Saying No to Disorder

Shame on the New York Times for its article Saying Yes to Mess. It's too bad they don't seem to have consulted with any professional organizers, who could have cleared up the many fallacies included in this article.

The major problem is failing to distinguish between mess and disorder. No organizer I know would have any problem with a kitchen getting messy as a meal was cooked. But a disorganized kitchen would be one where implements/ingredients/recipes couldn't be found, where often-used tools were stored in hard-to-reach places, etc. Disorder keeps you from being able to do those creative, messy things you want to do!

The article also asks, "Why is it better to pack more activities into one day?" Well, again, that's not what being organized is about. Often as we organize our time better, we learn to focus on the most important things and say no to the rest - and leave more white space in our calendars. Being organized has nothing whatever to do with a brittle, rigid schedule - the article has this exactly backwards!

And then there's this line: "To a professional organizer brandishing colored files and stackable trays, cluttered horizontal surfaces are a horror . . ." Well, I don't think stackable trays are usually the best tool, colored folders are only important for people who CARE about color, and cluttered horizontal surfaces are a problem if they interfere with your ability to work as well as you want to.