CLEAR CLUTTER AND CREATE SPACE WRITTEN BY JENNIFER ROBB
Clearing clutter can be overwhelming both physically and mentally. There are many reasons why organization or lack thereof in terms of our space, thoughts, and time can occur in the homes and offices of individuals and families. Here are a few ideas to ponder if you have ever struggled to become organized: 1. Organizing is a learned skill that is often taught incorrectly for visual thinkers or is sometimes not taught at all. 2. Causes of chronic disorganization may include genetics, evolution, and environment. 3. Struggle can occur, and often affects people the most during transitions of life, which are often amplified by trying circumstances and events. 4. The struggle with organization can progress from cluttered to overwhelmed to crisis mode. Jennifer Robb has been a Professional Organizer since 2004 and is the owner of Simple Organizing Strategies and Iowa Professional Organizers. Over the years, she has helped young and old conquer clutter and gain control over paperwork, hobby rooms, inherited items, family photos, and much more! About half of her clients are in need of assistance physically, in that they know how they want their space to look and function, but they are physically unable to load up boxes and carry heavy items to consignment, donation or recycle centers for proper disposal. The other half reach out when they find themselves overwhelmed not knowing where to begin. A client once reached out and explained that she had tried several times to take time off work to clean and organize her hobby room, but that after weeks of wasted vacation days, she realized she could not tackle the project on her own. During her consultation, she showed Jennifer how she would crack the door open with good intentions, but would immediately get overwhelmed by the sight and go back upstairs to play solitaire on the computer for the rest of the afternoon. Jennifer and her client were able to assess that she was a visual person trying to live in a world where we are often expected to have everything “put away neat and tidy.” Visual people need things out where they can see them and if they cram items into dresser drawers, cabinets, closets, etc, the items become un-accessible and in turn, items pile up on flat surfaces. Alternatively, if something is put away behind closed doors, a new item is inevitably purchased when the existing one can’t be found. The good news is, there ARE systems for visual people AND they can be functional as well as visually pleasing!
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3rd Quarter 2020
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