Peace of Mind Organizing

The power of clutter

12 September 2008

As I posted on Monday I had a crazy-busy week last week, leading a team of five other organizers to help a client get his house cleared out. This week, I’ve been doing follow up on that job. There’s been a certain amount of paperwork associated with it. And I had a NAPO St. Louis chapter meeting this week, which always generates paper.

The result is that I haven’t been home much, my work has produced lots of paper, and I’ve been tired. And you know what spells in my house? M-E-S-S.

August was a slow month for me, client-wise, so I had plenty of time at home to tend to my business and to put stuff away when I took it out. I felt in control. It’s amazing how quickly my house (and my offices) degenerated into cluttered messes in just a couple of weeks. And what’s also amazing is how debilitating that is. Looking at the mess just makes me want to take a nap. Knowing that I should be putting away, rather than reading political news, isn’t making me do it. I feel like I have lead in my feet.

I leave town next week for five days to attend the annual symposium of the Garden Writers Association (where I’m giving a talk on organizing your writing business) and as soon as I get back I hit the ground running with the annual conference of the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization. With that wacky schedule I know how important it is for me to regain control before I leave town. And I also know that I have a to-do list as long as my arm of things to accomplish before I leave on Thursday. So why haven’t I turned into a white tornado?

I’m actually grateful for times like this because they do such a good job of reminding me how my clients feel. I think the empathy I have for my clients is one of my strong suits, and boy am I feeling it this week. I hope to report on Monday that my life and business are back in order and that I’m feeling clutter-free and empowered!

Tagged with: clutter, disorder, gwa, nsgcd

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