Organizational Dyslexia

[Sharla]

I think I have what I would call organizational dislexia - just because i think it should be described as a mental condition because I'm sure it is one.

I am one of those people - no matter how organized I attempt to be whether it's a paper filing system, my computer files, my wardrobe etc etc I'll try to put a system into place and it will fall apart usually within a week.

I do not know what is wrong with me!

I was complaining to my flatmate about this last night and she spent whe whole night reorganizing my room with me.

She compartmentalized all my sports gear into baskets with different workout types, she ditched my shoe racks and sorted them into sports, casual and formal baskets - just reorganized the whole lot in a way i mentally jsut could not achieve.

She is really good at this but I am an organizational retard!

Anyone else have this problem?

[CGM]

Don't know about dyslexia, but my organizational skills have sucked all my life. My project management skills also suck. I'm not sure how old you are, but I am in my 40's, and this has affected me in many ways, including career problems.

You haven't asked for advice, but I know I would have benefitted from a little life guidance early on, this would have definitely helped to negotiate my career path later on. Many jobs in the corporate world eventually grow into positions that require organizational skills and project management skills, and then the problems start.

[Sharla]

Don't know about dyslexia, but my organizational skills have sucked all my life. My project management skills also suck. I'm not sure how old you are, but I am in my 40's, and this has affected me in many ways, including career problems.

You haven't asked for advice, but I know I would have benefitted from a little life guidance early on, this would have definitely helped to negotiate my career path later on. Many jobs in the corporate world eventually grow into positions that require organizational skills and project management skills, and then the problems start.

Yeah I would say that some things which should be simple to keep track of in my PhD studies tend to end up stressing me out a bit! If I do manage to make something of my PhD I could end up in a job which really requires the skills you're referring to as well.

I never really thought of getting professional help for it. I have done a large number of web searches and attempted to put list making etc into play but just seemed to end up with a lot of loose paper everywhere!

One thing I noticed my flatmate did when she reorganized my stuff was she put more thought into how, how often and when i used things so that things were more practical to find and put away etc.

I have always attempted to find a space for everything when organizing stuff but i guess i haven't thought as much about the practicalities of accessing it.

Still I think there must be more to it than that and it would be worth it to me to get help with it. So did you get some sort of professional help to improve your organizational skills or what did you do? I'd be really interested to know!

[CGM]

Don't know about dyslexia, but my organizational skills have sucked all my life. My project management skills also suck. I'm not sure how old you are, but I am in my 40's, and this has affected me in many ways, including career problems.

You haven't asked for advice, but I know I would have benefitted from a little life guidance early on, this would have definitely helped to negotiate my career path later on. Many jobs in the corporate world eventually grow into positions that require organizational skills and project management skills, and then the problems start.

Yeah I would say that some things which should be simple to keep track of in my PhD studies tend to end up stressing me out a bit! If I do manage to make something of my PhD I could end up in a job which really requires the skills you're referring to as well.

I never really thought of getting professional help for it. I have done a large number of web searches and attempted to put list making etc into play but just seemed to end up with a lot of loose paper everywhere!

One thing I noticed my flatmate did when she reorganized my stuff was she put more thought into how, how often and when i used things so that things were more practical to find and put away etc.

I have always attempted to find a space for everything when organizing stuff but i guess i haven't thought as much about the practicalities of accessing it.

Still I think there must be more to it than that and it would be worth it to me to get help with it. So did you get some sort of professional help to improve your organizational skills or what did you do? I'd be really interested to know!

No, I never did get any professional help as if it were some kind of mental condition. I never really had an awareness that it was necessary. Part of the problem was that I was able to do well in school and university ( A's in 400 level Algebra and calculus, for example ), and also early on in my career, without having to develop really good work habits. But eventually problems arose. Don't get me wrong, it aint a major catastrophe, but things could have been a little different.

I don't know if it is possible to change something that is so ingrained in one's personality, but I'm sure it is not something that can be changed overnight. Perhaps through long term concious effort, repetition etc, one can acquire new habits that will eventually become ingrained so that one does not have to devote so much effort. Cognitive therapy works something like that, but I have no idea if it is applicable to being disorganized.

[Sharla]

Yeah thinks for your input and honesty CGM.

By your logic there isn't really any reason for me to not be able to improve my organizational skills since I can abide by routines once I've established them.

I think my problem is partially that I just have difficulty keeping track of a number of things - it wouldn't be so bad if I only had one thing in life to think about all the time but that's never accurate for anyone.

I don't have children but I know other people learn to juggle all the things I do with kids also and they often seem to do well.

Whatever skills it is they have I don't so I might have to think about what you're written here to make sure I understand it fully and do some more research.

Thanks

[sourpuss]

I don't even get a system in place before it fails. You're one step ahead of me.

[Sharla]

Yeah well I'm trying but I did up rosters for various things involved with keepiing on top of things on a massive whiteboard and I have to admit when it comes to doing them I have a little bit of laziness to over come too!