type. I also found the size of the book made it awkward to pack into bags with other books-it doesn't share space well due to its not-quite-standard size.

This is an excellent book. I'm a clinical psychologist working with ADD clients, and I have ADD myself. This is the book I've been looking for. Have ordered several copies for my clients, and one for my professional organizer. Easy to read, holds your attention (a small miracle), written in ADD-friendly style, and full of useful information and suggestions. It's simply the best book on the subject around.

It's about time a book specifically about ADD and organizing was written. This book was well worth the wait!

I was pleasantly surprised that the size of the book is larger than many other ADD books and so is the Print itself.

The set up of the book is VERY "ADD Friendly". Main ideas are bulleted and highlighted. There are also review sections at end of each chapter. There are some very useful charts and even some a few pictures of specific organizing tools.

The ideas and suggestion given in this book may be be very helpful to people with ADD. There are some great suggestion that seem too easy to help but as somebody who has used many of them, they do help.

Parts of this book were scary, because it was as if the authors had been following me around, observing me at work and at home. That's how close many of the stories they related were to my own reality. The book is written in ADD-friendly prose and dividedi nto chapters and sections that are unlikely to test the attention span. The suggestions offered are easy to understand and implement. Breaking the suggestions into groups (things you can do yourself, things you can do with help from family and friends, things you can do with help from professionals) makes it easy to choose a strategy that best suits you. The only problem I had was the typical ADDer's dillema of where to start!

Great Book!
Finally, an organizing book that really works wonders. It has me motivated to move forward into my piles of paper and crammed closets. I have made more progress using these ideas than any from any other source. I can really relate to most of the situations discussed within this book. I would highly recommend this book. I originally bought it to help my son learn organizing, but I have greatly benefited also!