Hoarder? More Likely Challenging Disorganization.

With the proliferation of television shows about hoarding, many people see hoarders around them. Or think they do. It’s a pet peeve of mine that every person who has “too much stuff” is now deemed a hoarder. Never mind that “too much stuff” is extremely subjective, hoarding is quite a bit more complex than to be simply about too much stuff. Therefore, let’s explore different aspects about stuff and see if we can clear up these misconceptions about hoarding. (If you want the more technical information about hoarding, see my post, “Defining Hoarding.”)

As I already stated, it’s about more than stuff. I’ll admit it; I have a lot of stuff. Even “too much stuff.” As my husband and I have gone through various rooms, I’m amazed by the amount of excess we find hidden away, forgotten about. And the large piles that I set out to be donated have shocked me and we have more to go. The people I work with have varying amount of stuff; some quite a bit and some hidden away in closets and drawers where it doesn’t “look” cluttered. Yet, we each want something different from our spaces – from the desire to be surrounded to the desire to have the open space (see my entry, “Envisioning Your Space”). Believe it or not, there’s no one right way for a space to look and that means someone somewhere will think that there’s “too much stuff” there.

What is your relationship to your stuff? This is one of the features that help to distinguish what is happening with the stuff around you. I laughing cringe at the idea of getting rid of my media – those books, CDs, and movies and yet, that is exactly what I have been slowly doing. My movie collection has been cut by more than half and it feels good. Removing all outside obstacles, what happens to you when you decide to get rid of things? Those obstacles can be:

minimizing the sense of being overwhelmed
the absence of someone judging or trying to tell you what to do
the freedom to take your time and think through your choices

Finding the space where these pieces come together can be challenging, yet what happens then?

It breaks my heart to hear about people being told they are “hoarders” and I know from my knowledge and experience that they aren’t even close to being hoarders. From what I can tell, it’s more about someone in their life thinking that they know better than the client. They believe that they “should” get rid of this or that; that they “should” not struggle with making decisions; that they “should” be able to easily change long time habits after a “clean sweep”; etcetera. This is probably a large reason that having your family help you with your stuff often backfires.

There’s a different term than hoarder, for people who have struggled with stuff for a long time, that may or may not have clutter around them and that’s chronically disorganized. Since this has a rather clinical sound to it, the Institute of Challenging Disorganization prefers to refer to it as challenging disorganization that can also be applied to the situational disorganization some people can struggle with after major life events. They define chronic disorganization as:

Chronic disorganization is having a past history of disorganization in which self-help efforts to change have failed, an undermining of current quality of life due to disorganization, and the expectation of future disorganization.

http://www.challengingdisorganization.org/content/frequently-asked-questions-public

Hoarding is about much more than the stuff – however subjective – and relates to how we deal with that stuff. The chance is that your grandmother/uncle/brother-in-law is not a true hoarder. That doesn’t mean that organization isn’t a tremendous challenge for them. When there’s lots of stuff around, however hidden it may or may not be, it requires a lot of work and effort. Simply modifying the behaviors is an extreme challenge and takes time. Try to keep in mind your own biases – your own view of what makes up “too much stuff.”

Defining Hoarding

You might have heard that hoarding is being added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM) and hoarding has been approved as a separate listing in it (due to be released May 2013). I will refrain from a commentary on the issues with the DSM in general and simply point out that from a scientific perspective, they designate a series of criteria in order to prevent the definition from being applied too broadly. The very thing many people seem tempted to do with all the media attention hoarding has been getting in recent years.

In the case of a hoarding disorder, these are the proposed criteria:

A. Persistent difficulty discarding or parting with personal possessions, even those of apparently useless or limited value, due to strong urges to save items, distress, and/or indecision associated with discarding.

B. The symptoms result in the accumulation of a large number of possessions that fill up and clutter the active living areas of the home, workplace, or other personal surroundings (e.g., office, vehicle, yard) and prevent normal use of the space. If all living areas are uncluttered, it is only because of others’ efforts (e.g., family members, authorities) to keep these areas free of possessions.

C. The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning (including maintaining a safe environment for self and others).

D. The hoarding symptoms are not due to a general medical condition (e.g., brain injury, cerebrovascular disease).

E. The hoarding symptoms are not restricted to the symptoms of another mental disorder (e.g., hoarding due to obsessions in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, lack of motivation in Major Depressive Disorder, delusions in Schizophrenia or another Psychotic Disorder, cognitive deficits in Dementia, restricted interests in Autistic Disorder, food storing in Prader-Willi Syndrome).

