Giveaway & Review - Pretty Neat (imperfect organization)

These days I can barely remember what a neat and organized home feels like. Between my husband and two small children, I am constantly fighting the clutter, the grime and the daunting to-do lists. I would love to have an organized and clutter free home, get a full night's sleep... and well, if I am at it... win the lottery, but all of those feel unattainable to me. Would you describe your home as organized? According to the research for Pretty Neat, by Alicia Rockmore & Sarah Welch, 80% of the women interviewed felt unhappy with the organization in their life.

This is a great book on real life organization. No, it is not a book just for perfectionists, or people hoping to have a "showroom worthy home". Instead, Pretty Neat discusses the act of letting go and the influence of "org porn". Oh yes. The term "org porn" refers to the picture perfect rooms in magazines or on TV that have us all drooling and feeling self conscious about our own work or living spaces. I have enjoyed daydreaming about  org porn myself, but in reality I live in a more cluttered and busy home.

Okay, this book is a great read! Full of many fabulous tips and reminders to not be so hard on ourselves. My favorite chapters were Taming Toy Tsunamis as well as Tame Your Inboxes. Both are areas I struggle with daily. My children seem to be toy magnets, and unfortunately some days I find myself completing an obstacle course just to get from one side of the room to another. So, what works for me? A combination of having both my children help as we sing our own "pick-up" song, and having colorful buckets and a big toy box for them to throw everything into. Simple? Yes. But at least everything is up off my floors and out of sight.

So how do you deal with your own clutter and mess? Any new tips I should try?

Would you like your own copy of Pretty Neat and check out all the other great tips and ideas?  I am really excited to be giving away a copy to one lucky Adventures in All Things Food reader.

GIVEAWAY TIME!

Mandatory Entry is easy! Please tell me which area of your home is your biggest source of organizational stress. What have you tried in the past?

For optional extra entries, do any or all of the following and leave a comment letting me know after you do the mandatory entry mentioned above:

• Follow via Google Friend Connect (1 entry)
• Subscribe via email, be sure to confirm in your email. (1 entry)
• Blog about this giveaway with a link back to this post  (5 entries)
• Comment on any non-giveaway post on my blog. (1 entry per comment)
• Do you have a funny organizational story? (Mad under bed shoves? Closets of doom?)

• Follow me on twitter (@notimeMom) & tweet about this giveaway. (limit 2 tweets a day) Be sure to leave the tweet URL in your comment. (1 entry/tweet) Feel free to use:

Pretty Neat - Get Organized & Give Up Perfection #Giveaway @notimeMom http://bit.ly/fch3T4  :: ends 3/19 

* Disclaimer - Open to the US only. I was sent a copy of the book for review purposes, no monetary compensation was involved. All opinions are my own. Giveaway ends 3/19. Winner will be drawn using random.org and will have 48 hours to reply with their shipping information.The giveaway item will be shipped from the company.