NEAT & SIMPLE LIVING with Ariane Benefit, Organizing Coach

Is it ADD or Personality Type? My findings - Part 1

Before I begin this paost, I want to send a HUGE THANK YOU to a few great friends whose support and encouragement mean the world to me!  They also inspired me to write this post which I've been working on for WEEKS! 

1) To Terry Matlen, M.S.W., of www.ADDconsults.com for featuring me in an article called The Many Faces of ADHD - Ariane's Profile at www.ADDCentral.com! Terry is the author of the excellent Survival Tips for Women with AD/HD: Beyond Piles, Palms, & Post-its and puts out a great ADD newsletter called, ADDitional News.    She is a leader in the field of Adult AD/HD, a former member of the board of directors of the Attention Deficit Disorder Association, and a wonderful and compassionate friend.  She has been so supportive of me I can't even begin to thank her enough.

2) To Liz Strauss of www.successful-blog.com who wrote this post in support of my "coming out" about having ADD:  Do You Think You Have ADD? Should You Tell Anyone?  I was so touched by her caring, compassion, and complete support of not only me, and not only ADD, but for anyone who feels "different" from everyone around them.  Liz was one of first bloggers to ever give sincere recognition to my blog and made me feel that the effort I put into this blog might be worth it after all.  She writes about all kinds of cool stuff and stuns me with how much great stuff she is capable of writing so often and so well! Thank you Liz!

3) To Dwayne Melancon of "Genuine Curiousity" for his incredibly insightful and compassionate article "GOT ATTENTION?" referencing my experience with getting a diagnosis of ADD and wondering if I really do have ADD.  I was so surprised that even my friend Dwayne often wonders if his tendency to "get bored easily" and "flit from one interesting thing to another" is ADD or not.  And so do other people I would never have suspected in a million years!  Like my friend and organizing guru Monica Ricci.  She wonders about it, too! 

I think it's because many ADD traits are also those of people with "creative personality types" - like myself, Dwayne and Monica.  We aren't "artists", but we ARE creative types who love to write, explore, take risks, try new things, and get bored with anything that is too repetitive or that stays the same for too long. 

I frequently wonder how my ENTP creative personality type and ADD are connected - because when you compare the traits of both, it's striking how similar they are. The main differences seem to be in the degree, frequency, and impact these "traits" have on our lives. Both ADD and the Creative Types share many characteristics.  Below is a list of ADD traits that I've culled from my reading of many ADD books.

COMMON ADD TRAIT DESCRIPTIONS INCLUDE:

• High energy and restless / Hyperactivity
• Impulsivity
• Takes on too many projects
• Loses interest easily
• High impatience
• May fail to follow through, forget appointments
• Tendency to hyperfocus and not be able to easily break out of it
• Tendency to see everything at once, to think "globally" and see many possibilities at once, making it difficult to make certain kinds of decisions
• Higher than average tolerance for chaos and change
• Often exhibit high risk taking, high stimulation seeking
• Often hyperREACTIVE - High reaction to thoughts, noise, people talking, everything in their environment, sometimes hypersensitive
• Tend to criticize themselves
• Tend to always be scanning or hunting
• High intuitive thinking
• Inconsistency of attention, mood

Now compare that list with the list I made from the descriptions of MBTI "creative personality types" which have both an "iNtuitive" and a "Perceiving" preference.   I have never seen anyone group the "NP" preferences as an archetype or temperament the way Keirsey and Bates identified four temperaments in  "Please Understand Me", but in my work with hundreds of people who have been labeled as disorganized for most of their lives, or as ADD, I am seeing undeniable patterns that are helping me better understand the roots of painful chronic disorganization, and more importantly, how to help people best overcome disorganization forever - not just organize "for" them and then hope they can maintain it after I leave.   

The four "iNtuitive" + Perceiving personality types are: ENTP (5%), INTP(1%), ENSP (5%), and INSP(1%)

The percentages indicate what percent of the population has each personality type.  As you can see, these types are CLEARLY a minority.   Combined they are found in only about 12% of the population and 4-6% of women. (Source: "Please Understand Me" by Keirsey and Bates)   

Interestingly, ADD is thought to occur in 6 - 12% of the population.  It varies according to who you are reading.  But, regardless, it literally is so close that it BEGS for closer scrutiny. 

