13 Best Books to Organize Your Life
Looking for the best books to organize your life? Say no more! Here are the best organizing books to tidy up your messy life and improve your organizational skills!
Hey there!
My name is Chantal – welcome to my site!
Are you busy organizing your life like I am? This article for books on organization is for you!
Best Books To Organize Your Life: What’s In This Post?
I tend to write a lot, so here’s a quick overview of what you’ll find in this post:
- Why I’m sharing the best organizing books (backstory)
- How getting your life organized makes your whole life better
- My list of the best books on organization
Why I’m Sharing The Best Organizing Books (The Backstory)
Before I share the best books on organization with you, I want to share a little bit about me. But don’t worry, I’ll keep it short so that we can move onto the best organizing books to help you get your messy life in order. 🙂
First off, I’m a mom of two, veteran homemaker, and recovering hot mess!
No, seriously. Ask my mom. Or my husband. Or anyone who knew me before I became a mom.
I am a recovering messy person, and I’m not ashamed to admit it!
Back when I was a teenager, I was the worst at keeping my room, bathroom, and even my car clean and organized.
(No one taught me how to keep my life organized, okay?!)
Once I became a mom and homemaker, the struggle to keep life organized intensified. A lot.
Why didn’t anyone share this list of books on organization with me!?
I went from an independent college student to stay-at-home mom very quickly. At 22, I was a new mom trying to manage a household and everything that comes with it (finances, dishes, laundry, a social life, etc.).
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But I was failing miserably. I totally sucked at it.
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I swear, no one really teaches you these adult things like organizing your life!
My house was a mess. My paperwork and finances were a mess. Life as a mom and wife was overwhelming as I tried to navigate all of my new responsibilities.
To top it off, my social life was dying down because I was too overwhelmed with these adult things to maintain my relationships.
Honestly, I was just really bad at juggling it all.
My marriage was suffering because I was terrible at managing the household and balancing mom-stuff with wife life.
The house was a dump, my emotions were all over the place, and I fell into a pretty bad depression. Everything was out-of-control!
(If you’re here, maybe that feeling of overwhelm is relatable.)
I needed to learn how to organize my life and manage all of my tasks – and I needed to do it immediately.
Cleaning and organizing everything in my life just didn’t come naturally, and I needed help!
Related Reading: 9 Helpful Tools For Depressed Stay At Home Moms
How can I improve my organizational skills?
This is one of the questions I asked myself when I decided to take control of my messy life and finally get organized.
That’s when I began to get into home organization and time management skills to improve my productivity and mood.
I Googled and watched Netflix documentaries. I followed minimalism and organization accounts on Instagram.
And I started putting in the work.
How Getting Your Life Organized Makes Your Whole Life Better
I quickly found out that if I could manage my home and my physical things better, it would leave me with more headspace and a larger emotional capacity.
In turn, I would be better able to cope with difficult situations and have more energy for social interactions.
Not only this, but I found out that the more organized I was, the more productive and creative I was. To top it off, I felt dang proud of myself when I became productive and tidy.
So basically, getting your life together is everything!
But you have to start somewhere when you’re trying to change your life. I started with books, podcasts, blogs, and Netflix. (Seriously, thank you, Marie Kondo.)
Now I feel like I’m organized, balanced, and less overwhelmed by little things!
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So today I want to share some of the best books to organize your life.
My hope is that they will help you on your journey to organizing your life & being happy + free from the mental and physical clutter.
Let’s go!
13 Best Books to Organize Your Life
Here it is, friends! The best books to organize everything in your life – from physical clutter in your home to finances, emotions, and everything else!
1. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
You’ve probably heard of this book, but if you haven’t read it yet, it’s time to! It’s at the top of my list of best books to organize your life for a reason.
If you’re tired of going through a cycle of messiness in your life, it’s time to focus on good HABITS! That’s where this book comes in.
7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a classic by Stephen R. Covey. With over 11,000 five star reviews, you’ll want this book on habit-building for your home library.
It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about exercise habits, productivity, home organization, or really anything else. Learn how to start & build new habits and you’ll be much more organized at the end of it!
2. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
This best seller is the first book from Marie Kondo, the famous professional organizer featured on Netflix’s “Tidying Up.” (I do recommend watching that one!)
If you’re looking for a book specifically on organizing your personal space – like your home and office – this book should be at the top of your list.
With Marie’s help, you’ll be setting new boundaries with your things and learn to let go of what your life just doesn’t have space for. Enjoy the joy of less – both figuratively and physically.
Grab this great organizing book here.
