CATEGORIES ARE KING

I've been talking with my chronically disorganized clients about how they categorize. In the world of organizing categories are king. Categories are a way of keeping things out: this document goes in that file but not this other document. These towels go together but this towel does not. Or these ideas pertain, but this other idea is not relevant. Categories keep information and things exclusive. But some people are incredibly 'inclusive." They have a big tent way of thinking, a way of thinking that conceptually connected items together that might on the surface not seem to go together. Let me give you an example. My client Beth is keeping a 2003 calendar with kittens on it because her pre-school grandchild...

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posted on: 5/10/2008 11:00:00 AM  by Judith Kolberg
category: Organizing Challenges

KEEP IT MOVING

Stress at work was up 22% from 1990 to 2000 according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. A recent Gallup Poll in 2005 put it at 80%. I'm talking about people needing to take sick days (which really ought to be called well days.) One in four of us take well days off from work in order to cope with job stress! Under too much stress we feel lousy and act like idiots...yelling at co-workers, kicking the cat, running red lights, that kind of thing. We may not be able to change the corporate culture that requires us to stay connected 24/7 and overwhelms us with too much crap to deal with all day, but we can do this. Keep time for INPUTS separate from time OUTPUTS. In other words, ANSWER e-mails, get some work done, and finish a task or two. Generate OUTPUTS first everyday. THEN deal with inputs....

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posted on: 4/26/2008 11:00:00 AM  by Judith Kolberg
category: Organizing Challenges

GETTING FROM HERE TO THERE - CHRONIC DISORGANIZATION AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTION

The word "executive" conjures up an image of a CEO sitting at a desk with authority over other people. The executive doesn't do the hands-on work, instead, the executive activates, coordinates, integrates and moderates the work of others. The executive function of the brain refers to higher-order cognitive functioning that activates, integrates, coordinates, and moderates other cognitive functions. It's like a conductor of a symphony. The conductor doesn't play an instrument but rather makes sure all the musicians and instruments work together to carry out the musical score. Executive function is the mega-cognitive function that governs execution, what I call getting from...

CHRONIC DISORGANIZATION AND INFOMANIA

My client is an airline pilot. I am very glad he is a perfectionist. Statistics show that just a 1% error rate for airline pilots can result in as many as 100 airline accidents a year! I am a definite fan of perfectionism (or as close as we can get to it) in all sorts of situations. Getting organized, however, is not one of them. When it comes to getting organized, "well-enough" is just fine. Problem is, chronically disorganized people can tend to be perfectionists. One of their favorite passions, information, sets it off. Allow me to explain. CD people care passionately about knowing things, being up on things, and not letting any information pass by. This kind of infomania is especially pernicious in a world of unlimited information brought to us by search engines, blogs, wikis, forums, social networks, RSS feeds, the traditional Internet and other media. There is virtually (no pun intended) no end to the amount of information one can find on any topic. 'Enough is enough' is nearly impossible for the CDer to observe when a craving for information, especially the unattainable 'perfect' information, is at play....

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posted on: 2/16/2008 11:00:00 AM  by Judith Kolberg
category: Organizing Challenges

CHRONIC DISORGANIZATION AND PROCRASTINATION

I think chronically disorganized people procrastinate for somewhat different reasons than plain old disorganized people. The word 'procrastination' comes from the Latin words 'pro' meaning 'forward' and 'crastinus' meaning 'of tomorrow'. A perfect word root for describing procrastination (man, those Latins were smart!) Who doesn't remember the scene from Gone With the Wind, hand-to-forehead "I'll think about it tomorrow". Most people procrastinate because of:

·    fear of failure
·    unable to cope with the frustration of doing something new
·    confusion about the assignment that they won't admit to...

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posted on: 2/2/2008 11:00:00 AM  by Judith Kolberg
category: Organizing Challenges

CHRONIC DISORGANIZATION AND DE-ACQUISITION

Chronically disorganized (CD) people organize differently than non-chronic people. There is absolutely no doubt about that. Alternative methods for arranging, containing, filing, categorizing and sorting stuff are often are required to make organizing headway with people who are chronically disorganized. The challenges a CD person faces results in excess stuff, of that there can also be no doubt. So when a decision is made that an item is no longer wanted or needed (no small event) alternative methods for getting rid of that item may also be needed to effectuate a complete divorce. De-acquisition methods can help.    'De-acquisition' refers to deliberately losing possession of the things we no longer want or need (stuff). In its highest form the practice of de-acquisition would have us give forethought to how we would de-acquire something at the moment that we acquire it. Let's say you just bought a digital TV. And you have an analog TV that works perfectly fine. And you are CD. Guess what typically happens to that analog TV? I'll give you some clues.  40% of people who own a garage park their vehicle in the driveway because the garage is occupied by stuff. Need another? Closet storage and not living space expansion is the number one home construction growth area.   Better to pollute your living space than the planet? Of course. Many people think landfills are designed to breakdown waste and turn it into harmless compost. Actually because of the lack of moisture and air, whatever does break down can take 40 years. The shelf life of electronics is about a zillion years. Though bottom-lined with synthetic plastic to protect the waste from the groundwater, e-waste can still emit harmful chemicals that can leach into the soil, water and air. So now what?   You schlep the TV off to self-storage. And why not?  They have free coffee, comfy chairs, wireless connections, and a way bigger TV's than yours in the lounge of many self-storage facilities. Self-storage in the US is equivalent to three times the size of Manhattan!  Some CD people visit their self-storage units more than the grandkids. Okay, so what else can you do? Try one of these de-acquisition methods instead.   Social Network Shopping Two-thirds of regular e-shoppers almost always seek out customer reviews before making a purchase decision. Most of that group researches products online whether they ultimately buy that product in a store, Web site, catalog or elsewhere. The more opportunity there is for consumers to educate each other via social network shopping, the more specialized and customized purchases will be. Less acquisition = less stuff. Yahoo, E-Bay and Amazon all offer social network shopping features. I predict (it is a New Year, isn't it?) that the re-sale of stuff amongst and between social network shoppers will increase once they've "met" online as consumers and customer reviewers. CDers are much happier selling their stuff to someone they 'know' than to a perfect stranger. And when social network shopping hits FaceBook and MySpace watch out!   Community-based Commerce Craigslist.com is the 5^th most visited website in the world. Craig Newmark, the founder, notes that "a culture of trust" accounts for the popularity of Craigs List. The appeal of is two-fold: the thrill of turning stuff that would otherwise have no cash value into surprise cash; and the pleasure of gratifying the needs of a buyer whose face you can actually see and hand you can actually shake. If you haven't tried Craig's List give it a whirl. Be smart. Meet your buyer in a public space, transact only with cash and make sure somebody knows where you are going to meet your buyer.   Re-Use and Auction ...