So now, take a look at the list of traits I summarized from Please Understand Me" by Keirsey and Bates with my notes in brackets about how this could impact organizing and/or look like ADD.

ENTP/ENFP TRAITS 

• Unusually Enthusiastic, [high energy and high enthusiasm is VERY characteristic of ADD)
• "Apt to express interest in everything" [this makes it very difficult to focus and make choices about how to use your time]
• Characteristically have an eye out for a better way [leads to constantly changing and not sticking to systems you create to organize yourself]
• Always on the lookout for new projects, new activities, new procedures [ a clear link to all those unfinished projects ADD is famous for]
• Always seem to be several jumps ahead  [Another hallmark of ADD brains that process informationally globally and often see patterns before others do. Many famous inventors and scientists who made significant discoveries are thought to have had ADD]

The list is stunning, for example, Alexander Graham Bell, Leonardo da Vinci, Sir Issac Newton, Louis Pasteur, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Galileo and many more.   

• Prefers to "improvise" rather than create a detailed plan  [Could look like impulsivity, being uprepared, etc.] 
• Tends to proceed into action without necessary preparation
• Can succeed in a variety of occupations as long as the job "does not involve humdrum routine"
• In a routine job "they become restless. If a project in which they are engaged is no longer challenging, they tend to lose interest and fail to follow through - often to the discomfort of colleagues"
• "Orderliness in the routines of daily living is not apt to inspire them." "Not likely to be interested in the routines of daily maintenance"
• "Life with ENTPs is likely to be a daring adventure: this could lead families into physical and economic danger"
• "Apt to react with delight at having an opportunity to improvise a solution to a crisis"
• "Likely to be inconsistent with their attention
• "May show undependable, fickle characteristics, and be easily discouraged"
• "Always berating themselves for being so conscious of self"
• "Can become bored rather quickly with situations and people, and resist repeating experiences"
• "Enjoy the process of creating "but not interested in follow-through"
• "Can have difficulty picking up on the ideas and projects initiated by others"
• "Extravagant generosity punctuated with periods of frugality"
• "Somewhat unpredictable"
• "Characteristic in their pursuit of novelty"
• "Outstanding intuitive powers"

INTP/INFP TRAITS

• "Can concentrate better than any other personality type" [Obviously similar to hyperfocusing]
• "Once caught up in a thought process, that thought process seems to have a will of its own for INTPS, and they perservere until the issue is comprehended"
• "Impatient with routine details" [Obviously impacts ability to "maintain" traditional organizing systems]
• "The INTP must be given an efficient support staff who can capture ideas as they emerge and before the INTP loses interest and turns to other ideas" [How I would LOVE this!  and How unrealistic this is.  The book is obviously old enough to remember when most managers had their own secretaries.  I had my own Exec Assistant once...it was AWESOME!!!]
• INTPS are often forgetful of appointments and the rituals of daily living unless they are reminded. [Need I say more?]

I think the links between creative personality types (not artistic creativity) and ADD are more than clear.  And the link between creativity and difficulty "MAINTAINING" organizing systems is also clear.  The key question for me is "how does my understanding of these specific personality traits help me help others become more organized by designing organizing solutions that they CAN MAINTAIN? 

That's what my FREE class on "The Link between Creativity and Disorganization" is about. 

Listen to the MP3 here

Cluttered house ignites, makes firefighting difficult

This article about a fire in Portland, Oregon really makes the point about how severe clutter is actually a life threatening safety hazard.    Here is a clip from the article

When fire crews arrived, they tried to get inside the home to see if anyone was there, but they had some trouble in their search because they found the house full of clutter.

"There were pathways through each of the rooms that was about waist-high - newspapers, t-shirts, magazines," said Lt. Allen Oswalt with the Portland Fire Bureau.  "And you just had these pathways to get through the rooms.  The doors that would open off the rooms were blocked with waist-high storage of things, so it made it really difficult.  Plus all that adds to the fire load - it's all paper and it burns really easily.  We didn't even get a primary search done for about 45 minutes, which is not the way we like to do it."

