Product Description

Getting Organized is a collection of simple ideas that address at least six major issues that could be generating chaos and disorder in your life or the lives of your employees. Each idea is presented in a three-part format: the first section gives you information on the idea (What?), the second section tells you more about the idea and how it might affect you (So What?), and the third section gives you specific suggestions on how to put the idea to work (Now What?). As a reader, this makes your part simple...take a quick look at the idea, try the ideas you like, discard the ones you don't.

According to the author, If you are reading a book on how to get organized, I suspect you want to get to the point. You are probably looking for simple ideas presented in a straightforward and easy-to-digest manner. You have no need for confusion, complexity or unnecessary information. Getting Organized is presented in a format that helps even stressed, overworked, overwhelmed and overloaded people improve their situation with a minimum investment of time. It presents tips, ideas and recommendations that are easy to understand, easy to implement and easy to maintain.

Even if you've tried unsuccessfully to get organized before, consider reading Getting Organized. You'll find effective organizing solutions to your workplace challenges and will enjoy the benefits for years to come.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24400 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-30
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

About the Author
Chris Crouch is the developer of the GO System training course. The course, taught all over the country by corporate trainers and professional organizers, helps individuals become more focused, organized and productive.

Chris has an impressive background in the financial services industry in sales, sales management and as an executive for a Fortune 500 company. However, his passion has always been reading and learning. Among other topics, he has spent years researching and studying both the mental and physical aspects of getting and staying organized - primarily for his own use. His goal was to find simple, easy-to-implement ideas that work in the real world. Others began requesting that he share this knowledge with them and their employees. Chris regularly writes, speaks and teaches on topics related to productivity.

Chris is president and founder of DME Training and Consulting. He lives with his wife and youngest daughter in Memphis, Tennessee.

Customer Reviews

Will only be helpful for a few.
The book was NOT what I was expecting based on prior reviews. This is NOT a guide to life organizing and prioritizing but rather the author's idea of handling office incoming mail, a filing reminder system for phone calls to be made and work to be done, keeping things one needs to share with another individual in a central location, and scheduling and consolidating that sharing. For those who don't need a computer to do their job, have a memory like a sieve, or are super disorganized and don't know where to begin to start, this might be helpful, otherwise, save your money. His ideas are only practical in a low volume paperwork environment and with those who have non-technical professions. Some kind of portable, daily planner or calendar or a computer syncing PDA is much more practical.

Very good book to get organized with
This is a very good book to help you get organized. I originally had a three star and changed it to a four star. So many of this book's best elements are also found in David Allen's Getting Things Done. I read Allen's book last year and it knocked my socks off. When I read this, I wasn't as impressed as I would have if I read Crouch's before Allen's (they're both obviously drawing some of the best tidbits from some of the same material that preceded them). They have many, many of the same very helpful tips. The advantage of Crouch's is that is has short digestible chapters. However, an overall approach does not clearly emerge, just a bunch of big and small organizing ideas. An advantage of Allen's is that you get a clear, overarching approach into which all those good tips suggested in these books fit. Allen's chapters are longer, and though very readable, can get a little bogged down compared to Crouch. If I had only one book to buy, I'd get Allen's. However, I'm glad I read Crouch's because it has given me a refresher.

Getting organized is a major issue for many of us (I work two jobs, both of which require me to maintain an office). While one book may do it for some, I strongly believe that major habit changes will more likely come if you really plunge into an area like this. That means reading Crouch's book, Allen's book, and even Julie Morganstern's Organizing from the Inside Out. While Allen and Crouch focus on the office and home office (mail, home files, etc.), Morgenstern also covers garage, basement, closets, etc. I'm serious, to change the way you look at things, you need to read several books and make yourself an "expert." Otherwise, it will be a book you read that you're not likely to act on.

I read them in the order of 1) Allen, 2) Morgenstern and 3) Crouch. If any readers will choose to read all three of these, I'd recommend Crouch first, then Allen, then Morgenstern. Crouch will lure you in with his short little chapters (once you get past his too many introductory-type chapters before you get into the good stuff). Then, reinforce what you learn by reading a lot of overlapping stuff in Allen's book, but Allen will give you an outline or framework that ties it all together. Then, move on from the office to your closets and garage with Morgenstern. Of the three, Allen was the best for me, but I needed the others to sustain my momentum. Good luck!

Short chapters make this easy to digest
I recently bought both this and Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity in order to stimulate my thinking about how to take charge of my incredibly busy job as a software development manager in an e-commerce company. I manage about 8 people directly and am also the prime facilitator for another project team of about 15 people, half of which are contractors. Like most people, I also have my own work projects and initiatives, as well as huge laundry list of personal items to keep up with.

At first I was a little turned off by the 55 super-short chapters, each of which is 1-2 pages in length and has a "What? So What? Now what?" layout. The writing quality seemed only average, and I was left thinking "Is that it?" after each chapter. However, after I finished the book rather quickly and then got bogged down in Getting Things Done, I realized that this is a pretty good layout for the target audience - people who feel too busy to read a book on productivity.

Many of the observations seem obvious, but that is one of the key messages of the book: we're all making this stuff away too complicated. How many of us take ten minutes each morning to set a focus and key priority list for the day? Or do we omit that simple step, or fall into the trap of checking email "just for a few minutes" first and then get seduced into following little shiny objects all day while missing the big picture?

The "Five Decisions" chapters - Discard, Delegate, Take Immediate Action, Put in a Reference File, and File for Follow-up - are important but I think are covered better in the other book. About half of the other chapters really resonated with me, which made it worthwhile overall. However, the author lost me when he spent 10 chapters describing a paper filing system with folders for each day of the month plus various other files. I agree that people shouldn't expect software and tools to solve all their problems, but I think a PDA or list software like Remember the Milk is much better than a paper system for anyone who works in multiple locations or is "on the go". I felt like he was being a bit techno-phobic, sort of like the guys who insist that LP records are better than CDs or MP3s.

Really the best way to improve your organization habits is to browse several books and articles on the topic, note the themes that recur (like planning time, grouping tasks by project or goal, etc.) and then choose a couple of things to focus on. I'd recommend this book as one of those resources but not the best-written or only one.