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posted on: 1/19/2008 11:00:00 AM  by Judith Kolberg
category: Organizing Challenges

Decision Making and Chronic Disorganization

Wedding Announcement! Wedding Announcement. Stuff is married to Tasks and Tasks in Married to Time. A ménage a twa! When we think of chronic disorganization we tend to think only about stuff – quantity of stuff, excess stuff, stuff pile up on the furniture and on the desk. There can be no doubt that stuff is a clue to chronic disorganization. Stuff it turns out is all about tasks -- accumulating stuff, sorting it, throwing it away, organizing it, even idle stuff is task called Inaction or Indecision. These tasks = Time, time to sort, accumulate, organize, etc, etc. etc, (King of Siam). Given this marriage of stuff management to task management to time management it makes sense to also look at the area of time...

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posted on: 1/5/2008 11:00:00 AM  by Judith Kolberg
category: Organizing Challenges

Why Does Disorganization Recur?

I've been reflecting recently on the 'recurrence' part of chronic disorganization. Why doesn't organizing "stick" with some people? Chronically disorganized people grit their teeth, dig out of the stacks of paper, excavate the desk, and liberate the living quarters of the house. They pledge never to waste another minute repeating this drudgery again. Still: disorganization returns. The reason? There are a few. Disdain is one of them. Never underestimate the power of disdain. Like anything else we hate, organizing is neglected when people don't like (i.e. hate) to do it. Stuff piles up again and that is met with more disdain. Repeat ad nauseam. Lack of competence is another reason. We all can't be wonderful at everything. We tend to do well the things we do well and vice a versa. Bbooorrrring is another reason disorganization recurs. It takes a certain level of engagement to get and stay organized. For many of us the appeal of order is compelling enough. Chronically disorganized people maybe need more engagement than the average person.

Maybe a chronically disorganized person's executive functioning (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_system) has somehow become impaired. Executive functions are the brain's higher order cognitive processes that impact learning and problem solving. The executive functions have been likened to the conductor of an orchestra who guides and directs complex instruments, musicians, and the musical score. Optimally, the pre-frontal cortex of the brain where these functions reside enable us to conceive a plan for a solving a problem, execute or carry out that plan and evaluate the adequacy of the attempt. AD/HD and other disorders affect executive functioning. Working memory, another part of executive function, reminds us of the consequences of our actions and decisions. If working memory is on the blink there could be a tendency to not recall the negative consequences of disorganization. To learn more about executive function and disorganization stay tuned right here for an announcement about a white paper on the topic. Meanwhile, check out http://www.geocities.com/growingjoel/ef.html....

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posted on: 12/22/2007 11:00:00 AM  by Judith Kolberg
category: Organizing Challenges

Time Awareness

At United Parcel Service (UPS) the drivers are taught that the most efficient way to arrive at their destination is to only make right turns. All their routes are charted out with right-hand turns only. This keeps the drivers away from excessive traffic lights and long turn lanes. They save fuel and time worth millions of dollars per year. Efficiency is something chronically disorganized (CD) people crave. Top on their list is simply finishing what they set out to do. Trouble is they set themselves up for failure by making what they set out to do enough for five people. The reason: perhaps people who are chronically disorganized experience time differently than you and I do. My internal clock is pretty in sync...

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posted on: 11/24/2007 11:00:00 AM  by Judith Kolberg
category: Organizing Challenges

The Virtues of Imbalance

Just returned from the regional conference of the San Francisco-Bay area chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers (got all that?). NAPO-SF has been holding regional conferences for all of its 19 years and is a grand place to look for advances in the field. I was honored to be their closing keynote. We talked about the virtues of being balanced AND of being unbalanced.
 It is essential for any organizer working with clients whose disorganization tends to return that they understand where innovation comes from. It is innovative methods that work for this population. Innovation spring from, among other places, being off kilter, from that place where your competence is questionable. ...

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posted on: 11/10/2007 11:00:00 AM  by Judith Kolberg
category: Organizing Challenges