Specify if:
With Excessive Acquisition: If symptoms are accompanied by excessive collecting or buying or stealing of items that are not needed or for which there is no available space.

Specify whether hoarding beliefs and behaviors are currently characterized by:
Good or fair insight: Recognizes that hoarding-related beliefs and behaviors (pertaining to difficulty discarding items, clutter, or excessive acquisition) are problematic.

Poor insight: Mostly convinced that hoarding-related beliefs and behaviors (pertaining to difficulty discarding items, clutter, or excessive acquisition) are not problematic despite evidence to the contrary.

Delusional: Completely convinced that hoarding-related beliefs and behaviors (pertaining to difficulty discarding items, clutter, or excessive acquisition) are not problematic despite evidence to the contrary.
http://www.ocfoundation.org/hoarding/diagnosing.aspx

Since these are simply the proposed criteria, it remains to be seen what the specific wording will be. This also doesn’t clarify how many of the lettered criteria need to be met for someone to qualify as having a hoarding disorder. With all DSM diagnoses, a person has to meet specific criteria. The purpose is to limit the subjective diagnoses – the possibility of someone to judge someone else based on their own viewpoints.

This is critical in my opinion as I see too much of someone (often a family member) deciding that this person is a “hoarder.” It’s not simply about having a lot of stuff around – even having severely cluttered living spaces – is not enough to qualify a person for having a hoarding disorder, that’s only one piece of several that need to be met.

One of the shocking and disturbing aspects of the hoarding television shows is the amount of trash that surrounds them and than how excruciating the thought, let alone the action, of throwing those things away is for them. This is one of the defining characteristics as defined by a number of presentations I have attended in the past years from psychologists. It’s more than struggling with making the decisions, there’s a terror about having those things removed. Although we might focus on the “obvious” trash that cannot be removed, someone who struggles with hoarding saves virtually everything, and it’s painful to consider getting rid of any of it.

I’ve briefly touched on the idea that hoarding is more complex than the media conveys. In a future post I plan on getting into more details as it applies to the general public. In the meantime, I hope this helps to clarify that hoarding is a true disorder that is often simplified by television.

13 Posts in Honor of the Beginning of 2013

In honor of the beginning of 2013, I’m going to share 13 posts I’ve written over the past 4 years (though my first year I started quite late in the year). It’s hard to believe that I have been blogging this long and many of you might not have seen some of these posts. Especially when you consider that I have about 170 posts at this point.

2009

1- Ever feel like a bratty child approaching your dreaded tasks? I know I have. Check out “I Don’t Wanna!”

2- My first video where I reveal a dumping ground in our home and the approach we took to reclaim that room – “Revamping the Dumping Grounds in Your Home & Other Lost Rooms.”

2010

3- The title of this brings a half-grimace and half-smirk to my face as I think about how it could be misinterpreted, though the point remains; do you have an “Organizer Problem or Personal Problem?”

4- When you’ve decided to tackle an organizing project, it can be challenging to manage your way through it successfully. These are some of the questions I ask and suggest for people to consider as they work, “Ask Yourself These Questions During Organizing.”

5- It’s surprisingly common to struggle with handling those lovely plastic storage containers. Therefore, here’s one take on how to “Tame Your Tupperware.”

6- Have you heard of the O.H.I.O. idea? It’s interesting as long as it’s used in the manner it was intended, which not everyone realizes. Check out “Only Handle It Once” and see what I mean.

2011

7- I’ll admit it, sometimes it’s hard for me to remember all the things I’ve written about. This one stays with me and brings a smile to my face – “Contagious Clutter” can plague all of us. (And be careful it does multiply when you look away.)

8- There’s a common poem that outlines the “Guidelines for a Happy Home” which I use to illustrate some of the things that apply equally to be organized.

9- Although this title is a little misleading, it’s more about some steps to take when deciding to tackle an organizing project, including waiting until you are fully prepared, “You’re Organized, Right?”

10- This is such a little known planner, yet it remains as the one paper style I think about most as it limits our daily tasks, “Taylor Planner.”

2012

11- We all collect things. Yup, we sure do. So, then it’s worth thinking about “Collections, When to Stop.”

