Would you marry an organizer? Think about it.

It started out as a normal Saturday. We had obligations later in the day, but we are able to take it slow in the morning. So my husband heads off to the gym on his Goldwing and I hit the gerbil track at home (my term for the treadmill). While I am on the treadmill, going nowhere, the mini fridge catches my eye and it hits me, I would have time to defrost its tiny freezer. I had noticed the other day that it was taken over by its frozen berg.

So after I gerbil for 30 minutes, it is time for this easy job. I put the contents of the fridge, mostly beverages, in a cooler and then I realize that I could not just let it thaw, I would have a wet mess all over the floor. So I have this great idea: Put a paint tray in the unit right under the freezer. This is where my story takes a turn for the worse for my husband. Remember he is off at the gym having a nice morning. My husband is a painter and handyman so we have a zillion paint trays, but can I find one without a roller and paint in it? No. Because I am now on a mission to find a paint tray I have taken his whole side of the garage apart. This is in the driveway, all over the garage, the shelves are bare and in my mind I am wondering how he can get anything done when things aren’t easy to find and put away.  By now I have a plan for the rest of our morning and I bet you can guess it. Just minutes before my husband arrives home I find a paint tray and 2012-07-Frozen Freezer-JoyGenea Schumer copyright2finish my first project and then I remember something one of my friends asked Tom when we were dating, “do you think it will be hard to be married to an organizer?” I knew what he meant and Tom laughter it off and said maybe. At this moment I could see where it could be a real pain in the butt. When he did show up and was in total horror at the the sorting I had done of his area I quickly showed him my sketch outline idea to organize it, promised I would help and made him breakfast.  By noon the garage looked awesome,  the garbage was overflowing and the truck was full with stuff for the Restore.  I just want to take a moment to support all the people married to organizers. I bet it is a real pain at times to love us,Thank you for not being so organized that we don’t have anything to do. Thank you for accepting our help when you may not have asked. Thank you for checking the lists to see what to bring.
Being a professional organizer has taught me a lot of things over the years.  One of them being we all have an organizing filter and that is how we judge if something is organized or right. Those filters are different for different situations and for each person. Keep this in mind with your family and staff. I am not saying that you have to settle for unprofessional behavior or a disaster of a house, but be kind with your words, heavy on support and clear on the goals. You will have far greater results with this approach.

4 Comments on “Would you marry an organizer? Think about it.”

  1. Very cool article JoyGenea! You are so ingenious to think of a paint tray. I can just picture the joy on your face as you surveyed completed, well organized garage. And the frig looked awesome too.

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