We all go through times in life when we become disorganized. Things naturally get chaotic during an illness, a major work project, or a household move. For teens, clutter might pile up during playoff week or right before key assignments are due. Professional organizers call that being situationally disorganized. This means disorganization is a very understandable and normal side effect of a life occurrence.

What makes chronic disorganization different is when order is not quickly and easily restored after these life events pass—and the chaos even continues to worsen over time. At a certain point, daily life becomes overwhelmingly stressful and help is needed to recover. If they don’t get help, teens risk compromising their high school success. If your teen’s quality of life is suffering, if she feels stressed and overwhelmed much of the time, and if she doesn’t feel like she can fix it herself, she may be chronically disorganized.

According to the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization—which is made up of psychologists, educators, and professionals who work with people suffering from long-term, severe clutter and disorganization—chronic disorganization is defined as:
  • A history of disorganization in which efforts to get organized have not been maintained.
  • An ongoing undermining of your quality of life due to disorganization.
  • An expectation that you will continue to be disorganized.
The term chronically disorganized is not a diagnosis or an illness. It simply means this person needs help. All kinds of people are chronically disorganized. They often:
  • Are highly intelligent and creative.
  • Have a wide range of interests.
  • Have a strong emotional attachments to things.
  • Need another person to keep them focused and interested.
  • Easily lose track of time.
  • Focus and engage so intensely that they forget to eat or tend to daily life maintenance.
  • Have difficulty focusing on things they don’t find fascinating.
  • Get easily stressed and frustrated when things don’t come easily or they can’t do something perfectly.
  • Have a global thinking style—tend to see everything at once.
  • Have difficulty making decisions because they can think of so many possibilities.
It should be noted that chronic disorganization is also commonly associated with bigger issues, including autism spectrum disorders and ADD.

Chronic disorganization does not to be a life sentence for chronic pain. Even though the tendency to become disorganized will always be there, many chronically disorganized people can learn to work with and compensate for their natural tendencies. They can learn organizing skills and habits for maintaining simple systems that dramatically improve their lives. Parents, you can help.


Source: Ariane Benefit, M.S.Ed, organizing coach, is the founder of the Getting Unstuck Organizing Coaching and Clutter Support Group, which helps people overcome chronic disorganization and manage ADD and ADD-like symptoms. She is also a blogger and author of the home office organizing book Neat & Simple Guide to Organizing Your Office.