12- Arts and craft supplies can be one of the most daunting things to try organizing, there’s so many different approaches and so many things. That’s why I wrote about “Organizing Art & Craft Supplies.”

13- This was probably the most overdue topic since I only really broached it this past year, how to handle the small spaces – from the storage spaces like closets to the living spaces, “So Little Space.”

There it is, 13 posts to celebrate the beginning of 2013. It wasn’t easy choosing which ones to share and I’d love to hear if there’s one that I missed that you appreciated.

I hope you all have a wonderful year. Here’s to being organized – in the real meaning of the word, being able to find what you need when you need it. Happy 2013!

Review: 3M Command Strips

3.5 out of 5 stars

Some of the 3M Command products

Pros:

easy to use: no hammer needed, no need to know where studs are or what wall is made of, allows you to hang things where you cannot put a nail (surface being too delicate or hard)
damage-free removal
various styles and types
certain strips connect with any other strips – no “male” or “female” pieces
refill strips allow you to only replace one side when you move
saw-tooth picture hanger, wire-backed picture hanging hooks, and clips come with 1 refill included in the package

Cons:

don’t address if they come off the item and if it’s possible; i.e. poster strips or frames
a 2 step process –> requires an hour between attaching to both surfaces and when you can leave item attached
recommend wiping surface with alcohol (no wipes included) and the process can feel long if you’re impatient
doesn’t adhere to every surface
basically plastic, for the hooks and clips even with various styles
some temperature limitations
a little expensive compared to a nail or even a picture hanging kit
the refill being included means having potential clutter around as well as needing to not lose it

Review:

I’ve been hearing about the various styles of 3M Command Strips for several years now and at least year’s NAPO conference received a couple of samples to try out for myself. In that interim between hearing about them and getting the samples, I’d looked at them in the stores and considered purchasing them. The thing that always stopped me was that I couldn’t think of where and how I would be able to use them. And even after conference, back in March of 2012, they sat around for a while.

Let me take a moment here to share that in some ways this post will not be complete – I have not removed any of the Command strips that have been applied, so I cannot comment on how damage-free the removal truly is – though as I have done in the past, I will revisit this when I have more information to share.

Then suddenly I needed them – a magnetic white board we had hung in the kitchen came crashing down, the adhesive that came with it was jiggled loose when we were doing some other work. Aha, this would be a perfect test for a set of Command strips for framed pieces. I pulled out one of the packages, read the instructions, and got it put up. As I was doing this, the handyman working on some pipes in the basement came upstairs and saw what I was doing. He commented that he loved them – when his tenants use them, the walls are left undamaged.

I found that I was almost paranoid that they wouldn’t hold my magnetic white board. I kept checking to make sure it didn’t seem loose and each day when I came home, to make sure that it was still hanging. It has never moved to this point in time – it remains solidly attached, holding coupons and whatnot for our home.

On the other hand, I am quite fascinated by the “velcro” that they use on these picture strips. It’s not traditional Velcro, there’s no difference between the two pieces, which means that these any one piece can adhere to any other piece. Unlike Velcro where you need 2 different pieces to connect to each other, any 2 pieces can connect with the 3M Command strip systems – at least with this picture frame style.

3M Command strips on the back of the board and the cabinet.

Here’s the magnetic white board hung with 3M Command Strips.

Another time, my husband and I were talking about our coat closet (it lives in what is now the study – see the videos and blogs about re-vamping) and what to do about one of his hats. Aha, I was given a 3M Command hook as well. I immediately went and grabbed that and hung the hat up. Somehow I was much less concerned about that falling, though it too hasn’t moved. I find the white plastic appearance of the hook to be less than ideal, though considering what it is and what it’s used for – it’s fine. It’s also completely hidden when the hat is hung on it.

3M Command hook without the hook attached

Hat hanging on the 3M Command Hook

3M Command Hook – this is what it looks like on the wall

There is quite an assortment of products within this category – from the picture and frame hangers, hooks, to clips, and poster hangers. They offer different colors – from the standard white, to clear and metal appearance, and now a designer option. 3M has considered the dampness of bathrooms as well in their design – they offer a number of hooks for use in the bathroom, even in the shower itself.