See photos and read the rest of the story here:

http://www.katu.com/news/17678414.html

If you are struggling with clutter, here are some help for hoarding resources.

Also, consider signing up for my 3 session Teleclass series:  GETTING UNSTUCK! Releasing the Emotional, Physical, and Belief Clutter Keeping You Stuck in a Pattern of Stress, Overwhelm and Frustration! 

HOARDERS ARE WELCOME

If you have ever wondered if you are a hoarder, or if you know you suffer from compulsive hoarding, you are welcome in this class.  One of the common traits of all hoarding behavior is that the idividual is very creative and can think of millions of reasons why any item is valuable.  If this describes you, we invite you to join us!  We will be focusing on addressing the underlying beliefs thoughts that cause people to experience anxiety in letting go of things. Learn More Here

GETTING UNSTUCK! Releasing the Emotional, Physical, and Belief Clutter Keeping You Stuck in a Pattern of Stress, Overwhelm and Frustration! 

 

FREE AUDIO CLASS! Learn how Having a Creative Personality Type Can Actually CAUSE Disorganization PLUS 8 Ways You Can Turn Overwhelm into SUCCESS!

Creativity has long been known to be associated with persistent Chronic Disorganization. Creative personality types are notorious for having a very difficult time maintaining traditional organizing methods like David Allen's GTD system which includes using a "tickler file", etc. (Just ask Gina Trapani of Lifehacker.com) It's not impossible, but it sure doesn't come easily and just doesn't work for many creative people or for people with ADD who naturally resist structure, schedules and routines like checking a tickler file every day. 

My first Teleclass - "The Link between Creativity and Disorganization"  delivered on March 27, 2008 explores why this is true and what you can do about it.  And I'm finally ready to share it with you and the rest of the world - FREE! 

What You Will Learn in This FREE Class

What chronic disorganization is and why you should care.
Why the creative personality type is so susceptible to painful chronic disorganization.
What kinds of underlying beliefs make us cling to "things"
Why creatives find it so difficult to successfully maintain conventional organizing systems.
The functions of the 3 major parts of the brain and how they work
Why your actions and behaviors ALWAYS have a positive intent NO MATTER HOW self-destructive they seem
Why automatic negative thinking, beliefs and habits are SO HARD TO CHANGE
Why some beliefs and habits are actually very EASY TO CHANGE
How to "make your brain your best friend" so that you can resolve inner conflicts more easily and get "activated" to do the things you really want to do - BUT DON'T.  Like let go of clutter
6 strategies that have really worked to help creatives triumph over disorganization.
8 creative personality characteristics and how they contribute to disorganization.
How you can translate these personality traits that make organizing difficult into criteria for creating your own ultra-simple successful organizing systems!

PLUS - You'll get a FREE 15 page Handout summarizing the class! 

I am so passionate about this topic now because in my research I was shocked to find so few resources to help creative people understand why organizing and letting go of clutter is SO PARTICULARLY difficult for us!   Sure lots of people talk about it, and give us tips that work for them, but how do we translate those tips to work in OUR lives.   For people who have had years of negative experiences with organizing, including being punished, fired, or even getting divorced over their difficulty organizing themselves, tips are not nearly enough to become more consistently organized.

That why I'm giving this work that I have spent over 40 hours preparing for FREE! My hope is to make it easier for all those people out there who are "NATURALLY ORGANIZED" and those who are "DISORGANIZED" to understand each other's perspective a little better and make working and living together a little easier.  Hopefully it will help "the majority" better understand how differently the 10 - 25% of the population that is labeled with the terms below actually experiences the world and daily life.

• "creative and prefers to keep options open"  (ENTP, ENFP, INTP, INFP)  If you read about these personality types in depth, you will find that the description of these personality types combined is EXTREMELY similar to that of ADD. 
• "highly sensitive"
• "ADD" 
• "Decisionally Challenged"
• "Chronically Disorganized"

People with these labels are in the minority and have a VERY difficult time living up to the expectations and values of the majority of people who: can make a plan and stick to it most of the time; really don't mind or even enjoy organizing; let go of things they no longer use with no emotional trauma; find comfort in routines: and can be on time most of the time without going through emotional agony.  For the rest of us, even reading that sentence can generate anxiety!  : )   

THANK YOU ELLEN!!!!

