With the heavy snowfall came a real organizing buzz– the snow just keeps coming and people just keep finding order!

I am so surprised how many people have commented to me that they were getting organized while they were stuck at home. I thought it might be interesting to explore some reasons why that might be happening. Here are a few I came up with, and PLEASE feel free to comment on a few more!

• It creates time available to organize. Our regular agenda shifts and our normal routine moves to the back burner
• It provides chunks of time that are required for bigger projects
• There is time to clear the decks of the little things
• Nothing is competing with organizing
• Organizing gives us a sense of accomplishment and it’s a way to not feel stuck

Here are some tips for organizing when you are stuck at home:

• Organize your tax information and be ready now so you can enjoy that spring weather in April!
• Pull out those photographs and spread them out on the dining room table and start sorting!
• Delete all those emails that are clogging your inbox and get rid of files you will never use.
• Clean out that recipe box, you may find the perfect cozy treat.
• Update your calendar with birthdays and anniversaries.
• Update your address list and card lists so you are ahead of the game next holiday season.
• Go through your medicine cabinet to clear out expired medications.
• Clean out and update your music on itunes.

The new A&E Show HOARDERS is really creating a buzz in our industry and I am trying to decide how I feel about it. First, let me say that I know the Professional Organizers featured on this show personally and I have a great deal of respect for their work. My comments relate to the show and how it is produced more than the actually work they are doing.

Although the show “spotlights” organizing and bring attention to a segment of the population we serve, I am not sure it portrays the process well. I have concerns anytime a show has to document a long process over a very short time and accentuates the drama more than the growth. This can make actual hoarding clients shy away from getting help. A typical hoarder client is trying to change the way they think about their stuff and figure out why they are holding and collecting so much stuff. The process is SLOW as they relearn and reframe. Trust is a huge factor. Time is spent making small changes to the “rules” and often that means organizers are working at the hoarder’s pace and making small changes at first. This leads to real learning and an increased chance of results that last. In my experience working at a rapid pace stresses out a hoarding client and they are unable to continue. The work is painstaking at first but learning occurs and the work gets easier as these clients build their decision making muscles.

The show features people who are usually facing eviction and have literally run out of options. At least they are making some movement, and it obviously takes that kind of situation to make a move, but it is like a crash diet the results don’t hold. One thing the show does do is to provide $4,500.00 of after-care to help these people recover from this event and work on their issues. The concern of trauma and maintenance are much higher when the process is forced and accelerated. The danger here is that people who watch this may think that they can just start dumping out their loved ones things over a weekend to address the problem and that is so much more than that. My inbox has been flooded with people who have watched this show and have decided that “they can do this” — and with training, they can. The lead organizers on the show have been specially trained in this specialty.

I guess the exposure is good, but they should be careful to educate the audience to make sure that hoarders who need our help understand that the real process is slower, less dramatic and they have much more control. They also need to know that there are organizers specifically trained for this and compassionate help is out there.