Don’t you love checking out the bookshelves when you visit a home? The books that make the cut to “keepers” tell you a lot about their owner. When you recognize a book you love, there is an immediate feeling of connection to the other person! That makes for a great conversation starter.
With the Kindle and Nook, the day may come when we can’t be nosy anymore! Until then, you may struggle as I do with letting go of books you have collected along the way.
The approach I use at home and with clients is from Judith Kolberg’s book Conquering Chronic Disorganization. She advocates sorting books into three piles:
- Best Friends – Those books you love, refer to often, or plan on reading again (and again) are definite keepers.
- Acquaintances – These are the books you enjoyed at one time, but have no ongoing desire to revisit. Let a friend enjoy these?
- Strangers – Non-fiction you read half-way; fiction that one reading was enough. You have no problem saying goodbye and letting these go to another owner.
For book lovers, this personification of inanimate objects makes perfect sense!
Options for the books you don’t keep:
- Share with friends
- Sell at Half-Price Books
- Donate to Better World Books (shipping is prepaid)
- In Columbus, OH area, call Rodger Williams of Crestview Books. He comes to you, makes an offer, then carts away the books you no longer need.
Now you are ready to put your friends back on your newly cleared shelves. Organize by size, subject matter, or author. A designer friend suggests shelving like-colored jackets as a group. Add photos or colorful accent pieces for eye appeal. Nice!
Knowing What You Really Want is Key to Success
Friday, February 4th, 2011Book Review: Write It Down, Make It Happen
In December, my sister and I met to exchange Christmas presents and to just BE together. That doesn’t happen nearly often enough.
I told her, ”I’m not sure what I really want!” She said, “I’ll send you a copy of the book I’m reading,” and gave me a notebook to write my thoughts in. The funny part: the book’s tag line is Knowing What You Want – and Getting It!
Author, Henriette Ann Klauser, has a PhD in English Literature and teaches writing techniques in U.S. and Canadian universities. As she taught her students how to practice “rapidwriting, writing fast, lickety-split, past the Critic”, her students began to share with her the positive, life-changing results they experienced. Those stories became the catalyst for her book, Write It Down, Make It Happen.
Write It Down, Make It Happen
Klauser uses illustrations from real people who found once they wrote dreams down, the resources and contacts came to them, rather than their having to seek out either. Well known examples are Lou Holtz, Notre Dame coach and Jim Carrey, comedian.
As a Christian believer, I don’t ascribe to “name it, claim it” type thinking. I see something else at work here. Once you and I identify what we really want, we will see opportunities that would otherwise go unnoticed.
Marian’s story of building a state-of-the-art retirement home in a small Nevada town inspires me. Not only did writing clarify her thoughts, but she states,
What is it you really want? Start to keep a journal of your thoughts and feelings in 2011. From organizing, to losing weight, to getting finances in order… it is key to know what you want as an end result. You may be surprised at the strange “coincidences” that help you along the way.
Better yet, find someone with whom to share your goals and desires, and who will cheer you on/hold you up during tough times. That is exactly the role my wonderful sister fills for me. I am grateful.
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Tags: accountable, encourage, focus, goals, inspiration, motivation, priorities, productivity