Get organized! There is a cure for lack of organization

[This article originally appeared in the Tigard, Tualatin, Sherwood Times]

Image courtesy of KaboomPics

Are you a Mary or a Kathy?

This is the question Sherwood’s Vicki Norris poses to her readers in the introduction to her book “Reclaim Your Life and Get Organized for Good” (formerly titled “Restoring Order: Organizing Strategies to Reclaim Your Life”). Mary is drowning in a sea of overdue bills, receipts and projects. Kathy carefully schedules her time and organizes her paperwork to ensure a life of freedom from disorganization.

In this book and its follow-up, “Restoring Order to Your Home,” as well as through her role as founder and president of Restoring Order, a professional organizing firm, Norris aims to bring out the Kathy in all of us.

If leading an unorganized life is a disorder, Norris is here to tell us there is a cure.

That’s not to say the solution is a simple one. We all know how deliciously tempting and ultimately defeating it is to give ourselves over to the magazine covers promising to “Lose Five Pounds in Two Weeks Doing Six Easy Exercises!” Just like the dieting industry, the organizing world has become a mecca for quick-fix advice. Organizing shows and magazines tout familiar “Organize Your Life in Three Simple Steps!” messages that inevitably show us how to rapidly cover something up without digging for the problem within.

Think organizing is a one-time, quick-fix activity? Sorry, Norris is about to burst your bubble.

“True organizing — authentic organizing — is a change process. That’s why people resist it,” Norris says, adding: “We all avoid things that are painful.”

Organizing can be emotional and time-consuming: Debating whether to keep the small- er sizes in our closet after we’ve gained several pounds, struggling to sort through awards and memorabilia in the garage after a child goes to college, becoming overwhelmed by the paper trail that constantly runs through our homes and causes late fees and missed appointments.

And although Norris wants us to recognize how difficult and involved the process is, she also wants us to realize: “Disorganization really is a liability to your life.”

“Reclaim Your Life” is the Restoring Your Life slogan. Ready to reclaim yours?

Before heading out to buy a cartload of bins and baskets without first assessing your needs and measuring your space (a trend Norris refers to as “Product Panacea”), stop and ask yourself the following questions, which Norris says are the three biggies:

First and foremost, “Are you ready for change?”

Before tackling an organizational project, ask yourself if you’re willing to truly change — and not just for the initial system you set up, but for the maintenance that’s required to maintain it.

The answer most likely falls into one of five categories. As Norris explains, there is Situational Disorganization, in which a life event, such as the birth of a baby or a sudden empty nest, precipitates disorganization.

There’s Historical Disorganization, in which we were never taught how to be organized (Norris notes that both a mimicking of parents’ disorganization or a rebellion against a parents’ rigid organization can lead to this).

There’s Habitual Disorganization, which occurs after a buildup of bad habits.

There’s Social Disorganization, which may manifest as accumulating too many things to “keep up with the JOnseses.”

Finally, there’s Chronic Disorganization, in which someone has truly been disorganized for an entire lifetime – this more severe category occurs in only about 2 percent of the population.

Once you have a better grasp on the root of your disorganization, ask yourself, “What has not worked for me in the past?” When you recognize what this is, vow to try something different.

“I think the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result,” Norris says.

Recognizing that organizing will never be a one-size-fits-all endeavor, Norris and her team of consultants approach each project with the goal of personalized, customized ser- vice. This begins with an assessment in which they ask their clients: “What are your true priorities?”

Norris, who is married to electrician Trevor and whose son Nash turns 1 in November, cites an example of an overworked stay-at-home mother of three whose house has become chaotic and whose priorities may be to get back to exercising, rekindle her female friend- ships, and spend more time with her husband.

“Very often, we might put as a homework item between appointments that the clients schedule some personal time for themselves or that they schedule a date night with their spouse,” Norris says.