Are you a Hoarder or just Chronically Disorganized?
By Kathy Lupfer-Nielsen, Family and Consumer Sciences Agent
Maybe it’s just the cooler fall weather, but I seem to be getting into the mood to clean out our garage. “Oh boy”, the husband moans as we seem to always have piles in the garage. Boxes of magazines to take to the recycle center, empty plastic jugs to go to the same place and probably at least two trash cans full to go to the dump can be found at our house…..What is up with this anyway?
We can’t seem to distinguish between what are treasures, such as an old toy his grandmother gave him and the multiple old planter pots. So while we do this project yearly, we always have a few items that find their way back up on the shelves because we just can’t part with them.
Add to the mix gardening tools, potting soil, garden cart and list goes on and on. We often find ourselves in an argument over whose fault this garage mess is…the answer? Both of us have issues. A long time Extension career and the early learned lessons of not throwing away items I might be able to reuse tends to feed my habit. Hunting, fishing and other hobbies that the children or husband have been involved with in the past are other excuses.
Hoarding can be a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). More information about this disease can be found on webMD.com or mayoclinic.org. However the information I read had a wonderful list about the chronically disorganized and our family has some of these issues.
Answer these questions yes or no:
Has disorganization been a factor in your life for many years? Does your level of disorganization interfere with the quality of daily life or negatively affect your relations with others? Has disorganization persisted despite self-help attempts to get organized? Do you own at least one organization book? Do you save many articles, newspapers or books you’ve read? Do you suffer from the “fear of filing”? Do you feel every paper must be kept in sight or you’ll never find it again? Do you lose or misplace papers and items despite keeping them out? Does your filing system cause difficult in retrieval? Does it take you more than 3 minutes to fine most papers in your office?
Do you collect things? Are you a shopaholic? Do you accumulate possessions beyond apparent usefulness or pleasure? Does your disorganization cause you embarrassment or humiliation? Are your desk, floor and or countertops covered in papers? Did you feel deprived as a child either emotionally or materially? Is it difficult for you to part with things even though they have outlived their usefulness? Do you consider yourself a pack rat? Do you have a wide range of interests and several uncompleted tasks and projects? Do you find it difficult to stay focused or are you easily distracted? Do you tend to lose track of time?
If you’ve answered yes to questions 1, 2, 3 and some of the other questions, you could be chronically disorganized. If you answered yes to several of the other questions, don’t panic. There are solutions. Anyone can be taught to increase his or her level of organization. It is never hopeless. Professional organizers can help you succeed where self-help falls short. (This quiz was found on www.challengingdisorganization.org)
I’m not a hoarder, I’m chronically disorganized. Anyone want to help me clean out the garage?
