– Customer review on 18/02/2009

I had seen this book years ago and it helped me then and boy oh boy it helped me now. Very practical and very down to earth. I had no problem catching the vision.

– Customer review on 17/11/2009

This book was just what I needed. I've never been a particularly tidy person, but three years after a traumatic event in our lives, my family was living in a rubbish dump, eating dinner off our laps because the dining table was piled high with "stuff". The entire book just seemed to be speaking directly to me. Sidetracked is the important word in the title. I would get up in the morning and decide just three small jobs to do around the house, and instead find myself doing something completely different (usually not housework related), and get none of the jobs done.

Yes, the system is a paper system, and that's why it works. I've tried organising myself with outlook calendars and to do lists, PDA's, and reminder alarms, none of which worked because as soon as you miss something on the schedule, it all gets out of whack and so I would drop it completely. This paper system is totally flexible, and it's fantastic. It cured my need for everything to be computer typed so that it looks perfect. The system is a simple 3 x 5 inch index card system (made me think "why didn't I think of that before now") and the way Pam and Peggy explain to set it up makes it easy to adjust your chore load according to anything else that might come up week by week and day by day. It's also not just housework, but being organised about birthdays (apparently presents can be bought in advance, imagine that) and christmas, preparing for a vacation, remembering appointments, anything. Write it, file it, and forget it. I now have a wonderfully clear mind cause I'm not stressing about what I have to remember to do tomorrow and next week. You just check the file each day and there's what has to be done.

Where I once believed I was "lazy" and berrated myself for it, I now realise that it is a lack of direction that is the problem, I had the energy to throw myself into tasks, just never the right tasks to be able to "keep house". The card system also makes delegation very simple, instead of nagging just hand the kid or the hubby a card, and because the instructions are right there, they can go off and do it. And if you're sick in bed, or in hospital or need some house help due to a new baby it makes it easy for someone else to keep the house respectable for you too.

I can't speak for everyone, but this book changed my life. After 30 years of being messy, it's an amazing feeling to be able to have guests over with no notice at all. Wish I had got this book years ago!!

– Customer review on 05/02/2007

I purchased this book hoping that it would give me an idea of how to run a family/household as a new sahm - I should of saved my money. Only one chapter on how to set up a routine/system (and they still use the old paper method.

The rest of the book is about how they now impress their husband's bosses and the importance of having the dinner on the table when DH arrives home (very 1950's).

Very disappointing read, the SHE system sounds like it would work quite well but the book is just drivel. I would rather make tents out of blankets and play with the kids, and dont care what anyones boss thought.