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Reader organization problem: “My desk was crazy messy, and my wife and I couldn’t work there. The clutter got so bad that we had to keep our toddler daughter out of the room, because office supplies would spill from the desktop onto the floor.”
M, a successful web designer with ADD, struggled to control clutter atop his desk in his home office. He did freelance work at home when not working at his full-time job. M saw the desktop as an all-in-one inbox, piling items -- files, CDs, computer cables, T-shirts -- on top of each other.
The Organizing Challenge
M shares the workspace with his organized wife, J, who needed to work at home. M’s clutter left her no space, and this created friction between the couple. J asked her husband to clean up the mess a year ago, and, although they didn’t fight about the clutter, J was upset over M’s lack of progress.
When asked how he felt about the desk, M said, “It’s an embarrassment, and I know I should do something about it. I just don’t know where to start.”
J reached out to a professional organizer to help M. She wanted to open up the room by reducing the clutter -- and to minimize the friction between her and her ADHD husband.
In less than two hours, M, J, and I transformed the desk -- and the room. The couple was shocked at how little time it took. M half-jokingly said, “You saved our marriage.” J said, “You changed our work life.”
Next: Organizing Strategies 1-5
This article comes from the Winter 2009 issue of ADDitude.
To read this issue of ADDitude in full, buy the back issue.
