Pretty Neat: The Buttoned-Up Way to Get Organized and Let Go of Perfection

Alicia Rockmore · Sarah Welch

Oct 2010 · Sold by Seal Press

About this ebook

Negative self-image. Fantasy-induced overspending. Marital tension. A new kind of airbrushed concoction is wreaking havoc on homes and psyches, and Sarah Welch and Alicia Rockmore have a name for it: org porn. It’s in magazines, coffee table books, advertisements, and TV shows, promoting a perfect — and entirely imaginary — world in which everything is always pristine, serene, and flawlessly organized. Pretty Neat is a handbook that embraces the chaotic reality that lies beneath org porn’s glossy veneer, offering pithy anecdotes and candid advice from experts and real women alike on tackling organizational inertia. Funny, irreverent, entertaining, and helpful, the book covers all facets of clutter-control, from tried-and-true tips for conquering to-do lists and wrangling family schedules to ideas on excavating inboxes, eliminating excuses, and delegating housework. Most importantly, Pretty Neat insists that women need to stop holding themselves to impossibly high standards, and focus instead on defining their own, realistic organizational goals. Full of engaging examples from everyday women, Pretty Neat offers readers unorthodox, surprisingly simple methods to reduce their org porn–fueled stress, insisting that perfection is impossible — and unnecessary — in this messy, unpredictable world called real life.

Ratings and reviews

Love this book. Makes me feel sane about not getting everything 100% right, and lets me know there are other women like me. And they share their tip that keep their crazy days organized.

About the author

Prior to co-founding Buttoned Up, Inc., Sarah Welch spent half of her career as a New York advertising agency executive and the other half as an independent marketing consultant and entrepreneur, working with agencies like J. Walter Thompson, Ammirati Puris Lintas, and M&C Saatchi, before striking out on her own in 2000. She also co-founded Mindset Media, a growing internet media company. Sarah has a BS from Georgetown University.

Alicia Rockmore is a self-proclaimed organizational maniac who seamlessly juggles a fast-paced career and full home life. Prior to co-founding Buttoned Up, Inc., Alicia worked as a CPA, then marketed well-known brands like Wish-Bone Salad Dressing, Ragu Pasta Sauces, Total Cereals, and Wheaties. Alicia received her BA from Claremont McKenna College in economics and her MBA from the University of Michigan.