Many, many years ago I remember flipping through a copy of “Sink Reflections” while visiting my sister.  At the time I was single and had a one bedroom apartment that was an absolute disaster. I remember thinking “I should buy this book”, but I never got around to it.

Fast forward many years, a husband and two little girls later… and here I am, doing all the things in the book, without even realizing it!

I’ve had a few people mention that I must follow the FlyLady, so I checked out her website and read her Wiki page. Holy crappers! Every month I do a “21 item toss” and she says to do a “27 item fling”. I follow detailed chore lists and daily routines which is exactly what she says to do. I even keep everything in my “Household Management Binder” and she suggests a “Control Journal”.  I break my cleaning time into 20 minutes sessions, she suggests 15 minutes. I say “Make your bed every morning even if that is all you do”, she says “Shine your sink everyday even if that is all you do”. Craziness.

At first I thought, “I must have subconsciously remembered everything and been using her information from the two minutes I spent flipped through the book a decade ago”. Which of course turned into “I have a magic ability to retain information without even reading it!”.  Then I took at look at some of my other dozens of organizing books that I do own.  Want to know a secret? They all say the same damn things, just slight variations what they call certain tasks and the amount of time you should spend doing them.

So, are all the professional organizers out there copying each other and peddling stolen ideas for profit? The answer is NO. The truth is that these methods are the best and easiest way to have a clean and organized home, period.

So if you’re looking for book to inspire you, consider buying a copy of “Sink Reflections” or any of the other thousands of organizing books out there. They will all tell you the same things just in different ways. Purge a set number of items every month; Do one important task every day first thing in the morning; Make a evening tidying routine and stick to it every night; Make a chore list and stick to it; Create a place to store your important family documents, chore lists and calendars; Put things away when you are done using them.

I just saved you $19.95.