3. Organize Your Mind, Organize Your Life: Train Your Brain to Get More Done in Less Time
If you haven’t already figured out how organizational skills relate to mindset, mental health and your brain in general, then this is the perfect book for you.
If “messy” and “stressful” are common themes in your life, I would suggest reaching for this book by Dr. Paul Hammerness & Margaret Moore to free yourself from the mental and physical clutter.
There are some powerful lessons for an organized home and organized life in there!
4. Cluttered Mess to Organized Success
Can clutter really influence your success? Can having less stuff really help you in life? Yes!
It takes up your mental and emotional energy! That leaves less time and motivation for what really matters.
If you need specific tips & techniques on organization (instead of just inspiration) and you also like workbooks, then this is the organization book for you! It features worksheets, to-do lists, practical advice and other actionable items to help you declutter your life right away.
P.S. The author, Cassandra Aarssen, has a few other books featuring actionable steps to decluttering. Be sure to check them out, too!
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5. Minimalista: Your Step-by-Step Guide to a Better Home, Wardrobe, and Life
You don’t have to be an extreme minimalist to benefit from this fabulous book. (Even with a really busy schedule or professional life!)
This book shares a specific methodology for cleaning up your life one little step at a time. If you are wanting to streamline your whole entire life (from wardrobe to office supplies) then check out the Minimalista book!
6. Martha Stewart’s Organizing: The Manual for Bringing Order to Your Life, Home & Routines
Super-famous Martha Stewart doesn’t just make recipe books. She also has some valuable tips to share with you if you really want to learn a great way to organize your life.
If routines are something you struggle with, you might want to check this one out. It features a few different approaches to organizing you life, including how to organize it by months, routines, or rooms in your home.
Use this book to finally declutter your whole life!
7. A Beginners Guide To Organizing Your Life: Relax and Unwind with an Organized House, Life, and Mind
Feel like you’re starting from scratch when it comes to decluttering and organizing? Suffering from a stressful life and need some simple tools to help you out? (Maybe you were raised by messy people, who knows!)
This might also be the book for you if goal-setting and habit building are important to your decluttering and organizing strategy.
It focuses on helping you build short-term, intermediate-term, and long-term goals for your organizational efforts. This simple method helps you set realistic goals for fixing up your messy house, which I love!
You can grab this complete guide here!
8. In Case You Get Hit by a Bus: How to Organize Your Life Now for When You’re Not Around Later
Still need more books on organization?
Is every aspect of your life a total mess? If you have children or you’re 30 or older, this is a good read full of practical advice for you.
Organizing doesn’t stop at your physical space and things – you also need to organize your finances, your paperwork, businesses, life insurance, etc.
If those aspects of organizing your life are important to you, this is the best book for you. It’s the ultimate guide to getting literally everything together.
9. ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life: Second Edition: Strategies That Work from an Acclaimed Professional Organizer and a Renowned ADD Clinician
If you feel like you struggle to finish simple tasks and are totally overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs to be done, this proven advice is for you. (Regardless of whether or not you have ADD or ADHD.)
It is super easy to get distracted when organizing your life, so reach for this book to learn how to get things done and tap into the innate organizational power of your brain. (If you need support in that area.)
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10. Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff
Want to get things done quickly and efficiently so that you can finally organize your life? Need to address some mental and emotional stuff to really break your messy patterns?
If you want to become a decluttering pro and become natural at organizing, this is totally worth a read. Grab Decluttering at The Speed of Life here.
(And transform your hot mess house & life into a clutter-free life & home!)
11. The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter
Crazy title aside, this is a great book if you’re looking to really get your stuff together. (And maybe even pass those organizational skills onto your kids?)
This decluttering book looks at things from the perspective of another culture entirely (you guessed it, Swedish culture) and somehow makes the process of organizing your life fun.
If you are wanting to get yourself organized before passing on your clutter & messiness for others to deal with, this is for you.
12. Beautifully Organized: A Guide to Function and Style in Your Home
Need help with ideas on how to style your home or improve the functionality of your rooms? This practical guide is for you!
I personally have no style but functionality is KEY in my life. If you want to get organized so that you can make the best use out of every space in your home, go read Beautifully Organized!
13. Declutter Like a Mother: A Guilt-Free, No-Stress Way to Transform Your Home and Your Life
This is one of my favorite books organizing because it relates to my personal life so much. If you are a struggling new mom like I was, you should know that this book draws on that familiar experience to help you declutter.
The common theme is simple living to optimize your life, but first you have to get there! Declutter Like A Mother so that you can hit your personal goals & live your best life (as a mom or just a human)!
There you have it, friends!
Get your messy life back on track with one of these great books to organize your life and let the magic unfold!
Best of luck,
Chantal
