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 Restoring
Order to Your Home
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CBN.com –If
you’ve been following this organizing column, I’ve
shared some common hot spots of disorganization
and some popular shortcuts that we try and why
they don’t work. I’ve started to share my
organizing principles for life transformation and
I hope you are inspired to begin your projects.
Now it’s time to figure out why we became
disorganized in the first place! Since organizing
is a change process, we need to identify and
address the causes of disorganization in
our life before we can affect lasting change in
our space.
As a professional organizer for almost a
decade, I’ve observed several means by which
people arrive in their state of chaos. I have
interviewed hundreds of people on this topic. I’ve
discovered at least five basic means by which
people have become disorganized. Our life becomes
disorderly due to our situation, habits, family
history, social behavior, and chronic issues.
These are not meant to be medical or diagnostic
terms, and I don’t claim to be a psychologist, but
I’ve seen each of these five causes of
disorganization in real life!
You’ll want to follow this column for the next
five weeks as I cover these five causes of
disorganization.
- Situational disorganization
- Habitual disorganization
-
Historical disorganization
- Social disorganization
- Chronic disorganization
If you’ve been unsuccessful in your organizing
efforts and are trying to figure out “How did I
get here?” this series is for you!
Situational
Disorganization
Let’s start with the most common cause of
disorganization, “situational disorganization.”
Sometimes our circumstances just get the best of
us. At work and at home we encounter situations
that invite disorder. Things might be going along
fine and then all of a sudden we are inundated by
some event or project. When something happens that
we did not anticipate or did not prepare for, we
can find ourselves the victim of our
circumstances. Our temporary situation has caused
us to spiral into disorganization. I’ve listed
some of the precipitating circumstances below;
perhaps you can find the root of your disorder
here.
Work Backlog
If you have been given a big project with a tight
deadline at work, lots of requests may be dropped
until the deadline is met. Your e-mails and phone
messages may stack up in the interim. When you’ve
met your deadline you would like to feel relief,
but instead you have to face a mountain of work
that you were forced to let slide. When you have
to pick up the pieces pushed aside during crunch
time, you are dealing with situational
disorganization.
Personal Loss
Personal loss can leave you situationally
disorganized in your home life. When a loved one
dies, chaos ensues. Life comes to a screeching
halt when we are faced with grief. We often cannot
cope with our daily responsibilities. During this
time, even rote tasks like dealing with dishes and
laundry seem insurmountable. As a result,
household order quickly spins out-of-control. If
you inherit belongings, your garage and storage
spaces will be flooded with stuff until you have
the time to sort through the items and make
decisions. All these contributing factors add up
to disorder in your life when someone close to you
dies.
Tending to a Loved One
Many folks I’ve worked with have not yet lost a
loved one but are managing the affairs of an
elderly, ailing relative. Sometimes the relative
has been brought into the home or has downsized
into a facility. Either way, the responsible party
has to absorb all the tasks associated with
relocating their loved one into an appropriate
location. From the real estate transaction to the
estate sale, a myriad of tasks are imposed upon
the person in charge.
I’ve especially noticed the onslaught of paper
faced by personal representatives. In addition to
their own paperwork, bills, and filing, they
suddenly have to juggle the same kinds of paper
for the dependent person. Medical papers are
particularly confusing and prolific. I advise my
clients who are in a guardian role of this nature
to set up duplicate systems to their own. The
address for all paperwork should be re-directed to
the guardian. The dependent needs a bill paying
center and schedule, just as the guardian needs. A
separate filing system should be established for
the dependent. Most folks, however, don’t have the
foresight or take the time to establish these
sanity-saving systems. As a result, they swiftly
become inundated by their situation.
Divorce
Grief and loss are also experienced by those
facing a divorce. Divorce is a lonely, painful
experience that also precipitates disorder in the
home. An inventory of household goods must be
made. Joint assets and liabilities must be proven
and all accounts must be reported. All this is to
determine net worth so that a distribution of
property may take place. Determinations must be
made for the welfare and future of children and
pets. Court appearances and legal paperwork is
involved. People dig through their paperwork to
answer the required questions, leaving a big mess
behind. These unpleasant tasks and the grief that
goes with those them can paralyze even the most
organized. Divorce has caused many of our clients
to become disorganized.
Unexpected Life Events
Other precipitating events might cause you to
become situationally disorganized in your personal
and professional worlds. A child graduating and
flying the coop might cause emotional overload and
temporary disorganization. Experiencing a health
emergency or having an accident could cause chaos.
Getting a pet, taking an extended vacation, or any
unusual life event could cause your tasks and
space to collect backlog. Situational
disorganization may be caused by a variety of
sources, but it can be temporary in nature.
There is Hope!
If you can recognize these or other reasons that
you have become disorganized, you are taking the
first step to restoring order. Knowing that a
precipitating event caused your disorder hopefully
takes the pressure off you. Many people look
around at their clutter and feel ashamed. They
wonder why they can’t get it together. When I find
out that someone has been through a divorce and a
death in the same year, I want to help them see
that the disorder that surrounds them is not their
fault! All of us can become inundated by the
unexpected.
When you recognize the variety of reasons that
have contributed to your disorganization, you let
yourself off the hook. You are not a bad or
incompetent person; in fact, you have bravely
endured a difficult time. There is hope! You can
dig out of your situational disorganization and
reclaim your life!
Read How Did
I Get So Disorganized, Part 2
Adapted from: Restoring
Order™ copyright © 2006 by Vicki Norris (available
now at
www.RestoringOrder.com and in July 2007as
Reclaim Your Life™. Copyright © 2007). Published
by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR. Used by
permission.
About the Author: Vicki Norris is
an expert organizer, business owner, speaker,
television personality, and author who inspires
people to live out their priorities. Norris is a
regular on HGTV’s nationally syndicated Mission:
Organization, and is a recurrent source and
contributor to national lifestyle publications
including Quick & Simple magazine, Better Homes &
Gardens, and Real Simple magazine. Norris is also
author of Restoring Order™ to Your Home, a
room-by-room household organizing guide. |
