“You will never break free to newness until you
are utterly disgusted with the old way.- Vernon Howard
S.H.E. SIDETRACKED HOME EXECUTIVES...from pigpen to paradise
By Pam Brace
(now Young) and Peggy Jones
Genre:
Non-fiction, organization
I first
purchased this book back in 1979 when I had reached the end of my rope on
trying without success to be constantly on top of all the demands that my home,
children and all my other activities put on me.
I used the
system for a very long time and then as life smoothed out I veered away from
it. In February 2011 I wrote about it in
my blog post “My Life on 3 x 5 cards.” Shortly after deciding to go back to this
system we went back on the road for several months, so my good intentions faded
into a distant memory. Not to mention
life re-arranged in numerous ways shortly thereafter. Since then I’ve been doggedly working on my
Princess Plan which seems to fit my schedule better.
That,
however, does not negate the value of this book. It is a simple way to organize your life, be
prepared for anything, know where everything is type of system and I would
highly recommend the system to anyone looking for just the right idea for
organizing their life. It could actually
be used with the Flylady system, my Princess Plan
or any other numerous systems.
I prefer it
over Flylady because it is far more flexible than Flylady and there are no
annoying emails throughout the day to nag you to pieces. Sorry Flylady, but you simply did not work
for me and my way of life.
If you need
little reminders throughout the week of chores you planned on doing then this
system could easily be incorporated into my overall general decluttering Princess Plan because it deals mainly with the
nuts and bolts of day to day organization while my PrincessPlan deals with getting to that magical kingdom called “Clean and
Organized.”
It is
basically a series of color coded cards that are for certain chores, for daily,
weekly, semi-monthly, monthly semi annually and annually. Each chore has a designated person and you
move the cards through the cardbox as the chore is completed.
There are
also cards for gift giving info, calendar of events, menus and much more.
It is written
with humor and takes a realistic approach to being a home executive.
Pam and Peg
walk you through their journey from pigpen to paradise and are honest about some
of the pitfalls they fell into.
Pam’s last
name is now Young and the book has been updated and added to over the years. It also appears they have other books on the
market as well. I’m certain to check
those out sometime in the future to see if I can pick up any hints from them as
I did from the original book I purchased in 1979.
I give this
book an A for being easy to use and understand as well as humorous.