They do talk about some temperature sensitivity – they cannot be applied without some pre-treatment at temperatures below 50° F and the adhesive can soften above 105°F. None of these products are made for use in cars, where the temperatures and sun exposure can be so varied. These are available in many stores – OfficeMax, Office Depot, Target, Walmart, Kmart, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Menards, Ace, True Value, CVS, and JoAnn’s.

These might be quite useful for some of your needs. They’re worth considering and trying out – if you can find a way to use them. As with everything else, figure out what and how you would use them before running out to buy them! 🙂

Here are a couple of other examples of the 3M Command Strip products:

Wire-backed picture hanging hooks from 3M Command product line

Saw-tooth hanger from 3M Command product line

Reorganizing and Remembering

Have you ever had a time when you’ve been looking for something and can’t find it? Of course, this is part of being human. Let’s add another piece – you can’t find something that you know you “organized”? This too is quite common. Many times over the years I’ve had clients call me after an organizing appointment wondering where we put this or that. Frequently I’m able to tell them – within one or two possibilities.

Nevertheless this can be supremely frustrating. “Oh my, I went to all this trouble to make things logical and get organized and now I feel even more lost.” Believe it or not, I’ve been there and done just that. It can happen to anyone – from the most organized (which isn’t me by the way, I’m only mostly organized) to those who struggle more chronically with stuff. The reason no one is exempt from dealing with this has to do with several factors – and these factors can give us insight into steps we can take to minimize this happening.

First, when do you work on an organizing project? This is something to plan – design things with a clear intention. And to be completely clear, that doesn’t mean you can’t sort and purge in the meantime. It does mean to make intentional decisions, ones that you have thought out and considered for a while. There are times when our mindset can hinder our efforts – so if you’ve suddenly decided to reorganize those shelves, you might forget where you moved that one thing to that you didn’t want on the shelf after all those years.

Have you heard how it takes a minimum 30 days of doing something consistently before it becomes a routine? Consider the impact of moving one thing somewhere else after all the years you’ve lived in your home. You’re likely to automatically go to the shelf (or wherever) and be surprised that it’s not there. Then you run the risk of not quite remembering where its new home is.

Choosing to change things is something to do only when you’ve had time and energy to consider your options. If you’re tired, this probably isn’t when you are your best nor is it when you are making the best decisions for yourself.

A good example of this can be when dealing with papers. How many names can you think of for your car? Car, Auto, Make, Model, His/Her Car, Old Junker, etc. This can be applied to most papers, and the title needs to make sense to you or the person doing the filing. It’s amazing how one title can seem logical in one moment and completely illogical the next – it becomes hard to locate the correct piece of paper. This can be avoided by taking time to think about what makes sense to you and let it marinate – see if something better comes to mind.

Second, if you cannot wait to organize and don’t have time to make a plan, make a map. You can create essentially a cheat sheet of where things are; it can be as simple as a list, i.e. 3 ring binders – lower right shelf in bookshelf in spare bedroom (behind doors). This can be helpful too when your memory isn’t as good as you’d like. I have a list of our files – the category, the file name, which drawer – and it’s in order so I can always find it even when it’s slipped down and looks like it walked off! The map can even be more literal – a sketch that lays out what your space looks like and what lives in each space.

Another option is to label everything. My husband and I joke that it could be so easy for me to take labeling to an extreme – where the cat would walk around with a label – “cat”. Nevertheless, creating labels can be a good solution to help track where things have been moved.

Here’s a potentially disturbing truth – there’s no absolute answer for escaping our forgetfulness. There are many factors that affect our functioning and therefore our effectiveness when we reorganize. Keep these points in mind when you decide to tackle your next organizing project and minimize the chances you will need to send out a search party for that moved item.

Organizing Jewelry

It’s always interesting to me how even I approach some organizing projects. I’ve been working my way through our home, room-by-room, doing some rearranging and deep cleaning. I did the bedroom quite a while ago now and pulled the jewelry boxes out and set them aside. I left room for the 2 I knew would go back in and continued on my room journey. When I finished with all the rooms, I went back to the jewelry.

I figured that it would take me between 1-2 hours to go through it and get it set up. I don’t even wear much jewelry. So, I sat down and spread the 9 jewelry boxes around me, all opened up. And suddenly I felt overwhelmed. Ugh, where do I start? Bah, maybe I don’t really want to do this after all.

