Why are some people disorganized?
Disorganization can result from many things:
- a medical or mental health condition
- learning differences
- communication issues
- emotional issues
- lack of systems
- simply not ever being taught
Organizing skills are taught to us (by parents, teachers, caregivers) as if everyone were a conventional thinker, and some of us are unconventional in our thinking.
Disorganization can be a symptom that there is an issue or conflict – with yourself, with your environment or with other people. The issue or conflict serves as a signal: that you can improve your life by simply learning, with the help of a professional organizer and, often, other related professionals, a way of organizing that works for you.
A life affected by chronic disorganization is characterized by:
- being disorganized for one’s entire adult life
- multiple attempts to get organized which have failed
- diminished quality of life; and
- expectation of future disorganization
Here are some common conditions whose symptoms manifest as chronic disorganization:
- AD/HD. A neuro-biological condition that affects 4% of the adult population. Symptoms include inattention, lack of focus, hyperfocus, hyperactivity, impulsivity, impatience, forgetfulness, and difficulty starting/sequencing/completing tasks.
Read a fact sheet from the National Attention Deficit Disorder Association.
- Hoarding. The obsessive need to acquire and keep things, even if those things are worthless, hazardous or unsanitary. Symptoms include having in your possession a large number of items, having a space so cluttered that it precludes rooms from being used for their intended purpose, having significant distress as a result of the hoard, and having low insight about the causes and effects of the hoard.
Read more about hoarding.
View an infographic on hoarding.
- Right Brain Dominance. These are the creative types! Right-brain dominant individuals are concerned w/ imagery, holistic thinking, mood and feelings. Contrast this with logic and detail thinking, characteristics of people for whom most organizing systems are designed – that’s why they don’t work for the RB person.
Learn more about right brain dominance.
Take a short quiz. (Note: you do NOT have to sign up for the free newsletter.)
- a health crisis
- death
- divorce
- birth of a child
- adoption
- relocation
- job change
Events like these can temporarily “shock” the system and cause difficulty in handling tasks, time and belongings – things that used to be easy to manage.
Find out more about disorganization by visiting the Institute for Challenging Disorganization.
