Take Control of Chronic Disorganization

Jerri felt trapped by the contents of her home and desperate to change a situation that was paralyzing her life. She was so embarrassed that someone might see inside through a window that she kept all of her blinds closed. The dimly lit interior was depressing on the bright sunny days of May. Inside was a waist-high maze of dozens of boxes, bags of empty soda bottles, stacks of unopened mail, and layers of clothing.

Jerri confessed that she had always found it impossible to be organized. She just could not decide where things should go. She had not allowed anyone, even close friends and family members, to enter her home for many years. It had taken tremendous courage for Jerri to invite someone into her space, into her life, but this 29-year old explained tearfully, “It’s overwhelming. I just don’t want to live like this anymore!”

Feeling totally overwhelmed: that’s the mantra most commonly uttered by those who find themselves in the midst of the chaos of clutter that grows with every mail delivery, notice from school, ring of the telephone, arrival home from a shopping trip. The piles grow because decisions must be made, and decisions cannot be made because the options seem to be never ending. Frustration and exhaustion soon sets in, and the result is the despairing sense of being “overwhelmed.”

Daily life should not be so hard!

Do you find yourself an unwilling participant every time you need to go somewhere or get something done? Keys just seem to elude you. Your children come to the door, ready to go by with only one shoe. The bills you finally remembered to pay need to be mailed today in order to avoid more late fees, but where can you find the stamps? Now, where are those envelopes to be mailed? You set the keys down to locate the stamps and now, where are the keys?

Chaos and clutter is a circle, a maddening one!

 For some of us, this is an occasional scenario, but for others, the constant confusion disables an otherwise productive life.

You secretly think “If only I could get organized…” You have a sense of what you want to do, need to do but you somehow cannot seem to get there. Your place just does not even resemble those Better Homes and Gardens abodes everyone raves about and you doubt it ever will. What can you do?

You have made many efforts in the past, read the books, purchased containers, sorted and stuffed and stowed, but a short time later it seemed worse than ever before. For some reason, you did not or could not keep clutter at arms reach. You fear filing papers away because you may never again find them. Could it get any worse?

Being Organized does not Just Belong to Others!

In fact, “being organized” is not a goal worthy of your investment for its own sake, but “being organized” is often necessary to make other goals manageable. At the very least you could hire a professional organizer and pick their brains for tips and hints that you could acquire all on your own.

Some organizer-coaches have found that coaching by telephone is an additional service they can provide to benefit clients challenged by chronic disorganization. An organizer-coach has experience in both on-site, hands-on organizing and in the education, support and clarification process of coaching conversations. Coaching by telephone has made these services available to those who are in geographic regions with few professional organizers. It is also a good service for those who are just too embarrassed to have anyone come into their home.

Accumulating mess, junk and clutter can reach huge proportions for some. Jerri went with the professional coach. Right now, they are likely on some kind of treasure hunt together. Her professional coach has taught her to look for the gems amidst the garbage and mess and that includes a gem of an idea. Together, they are both coming up with workable ideas to help Jerri better manage her own disorganization.

There are still times when Jerri feels overwhelmed, but they are fewer, and she has a strategy for moving beyond it. She schedules a session with her organizer-coach and knows that the time they spend together will be both fun and freeing.

Table of Contents Next Chapter