The Declutter Diaries is a series of posts I did for a former blog as a glimpse inside a real decluttering project [with occasional editorial comments from my present self]. You can start with Day One here.
Today I review another declutter-and-get-organized book called Sidetracked Home Executives by Pam Young and Peggy Jones. This book would be particularly useful to those who find themselves living in chaos because they tend to be easily distracted and forgetful. [As someone on Amazon noted, it is NOT a book for people who live in chaos because they struggle with perfectionism ’cause you would spend WAY too much time tweaking this system and still never get anything done!]
The first two chapters offer a glimpse into the authors’ formerly chaotic lives. There they describe what pushed them to decide to change. Throughout the book, the authors’ inject humorous stories of their own transformation process, illustrated with cartoons.
The transformation begins with deciding to get up in the morning and get ready for the day. Don’t try to get “just 10 more minutes” (which never happens anyway). Starting your day off right can work wonders for getting into the mode of doing your work. It will keep you from haphazardly floating from one thing to the next. [Remember this book was written to a different generation. Some of this you may not relate to. The basic system is still sound, even if the culture has shifted.]
The heart of the book lies in a 3×5 card file system to list and schedule your household jobs on a regular basis. After setting up the system using their detailed instructions, you check the day’s divider to see what jobs you do. This eliminates needlessly reinventing your cleaning system. It also eliminates thinking about something that you can easily make into a routine.
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This also gives you a place to centrally store bits of information and appointments. This is the sort of system that can work well for someone who needs direction and focus in order to accomplish household tasks. [Basically, this works like a “tickler” file for your household tasks.]
There are chapters on helping your children clean and organize. There is also a chapter devoted to planning for Christmas, and one on using software instead of a 3×5 box. [Note: this book was written quite a while ago, so the software information is NOT up-to-date or helpful.]
They end with a chapter of their own stories of how their lives have changed. The book has a long appendix containing all the nitty-gritty details for setting up the card file system. [Please tweak this to fit your situation. Do NOT feel obligated to rigidly follow everything about the card system.]
I found this book a fun and easy read. I think that the 3×5 card system or something similar could be useful to me at a later stage when I am ready to begin maintaining the house instead of decluttering and organizing it. [I still think something like this would help tremendously in doing routine housework. Note that this is NOT a book about decluttering and organizing, it is all about setting up routines to follow.]
Setting up a system like this would eliminate a lot of thinking about what to do each day. I like the idea of not trying to remember everything, but simply commit it to the appropriate day in the box. Once the cards are done for the day, you can move on to other things and not have a vague sense that there is something you’re forgetting or should be doing. [I still like the idea of not wasting precious decision-making power on lowly routine tasks. Save that energy for the important decisions in your day.]
[More notes from the present: some people on Amazon found the tone of the book to be too 50s house-wife-ish. If you work outside the home, you will need to ignore some of their advice and just go for the heart of the system to organize your routines.
Nowadays there are so many digital organization solutions, you may be tempted to scoff at 3×5 index cards. But for people who struggle with digital tech, or just prefer a tactile, hands-on approach, this system could be just the thing.]
Last update on 2025-05-22 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API