Survey #276—Full Response from Terry
| Pronouns | She/her |
|---|---|
| What useful decluttering or organizing strategies or methods did you take away from the book? | Allocating time to decisions in proportion to the importance of the decision Importance of routines in having ease in my day |
| What parts or aspects of the book did you find difficult to grasp or challenging to apply to your home or situation? | Overall, I found it hard to engage with the book, it was a slog to get through it. I've read a lot of decluttering type books and I don't recall this happening with any of them. It was said that this book is written in a way that would work for ADHD folks - I can see that many of the ideas could have value, but I was surprised the book with that focus was so hard for me (non-ADHD) to process. The idea of having an extensive team to work with on these issues might be necessary, but seemed somewhat optimistic to me, especially if people are working during normal business hours. |
| Please share your favorite quotations or key ideas and concepts from this book. | - The importance of appropriately limiting time spent on decisions, especially decisions with minor impact. - And the corollary - if you make your best decision and there are issues, be confident you can deal with that at that time. - Tools to approach decision making - tune into your own values, paradoxical, prioritize, time limit, categorize small vs. large - Simplify, simplify, simplify - Develop theme for organizing - Complete or kill - Neglected four - exercise, socialize, paperwork, reading Not sure where to put this in the survey, but one thing about folks that enjoy the rush of doing things right before the deadline. That's your choice if it's a solo task, but not for projects that involve others. A true unexpected crisis is one thing. But I've declined working on (volunteer) projects because I couldn't take the crisis/last minute project approach of the person in charge. |
| Kolberg and Nadeau base most of their “ADD-friendly organizing strategies” on the idea that people with ADHD can reframe their neurodivergent traits as strengths, working with their ADHD to take charge of life. | I don't have ADHD, but was interested to learn about periods of intense focus and how that could have plusses and minuses It's good to acknowledge ADHD positive attributes. In life in general - sometimes people are willing to take advantage to the upside of a person's personality or way of approaching things, but at the same time will criticize what is basically the other side of that same coin. Ex. people will be happy for someone to take care of all the organizing and planning for everything, then will be critical if they worry about some details. You are dealing with a whole person here. |
| Throughout the book, Kolberg and Nadeau suggest a three-pronged approach to applying their organizing strategies: You may do the work yourself; enlist the help of nonprofessionals, such as family and friends; and/or employ the services of professionals, such as professional organizers, ADHD coaches, and counselors. | I'm speaking as someone that doesn't have ADHD. I think the multi-prong approach is a good one for everyone. There are some things friends can help me with, some things the Clutter Fairy group helps with and I think there are definitely aspects of life and organizing that require the professional help of a therapist. That said, in the world today, I think it might be hard to assemble such a team. But very valuable if you can. |
| Please rate this book on a scale of one to five stars. | 4 |
| Here’s your chance to ask Gayle and Ed any question you’re curious about. It need not be related to this survey’s topic(s). If we think that your question—and our answer—might be useful or instructive to The Clutter Fairy Weekly audience, we’ll share them in an upcoming episode. | I often notice that both of you are very funny and also appreciate humor from other folks. Was humor a part of your family life as you were growing up? I also see lots of humor in comments from your audience, which I love. I'm always grateful that life can make me laugh, even if for a moment in difficult times. And 10 points if I see the "I Love Lucy" aspects of a situation even while it's happening. |
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