Even though I am a certified group facilitator and have presented at national conferences, I was very nervous at first because I didn't like the idea of not being able to see everyone.  But to my surprise I became comfortable almost immediately.  One of the major reasons I was at ease was that I wasn't alone! The call was hosted Ellen Shapiro, a very creative client who is now a treasured friend.  Ellen was so supportive and encouraging, she really demonstrated why she deserves the title of "Success and Prosperity Coach".   

Ellen has a fascinating array of skills she brings to her work.  She has a BA in Psychology, an MBA, AND is certified in a dozen other innovative methods for helping people achieve success.  As many creative people do, Ellen struggled with paper and keeping up with constantly changing stream of projects and ideas.  She was so happy with the home office and ultra simple systems we designed and organized for her that she invited me to present a session on Overcoming Disorganization to the Prosper Your Practice community she runs which features a monthly expert speaker.

p.s. (her office photos are in my Home Office Organizing Book but I won't tell you which ones)

Now that I've gotten past the hurdle of "the first time"  I'm on fire!  I LOVE the teleclass format because it allows so many people to have access to learning they otherwise would not have.  You don't have to travel AND you can listen to the recording again anytime you want!

WHY WE ARE DOING THIS

Preparing to deliver this class was a great motivator for me to finally pull together my thoughts and experiences on "The Link between Creativity and Disorganization"  and document the strategies that have been most successful in my work with hundred of creative clients to overcome disorganization - and not become "dependent" on me to help them stay organized. 

WHAT"S NEXT?  GETTING UNSTUCK!

The class went very well and people wanted more.  So, Ellen Shapiro and I have partnered to create PART 2 of "The Creative Person's Guide to Overcoming Chronic Disorganization" 

We are calling this program, GETTING UNSTUCK! Releasing the Emotional, Physical, and Belief Clutter Keeping You Stuck in a Pattern of Stress, Overwhelm and Frustration!  It combines my expertise in working with people to release physical, emotional and belief clutter so that they can overcome chronic disorganization, with Ellen's expertise in using a technique called "repatterning" designed to help you identify and clear negative automatic thoughts and beliefs that are holding you back. 

We have both had tremendous success with our approaches and now you can experience BOTH in one program thanks to the power of the teleclass!

STARTS APRIL 25!  So Don't Delay - Only 10 seats are available!

Listen to the FREE class, get the FREE handout
and learn more about our NEW PROGRAM here! 

http://www.neatandsimple.com/creativity.html

Wishing you much success as always,

NOTE: We reserve the right to remove the audio and handout at any time so this link many not work forever.

Creativity and Chronic Disorganization - How are they linked? What can you do about it? My first free teleclass

UPDATE :  4/1/08

To my readers via email - I apologize that this did not go out via email until today.  My feedblitz is set to deliver emails once a week because I got feedback that many people did not want to get emails in their inbox every time I posted. 

If you missed the teleclass - please stay tuned as I will be announcing where to get the handout and recording free ASAP.   

THANK YOU!!!

______________________________________________________

Creativity and Chronic Disorganization are often linked.  Why is that?   What can you do about it?  Tomorrow nite I'll be talking about this topic and answering questions in my very first free teleclass!

Thursday,  March 27th, at 8:45PM EST

Register here

I will be the guest speaker in the "PROSPER YOUR PRACTICE"  series of teleclasses for sef-employed people hosted by Ellen Shapiro!  Ellen generously and expertly hosts free monthly "teleclasses with guest experts who share their tips about running a successful business."  Learn more about Ellen Shapiro here

However you don't have to be a business owner to benefit from this presentation.  It's for anyone who is creative and:

• believes their creativity is the cause of their disorganization
• believes that disorganization is a "side affect" of creativity that can't be helped or improved
• believes that to become organized would be too difficult, too rigid, too time consuming or too expensive.