Yet my motivation from the outset prodded me – remember you don’t want 8 jewelry boxes, that’s too many. Then I jumped in and I won’t mislead you, it didn’t suddenly become easy. It was still with dread that I moved through the various pieces, struggling with feeling overwhelmed.

Depending on your situation, it can be helpful to know how you are going to arrange your jewelry. I knew there was a minimum of 3 jewelry boxes I was keeping and each of them had a distinct purpose for me. There are times that this isn’t possible or practical – and getting a sense of what you are keeping can lead you to deciding the best way to keep them.

Even though I know better in general, when I started I didn’t empty those 3 jewelry boxes – I tried to move the pieces around. This rarely works – in any situation – as it’s most effective to completely empty the receptacle (whatever it is you’re working with) – and in this case, jewelry boxes. I quickly realized my mistake and emptied all 3 of the ones I was keeping. From there it was relatively easy to put some things in their places, as those loved pieces weren’t even being considered for donation.

Consider what sub-divisions there are with the broad category of jewelry. These will vary from person to person.

Sets: necklace and earrings, bracelet and earrings, and all 3 (necklace, bracelet, and earrings)
Watches
Bracelets
Necklaces: independent and then pendants (that I put onto chains to wear them)
Rings
Earrings
- Dangly
- Non-dangly (or studs)

I started at the top of the list, with my sets, and looked at each of them. Although I often ask how often is something used, I knew that most of my sets were extremely rarely worn. This didn’t mean that I got rid of them – a couple of them are from our honeymoon in India and likewise important. Yet, by evaluating, I found one set that I had no sentimental attachment and little appreciation for – and I simply set it aside. Then I moved on to the next subdivision and then the next.

With each grouping I would gather them together. From there, sometimes I would grab a piece I knew I wanted to stay and move it off to the side. Other times I would grab a piece that I knew could go away and put that into the give away pile. Often it’s easiest to pull out our favorites and least favorites. It’s those things that fall into that middle ground that can stymie us – uh, how do I decide about this other piece? Those can be easier when those are the only ones left – although I leave the favorites close by so they can be seen as I evaluate the ones that bring more ambivalence.

With each group I needed to ask myself how realistic it was that I would wear it and what I was saving it for. I have a whole group of jewelry that I couldn’t bring myself to part with – they were too sentimental while I know that I will never wear them again. Sometimes it’s important to challenge yourself – would you be able to wear and appreciate all your jewelry? I know I tend to re-wear my favorites, in order to fully appreciate them.

It ended up taking me about 4 hours to sort and organize my jewelry – double from my high-end expectation of 1-2 hours. I ended up getting rid of 3 of the jewelry boxes and have limited myself to using those 3 jewelry boxes I’d already decided on keeping. You can see from the jewelry box below with jewelry in it, what I am getting rid of.

2 empty jewelry boxes and 1 filled one – all being donated

There’s no point in my saying it was easy or fun. It wasn’t. It feels wonderful to have done it and to be more consolidated. The more we can break an organizing task into sections, the more successful we can be – maybe even more so when it comes to jewelry. And remember, it’s easiest to regain order by completely emptying the thing you are organizing. Does your jewelry need to be sorted and organized?

Thinking about Money

Sometimes I think money is thing that causes people the most anguish. Even if you have “enough” it doesn’t eliminate the concerns and issues that come with needing money. And really, how many of us feel like we actually have “enough” – there are so many unknowns in this world. We tend to have strong opinions about how it should be spent or saved. I’m not here to tell you any of those things, yet to encourage you to think about money more.

Several months ago my husband and I were talking about some purchases. We checked prices online and it gave us pause. The lovely picture we were considering for over the sofa was a bit more than we’d expected. Since we’ve already recognized the temptation for making purchases without enough thought, we consoled ourselves that we weren’t making a decision in this moment. There was time to see how we felt later and moved on with our day.

It was a weekend day and we headed to the Renaissance Faire. We had a few vendors we wanted to visit and were considering a purchase there. It’s a tapestry shop and we discovered these exquisite tapestries – a set of 4 – and it came with a discount when you buy at least 2. Oh was I drooling over them.

Fortunately my husband and I had established a good pattern before buying anything unplanned. We walk away. We found a place to sit and talk about our thoughts regarding these tapestries. He liked them as much as I did and had the same temptation to bring them home. Still we moseyed along, visiting another vendor, knowing we still had time to get back and buy the tapestries.

