About Harriet Schechter
Marx
Harriet was born in New York City in
1959 and moved with her family to San Diego, California, in 1967. She perfected her time
management skills in college, receiving her BA in Comparative Literature at
the age of 19—one of the youngest graduates in the history of San Diego
State University.
Harriet worked as a proofreader before becoming a writer and editor. She held positions ranging from managing editor at an award-winning
community newspaper to editorial assistant at
The Journal of Immunology,
an
internationally acclaimed biomedical journal.
In 1986, Harriet decided to make the leap from
editing words to editing time, space, and clutter: she founded The Miracle
Worker Organizing Service in San Diego. Over the next two decades she developed a reputation as one of the top
organizing experts in the world; she is still quoted frequently in the media. (For
recent media mentions and interviews, click
here; to view a video clip of Harriet's appearance on
Good Morning America, click here.)
Organizing, consulting, and
speaking led her back around to writing: in 1995, her first
book was published in hardcover by Dutton. Provocatively titled More Time
For Sex: The Organizing Guide for Busy Couples,
the book was subsequently
published in a Plume/Penguin paperback edition and several foreign
editions.
In 2000, her second book was published by
Fireside/Simon & Schuster:
Conquering Chaos at
Work.
This was quickly followed in 2001 by her third book,
Let Go of Clutter,
published by
McGraw-Hill and now available in German and Japanese editions.
After moving to Santa Barbara in 2002, Harriet
decided to "let go" of public speaking and book writing, and now
focuses on writing helpful, tip-filled articles and columns. She also
offers copywriting services, including SEO descriptions for online catalogs
and other web sites. If you'd like
Harriet to write for you, please e-mail her.