We'll be discussing what chronic disorganization is, why it affects so many creative people, and we'll also discuss some simple strategies & principles to help creative professionals become more organized using systems that are super easy and don't take a lot of time to maintain.   We won't solve all your problems in one session, but you will get a much deeper answer to the question "Why am I like this?"

_________________________________________________________

Here's what you to do if you don't want to miss this!

Head on over to Ellen's site to register for the Prosper Your Practice group so that you'll be sure to get the emails with the teleclass info and the follow up link to listen to the recorded session later.

You have to register to the get the link to the recording

That's all you have to do! This is an easy, no-cost, no-obligation, no-spammy sales pitches way to discover learn more about how to become more organized, even if you've never been able to do it before! 

Hope to "see" you there!

Thinking about hiring a professional organizer?

If you are thinking about hiring a a professsional organizer, this excellent article by Erin Doland, Editor-in-Chief of Unclutterer.com is a MUST READ.  Like me, she is a recovering packrat.  She is also an excellent writer and has interviewed many of the top professional organizers, like my friends Monica Ricci, owner of Atlanta-based Catalyst Organizing Solutions  and Geralin Thomas, owner of Cary, North Carolina-based Metropolitan Organizing.    There is also a lot of GREAT advice in the comments from my friends and colleagues Ilene Drexler based in NYC and Jeri Dansky author of the MUST READ blog Jeri's Organizing & Decluttering News.   (I also much give many thanks to my fabulous virtual assistant Janet Barclay, for bringing this article to my attention)

As an organizing coach who specializes in ADD and chronic disorganization I simply had to chime in with my thoughts as well and of course, mention that if you have tried to get organized many times in the past, and your quality of life has been seriously impaired by clutter and disorganization, look for a professional organizer who also belongs to www.NSGCD.org (the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization) which provides specialized training to organizers on how to help people overcome chronic disorganization (CD).  CD is not a medical condition but it is something that you will probably always have a tendency toward so overcoming it requires highly creative and customized organizing strategies.

A few points I added to consider in hiring a professional organizer include looking for someone who:

1)  Partners with you and doesn't tell you there is only one "best" way to do things. To get long lasting results, choose an organizer who listens to your needs, gives you options to choose from, incorporates your preferences in the solution, and takes your personal organizing and learning style into consideration. There is never just one right way to organize something.

2)  Seeks to understand your most deeply ingrained habits and work "with" them as much as possible.  i.e., if you "live" in your kitchen, you probably won't suddenly start sorting your mail in that cute office upstairs. With some creativity, there are many ways to continue to use your kitchen counter to sort and still keep your kitchen neat and organized. 

3) Understands backsliding.  Most people get excited about a new organizing system, but then something happens that causes them to to slip back into old habits from time to time, especially when stressed. The important thing is to LEARN as much as you can from these events and "recover" as soon as possible. Don't hide them from your organizer or be ashamed to have them come back and see that you haven't been perfect. Your organizer should help you learn from the events and prepare you to deal with backsliding. 

My article on "What to expect when working with a professional organizer" has several more tips like this.

Thanks again Erin for bringing up this very important topic!

P.S.  After getting many requests from people who wanted a print version of my book, I spent my entire weekend making it happen!  Not only that, I daresay 99% of the typos have been cleaned up by an awesome, multitalented friend of ours who gave the book a very thorough proofreading!  Thank you Cathy!!! I would tell you how to reach her, but she doesn't want me to.  : )

You can now order the "Neat & Simple Guide to Organizing Your Home Office!"at the new
Neat & Simple Organizing Success Bookstore on lulu.com!   We are working on getting our other books available in print as well, so stay tuned!

Denslow Brown, Monica Ricci, and Judith Kolberg Rocked the NAPO D.C. Conference!!

This past weekend I was thrilled to attend the annual Mid-Atlantic Regional NAPO Conference The primary reason I went was to have the opportunity to meet and learn from three of the most amazing women in the organizing industry today.