Then something interesting happened. My husband was struck with the irony that just that morning we were cringing about spending about the same amount on one thing yet somehow we weren’t reacting in the same way at the thought of buying several things. We’d been sucked in by the idea that by getting more for the same money it somehow wasn’t the same – never mind that we’d get a discount for getting more than one.

It doesn’t matter what it was or how much – it’s about how varied we can be about things. In one context, we pause and consider; in another, we barely pause and almost rush in. We practice being thoughtful – controlling our impulses in order to discern what matters most to us.

Have you ever bought something and later regretted it? I’d be surprised if you haven’t. We’re working on cutting down on those regrets, hence why we walk away in the first place.

What is it about that thing that makes you want to take it home with you?
Will this feeling fade or will you feel the same way in a year? Are there alternatives?
Are you simply wanting to buy and not so concerned with its use and value?
If you were to spend the money on this thing, is there something else you’d rather spend the money on?

Buying things is necessary – we all have to do it. Yet how mindful are we of how and on what we spend our money? If we begin to recognize our own patterns about money, we can take steps to lead a life that supports who we are and our values. Money causes enough headaches; don’t let it cause you unnecessary pain.

By the way, the beautiful tapestries stayed with the vendor and the limited edition print was ordered a while later. Months later this still feels like the right decision for us.

Envisioning Your Space

When you are looking at reclaiming your life and your space, it’s important to begin thinking about how your space will be. Sometimes this can be challenging for people, how can they imagine anything past what they are currently dealing with. Yet, this relates to goals – what are your goals for your space? What do you want to get out of being more organized – and more than finding things easily?

We all have different visions for our spaces, if you can imagine it at all. There are many different ways a space can look and feel. Beyond the decorating scheme, the way you arrange furniture and use décor can influence how the room feels. Consider how your partner feels about things as well, as what feels good for you might be the opposite for them.

The first step often is identifying how you want to feel in your space – relaxed, comfortable, serene, energized, etc. Obviously, you probably won’t want to feel the same way in every room, especially if you’re looking to feel energized which wouldn’t be conducive to a restful night of sleep.

Once you’ve figured out how you want to feel, you can move on to discovering what that means for you personally. What does relaxed look like to you? What makes something relaxing for you? How is relaxed expressed for you? This means thinking outside your current space and in more general terms.

I want to feel enveloped in my space. I’ve begun to think of it as a nest – my home is a place that surrounds me with love and beauty. This vision isn’t immutable; it shifts and changes. I had at least one shelf in every room for a while, yet this began to feel more like clutter – a place to put more stuff. These came down, pictures go up, and the décor either gets rearranged, saved, or donated. Yet, as I look around and change things, my home is still my nest.

Consider these two extremes: the house full of knick-knacks and the sparse and immaculate house. Both of these can be relaxing to someone – although not likely the same person. Neither is wrong. Really. I do encourage people to avoid either of these extremes and find the way it feels good for them.

What feels like “home”? What feels comfortable? What is realistic for you and your family? Maybe the sparse and immaculate home sounds ideal, yet is this reasonable for your life? And there’s time for hard choices – I have a room that feels too crowded. For the size of the room and what I use it for, there’s no room for anything more. I recognize this, yet I’ve evaluated the different pieces and I am not willing to part with things right now.

We all need goals to help direct our efforts. When tackling major organizing projects or simply revamping a space, consider your own vision of how you want the space to feel. Then, how do you set things up to create that effect?

Follow-up on the Workforce Shelving Units

Although I don’t generally write reviews before using the product for a while, I made an exception with these Workforce Shelving Units. I had seen and worked with them in a client’s home and appreciated them. Then, when I was at the store looking at the various options, I tested to see how wobbly each assembled piece was and evaluate them altogether. And I went home with 2 of these shelving units and wrote my review relatively quickly.

My original post on Workforce Shelving Units was in August of 2011. So, how do I like these units over a year later? They’ve not been used too much, my husband finished filling the one in the garage, so we occasionally pull a few things off of it to use. The one in the basement with the paint cans and supplies has probably not been touched much at all.

First, it doesn’t appear that Workforce is available or there was a change with the name. The link for Workforce shelving to Home Depot still works, though nothing specifies Workforce and the picture looks the same.

