As
an advisor to seniors contemplating a move, I find that
clutter is often a major obstacle to downsizing and simplifying
their lifestyle.
But the recently published
book, "A Perfect Mess" by Eric Abrahamson and
david Freedman, proposes that there are hidden benefits
to disorder. Ther authors, (and please note that they are
both men) are a professor of management at the Columbia
Business School and a technology columnist.
They have written a lengthy
and scholarly treatise on the advantages of being mess or
disorganized. They feel that there is too much external
pressure to be "neat," and the demand for order
can be exaggerated.
They site Real Simple magazine's
advice to assign one color towel for each family member
and to arrange shoes by color, as an example of this trend.
They also state that Americans spend more than $2 billion
dollar a year on closet renovation and feel that neatness
and usefulness are inversely related.
For example, our living rooms
are usually neat because not much living goes on there.
They feel that often people don't use their dining rooms
to eat so the dining room table is an excellent spot to
keep unsorted mail and clothes ready to be folded. I would
disagree with their advice that since nobody sees the bedroom,
it is a perfect place to maintain a mess.
It may be a personal quirk
of mine, but my bedroom is my retreat. My study, where I
work, gets messy, but I need to have the bedroom, to which
I retire, both physically and mentally uncluttered and peaceful.
The book cites examples of
overly orderly types, such as the order pervert who derives
pleasure from order for its own sake and makes everyone
around them miserable with their inflexible regulations;
the orderly prcrastinator, who avoids real accomplishments
by constantly straightening and reorganizing; and the order
prig, who always demonstrates a higher level of order than
yours.
The authors feel that some
disorder can make systems more effective ... that you often
find something by accident when looking for something else.
It is true, up to a point, that we can often understand
where to find things in our own mess, but woe betide anyone
else in the family who needs to locate what is needed. If
a messy desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is an
empty desk the sign of?
Whiel too much organization
and planning can prevent spontaneity, the other side of
the coin, which I come across in my work, is compulsive
hoarding. That is the acquisition of, and failure to discard,
a large number of possessions that are of useless or limited
balue. Sometimes living spaces become so cluttered it precludes
activities for which the spaces were designed.
Unfortunately, senior citizens
are the group that can become afflicted by hoarding due
to physical illness, loss of vision, mobility and depression.
While I would agree with the authors that it is difficult
and not much fun to live with someone who has every minute
and everything organized, too often in America we have been
encouraged to constantly accumulate the unnecessary. If
we are living with only those things we truly need and can
use, a reasonable degree of neatness is almost a natural
result. As my mother always advised me, moderation in everything
is the secret to a happy life.
* For helpful tips on getting
rid of clutter, e-mail or write to me and include your mailing
address. Please allow at least two weeks for a reply.
Jean Cherni
is founder of Senior Living Solutions, a retirement advisory
service. Contact her at jeancherni@sbcglobal.net or
15 The Ponds, Branford 06405.
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