Here are the highlights:

• Judith Kolberg (Left in the photo)
• Author of Conquering Chronic Disorganization and Founder of NSGCD.  She gave an awesome opening keynote on "The Super Powers of Disorganized People" which I felt truly honored the innovative and individual ways our brains work.  She pointed out how when you really listen to what's going on in the mind of a chronically disorganized person you can see how their situation is actually often coming from a unique and incredibly creative way of seeing the world.  I can't ever thank Judith enough for pioneering the study of chronic disorganization and a framework for helping people overcome the intensely painful experience of people who suffer from trying to use traditional one-size fits all organizing strategies that simply don't work for a lot of people.

• Denslow Brown (on the right in the photo) is one of the Founding Members of NAPO and NSGCD, a certified MASTER Coach, a certified ADD coach, and the brilliant Leader of The Coach Approach for Organizers with is co-taught by the awesome Cameron Gott who is also an ADD coach.  I'm currently in my 8th week of attending The Coach Approach for Organizers  training. It is one of the single best investments I've ever made.  It covers Coaching skills, ADD Organizing, and ADD Coaching. Her hybrid approach to working with people is so empowering.  It includes coaching, education, consulting AND truly advocating for your clients whose self-confidence and esteem is almost always shattered by the years of negativity surrounding their difficulties with organizing and managing time. Facilitating and empowering are at the core of my coaching services and Denslow's 34 years of experience in the field has so enriched my skillset, I'm sure I could never thank her or honor her enough.
  
  Her first presentation at conference was "Deepening Client Commitment and Connection". It provided an excellent framework for avoiding the "driveby organizing syndrome" in which "you organize them and then go away and pray they can maintain it".  Her approach advocates facilitating true long lasting change by encouraging clients to take ownership and pride in their accomplishments, learn from setbacks, and empowering them to design organizing strategies that work for their unique needs.
  
  She presented a second session titled "Positive Inquiry = Business Success" which was an completely innovative approach to finding your niche in the organizing industry.  I can't wait to take even more training with Denslow and I hope she publishes soon!  : )   Learn more about Denslow here.
• Monica Ricci (in the lower center of the photo) is not only an award winning blogger, she is an outstanding author, TV and Radio host, spokesperson,  speaker, motivator and of course, organizer extraordinaire!  See Monica's Post  NAPO D.C. Hosts Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference.  Seeing her show on TV was so helpful and inspirational to me in my career and I was so thrilled to get to see her do her thing LIVE.  Her energy is unbelievable!  Her keynote speech "Fearful to Fabulous: Embracing Boldness" was phenomenal. She had everyone in tears. I'm so inspired by her - I wish I had it recorded!  She talked about all the ways we learn to be fearful and how we can overcome them.  As with any change, your desire for what you want must be stronger than the pain and discomfort of taking action in spite of your fear.  You have to trust that you will live through the pain and ultimately get what you want!  It's soooo worth it!  Thank you so much Monica for sharing your wisdom and experience so generously!

Much appreciation goes out to NAPO D.C. Metro Chapter for organizing this inspiring and educational event and choosing the such awesome speakers!  It was extremely well organized and worth every penny! 

Making Your Natural Adrenaline Moments Work For You!

This morning I was coaching a client with ADD and she had the neatest breakthrough that I thought you might like.  In my ADD coaching training I learned about a phenomenon called  "Completion Chemistry."

Essentially it means that many people, especially those of us with ADD, are more motivated to work on a task when we need to FIND something.  For example, we may hate to file or put things away while we are in midst of doing other far more interested things.  But when we really need to find something, we get a burst of adrenaline for the "hunt".   

My client was teeling me about her successes of the week and mentioned how she had needed to find something in the box of papers she had gathered up while organizing last week.  The box had been sitting there for days and she had had no motivation to work on it.  Suddenly when she needed something in that box, she got a burst of "energy" and become motivated to finally sort out some of the papers in that box.

What a perfect example of "Completion Chemistry"!  I let her what a great strategy that was and explained how she could use it more often and she LOVED it!!!  She felt so validated that she already had an effective strategy and now she could consciously work with it and harness it more often - without feeling guilty about the time she let pass before she got around to organizing the box. 