As I’ve said, in general shelving leaves me ambivalent yet I continue to appreciate these shelves. We all have our preferences and as I talked about in my original review – these certainly have characteristics that I wouldn’t choose in other circumstances. I’ve worked with some clients who dislike these units. I continue to be surprised by own preference for them as I typically avoid plastic units for this sort of thing.

I noticed that the unit holding our paint – specifically the shelf double stacked with gallon paint cans – has begun to sag. We’ve been storing those paint cans there for over a year now. It’s interesting, as although I see the sagging, I remain impressed with the unit. Those paint cans are heavy and due to the way we set the things up on it, it’s not surprising that the unit is showing it. Meanwhile, the shelving that isn’t holding that level of weight is showing no signs of wear and works well.

Workforce Shelving follow-up, showing slight sag from paint cans

A slight sag from the weight of all the paint cans after a year’s time

These shelves are still my recommendation for utility shelving as long as you have large things to store. They are so easy to assemble and disassemble and have the sturdiness that I want in my shelving. I continue to be shocked by how wobbly so many shelving pieces are and personally I do not want to trust shelving that is prone to wobbling when it’s empty and then load things onto it.

As with every product for every situation – what works for you and your circumstances is what is most important. These are certainly worth evaluating for your situation when you’re in need of large shelving units.

Making Progress?

Recently I was talking with a client and she commented that she “should be more positive.” This came after her sharing that she was struggling with feeling depressed and overwhelmed. What people might not know is that I have felt this way more than I would care to admit. So I shared with her that first, we need to eliminate “should’s” from our vocabulary and to allow herself to feel her feelings. But is that all there is?

Frequently the people I work with have a tendency to neglect taking care of themselves. This is an area that is important to make time for – if you are struggling with feeling down and to make progress – look at how much time you are spending on things you enjoy. It’s surprising to see how much we think that I’ll make time for this once I get caught up, once I get that all done.

Our bodies and mind need time to rejuvenate. If we push ourselves to only be “productive,” then we actually become less productive. We struggle to get things done. We end up feeling down and overwhelmed.

This isn’t the end all, be all answer though. Just because we make time to nurture ourselves, it doesn’t magically cheer us up or make the work easy.

We could use successes. Our struggle to make sufficient progress leads to another possible culprit to our feelings – depressed, anxious, overwhelmed, etc. – we try to do too much. We want the whole basement to be organized and expect we can do that in one weekend of dedicated effort. This is an extreme example – what is “too much” varies from person to person. It’s important to figure out what is reasonable for you, and only you.

Therefore, as you work to discover what is realistic for you personally, do small things – those things that you can start and finish with a little effort. By focusing on an area that you can finish in a short amount of time, you can begin to see the effects of your working. As most people I know struggle with paperwork to one degree or another, I would recommend choosing something other than papers to organize – it’s hard to make enough progress in a short amount of time. Do something small and feel rewarded with your efforts by seeing your success.

One of the first things I ask myself if I am struggling in this area is, “what do I see that would take less than 5 minutes to do?” Often it’s those things that are small enough I put off, for whatever reason, – thinking, “they’re so easy, I’ll just do it later.” Yet, by simply doing them, I see the small successes.

Another thing to consider is a contained space to work on – a single shelf or drawer. It can be other things as well, as long as it’s relatively simple. Or consider what else you might be able to break down into a smaller piece to work on and finish. Shelves and drawers are great options since their space is defined and limited – therefore it’s clear when you are done. It also means that you can see the effects of your work. Here’s a link to what I wrote a while back on Diving into a Small Organizing Project. Consider where you have a clear vision of what needs to happen – you know how and where to organize your photographs, your jewelry, your music, your office supplies, and etcetera. This is a potential direction for your efforts.

An additional benefit to working on those small pieces is that it frees up the spaces around us – seeing if we have more space here or not enough space there. We have the potential to see how to break other projects into smaller pieces. It’s rarely a good idea to set aside a whole day to working on one of our projects – it easily leads to burnout – rather than building up the energy to work consistently, which is more effective in the long run.

Sometimes, we just need to walk away from our projects. Not for months – yet to step back and let it be for a while. Whatever it is that you are dealing with, it likely didn’t get that way in the last week, and will take time to work through. When emotions are running strong, it’s generally hard to make progress, so consider what you can manage. Then give yourself permission to do only what you can handle – even it’s nothing at the moment.