I am a speed reader. No, I never took courses. I speed read because I have always loved reading and tend to devour books. I can't stand suspense either, I absolutely have to get to that next sentence, paragraph and chapter. I am also a reading walker (or a walking reader?), more about that another time. As a person who is just starting a home and office organization business the first thing I did was check out every single title on organization for home and office in the New York Public Library.
Ah, the New York Public Library. That search amounted to over 75 books that span from 1966 to 2011. I used my powers for good and sped through them. The idea was I'd review a few of the best here in order to promote the ones that would work for the widest audience.
The problem? There were no best title awards. Not a one. They all say the same things over and over. Unfortunately, these books, seemingly practical to-do types, veer into self help jargon and irritating overuse of annoying acronyms and overly hyper-chatty bullet points. They share too much. These books may inspire and provide reasonable arguments and flow charts, pie charts and diagrams but they do not help you stand up and do the work. They are similar to diet books. Or creative writing books.
Rather than waste our time on that I will do two things for you:
Summarize, Michael Pollan-Style, all you need to know about organizing and tell you that there is no reason to read any of these books unless you just enjoy self help and you need someone to spend 350 pages to coax you off your rear end and do the work.
See the next post for my own quick guide to an organized life.