She even came up with her own name for the strategy  - "Riding the Wave" 

We talked about other ways she could apply this and came up with the idea of using the energy of a deadline to help her "activate" for other tasks by leaving extra time before the deadline and she is goign to try this...instead of seeing the task of having to take her daughter to  a 4:30 appt every day as an interruption, she is going to start getting ready to go an hour before use that hour to "scan" the first floor and do any little tasks that need doing, like sort the mail, return a couple calls, put things away etc. 

I'm leaving at 5:00 tonite to go to the regional NAPO conference in Washington DC so I'm going to ride my adrenaline wave to get packed and ready to go and then answer as many emails as I can, return  calls, and tie up other "loose ends" as FAST as possible!   

How do you "ride the wave of completion chemistry" in your daily life?  What new situations can you apply this concept to?

Understanding Chronic Disorganization: Are You Chronically Disorganized?

We all experience situations in life when we become disorganized. During an illness, or while working on a project at work that requires a lot of travel, or during a life change like moving, getting married, having kids, or starting a new job. Professional Organizers call that being "Situationally Disorganized." This means disorganization is a very understandable and normal side affect of a life situation.

What makes chronic disorganization different is that when these life events happen to you, order is not quickly and fairly easily restored. Instead, the disorganization does not improve and may even continue to worsen over time. At a certain point, daily life becomes overwhelmingly stressful and help is needed to recover.

If your quality of life is suffering, you feel stressed and overwhelmed much of the time, and you don’t feel like you can fix it yourself, you may be "chronically" disorganized.

To learn more, check out the new in-depth article I have posted on my website called:

Understanding Chronic Disorganization: Are you Chronically Disorganized?

It covers:

• What is Chronic Disorganization?
• Causes of Chronic Disorganization
• Are You Chronically Disorganized?
• Getting Help

Let me know if you have any comments or questions about the article by posting a comment here!  I love hearing from you!  I can't always respond to comments immediately because I do work in clients home 3-5 days a week, but I will get back to you! 

Thanks!

Prospering and Learning in 2008! Don't miss my Free Teleclass On "Organizing for the Creative Professional & the Chronically Disorganized"

I am so honored to have been invited to be a guest speaker in the "PROSPER YOUR PRACTICE" community hosted by Ellen Shapiro and offered FREE!  Ellen generously and expertly hosts free monthly "teleclasses with special guest experts to share their information and wisdom about different aspects of running a successful business."  Learn more about Ellen Shapiro here

In addition, she offers monthly "repatterning" sessions designed to help you incorporate the  learnings you "resonate with" from the guest speaker sessions into your belief system and empower you to put them into action! 

(p.s. I did a couple repatterning sessions with her and found them very helpful in refocusing me to take action on my healthy eating goals, which I'll be sharing with you soon along with big announcement : )

I'll be speaking on the topic:

"Organizing for the Creative & the Chronically Disorganized"

We'll be discussing what chronic disorganization is, why it affects so many creative people, and we'll also discuss some simple strategies & principles to help creative professionals become more organized using systems that are super easy and don't take a lot of time to maintain. 

Knowing me, I'll probably have some kind of neat freebie to offer people who attend...I've got tons of ideas floating around, but I think I'll just surprise you!

_________________________________________________________

Here's what you to do if you don't want to miss this!

1. If you want the chance to ask me questions live, Mark March 27th, at 8:45PM EST in your calendar. If you can't make it for the live session, you can listen to the recorded session later, but you have to register to the get the link to the recording!

2. Head on over to Ellen's site to register for the Prosper Your Practice group so that you'll be sure to get the emails with the teleclass info and the follow up link.

That's all you have to do! This is an easy, no-cost, no-obligation, no-spammy sales pitches way to discover what Repatterning is about, AND to visit with me live, and learn more about how to be more organized, even if you've never been able to do it before!

Hope to "see" you there!

Compulsive Hoarding: Special FREE NSGCD TeleClass Open to ALL Professionals Working with Hoarders!

Over the last couple years, I have been so deeply touched by people living with hoarding or severe clutter and disorganization, and also very frustrated with the lack of resources to help them.  There are very few resources to learn to help them as well.  I have become deeply committed to helping address this gap in understanding and resources to serve people suffering with chronic disorganization, severe cluttering, and / or compulsive hoarding and acquiring.