Is It Chronic Disorganization or Just Laziness?
ICD® is looking for different ways to engage with the audience. Therefore, we created a blog section on the ICD website to share real-life stories about the impact of chronic disorganization (CD). With no further ado, the Blog Task Force welcomes you to the inaugural post and launch of Timeliness, the ICD’s blog.
Let’s talk about chronic disorganization, explore what it is, and share strategies to lessen the negative impact on people’s quality of life. First, disorganization doesn’t come from laziness or lack of intelligence. It stems from various factors that can be categorized as brain-based and health conditions, external and interpersonal challenges, and beliefs and mindset. If you would like to know more, download our fact sheets
Now, the term chronic disorganization was coined by Judith Kolberg, who noticed common traits among her clientele. Her observations made her realize the brain has a lot to do with the difficulty of getting organized, keeping tasks on track, and maintaining their calendar and activities on point.
What defines chronic disorganization
The Institute for Challenging Disorganization® defines chronic disorganization as a type of disorganization that presents three characteristics:
First, the person has been experiencing disorganization for a long time. It’s not unusual for people not to even recall how long it’s been.
Second, the kind of disorganization we’re talking about here negatively affects a person’s daily quality of life and takes a considerable emotional toll.
And third, the person has tried more than once to improve their organization without lasting success.
It’s important to note that CD is not a clinical diagnosis. It refers to a quality-of-life issue. Although the word chronic may sound medical, it is a qualifier for its persistence. Moreover, chronic disorganization and hoarding disorder are not the same; they are not synonyms. The latter is a subset of the former, but that doesn’t mean that CD will evolve into a hoarding situation.
What does CD look and feel like?
Chronic disorganization often shows up as a lack of functionality in daily life. Life may feel chaotic or overwhelming. People may struggle to manage their belongings, physical space, energy, time, and focus. From the outside, this isn’t always visible. Many people affected by chronic disorganization hide it very well, or it shows up in subtle ways that others don’t notice. That’s one reason it can feel so isolating.
What we can do about chronic disorganization
Alison Lush, Certified Professional Organizer in CD and former ICD® president, talks about strategies in this video. For the sake of this post, we compiled the strategies below:
Be curious! One of the main reasons a person experiences CD is that popular logic-based solutions are typically not helpful. They need personalized solutions, and therefore curiosity is an amazingly powerful strategy.
Experiment. Reduce the pressure to find “the” solution by trying something and seeing how it works. Not only is this helpful for folks who tend to be perfectionists, but that mindset also helps us notice what works and what does not for us.
Nurture a good-enough mindset. Aim for functionality, not aesthetics. Organizing must be functional; once you use the system and it works for you, you can beautify it later.
Include the emotions. A logic-based strategy might base the decision to keep or let go of an item on when it was last used, for example. But many people are emotionally connected to their belongings, and a logic-based approach is often useless. Allow the emotional components to be part of your equation—you’ll make a lot more progress.
Develop routines for maintenance tasks. We all have basic maintenance tasks like dishes, laundry, and putting our things away. When we don’t attend to these tasks, problems build up, and then it becomes really difficult for people living with chronic disorganization to deal with collections of clutter and piles of stuff. The best strategy is to keep on top of it. Reset the kitchen, reset the living room, and reset table surfaces as frequently as feels necessary or helpful for you.
Try body doubling. This technique is helpful, especially for boring tasks or routine maintenance tasks.
Turn up the internal volume! Your voice matters way more than the media you hear outside.
Pay attention to your feelings of discouragement or encouragement.
Take credit for everything you do. No matter how mundane or small the accomplishment, it all adds up.
You are in a marathon. You’ll be managing your belongings your whole life. Don’t give up. Just stick with it and continue making progress.
A person can dramatically change their life by developing understanding, insight, skills, and functional systems that truly work for them. Chronic disorganization doesn’t mean failure—it means you need different tools and a different approach.
You’re not broken. And you’re not alone. We’re cheering you on.
Alison Lush, Certified Professional Organizer®, Certified Professional Organizer in Chronic Disorganization®
Chronic disorganization may not go away, but it can get easier.