September 17, 2014, by Pam Young

Have you ever stopped to think that there are benefits to being disorganized? 

You've probably spent a lot of time berating yourself for being disorganized, but there are actual benefits to your disorder!

1. The disorganized get more exercise.

All I ever wanted to be was a wife and mom, so I majored in Home Economics in college. One of the courses was in cooking which I’ve always loved to do. Part of the curriculum included a time and motion study to track our steps while baking a cake.

“By being organized,” Miss Cratzberry, the professor, told us; “you will save valuable time and energy to use on other activities in your homes. Being aware of the steps we take in the kitchen, preparing the family’s meals, is vital to becoming efficient in the daily tasks of homemaking.” I’m sure this study was thought up by some efficiency expert like Miss Cratzberry who never married and never had kids. In fact, one of the lessons in her course study was entitled Handling Servants. (Over the years, that information has sure come in handy for me!)

Back to the cake walk; I remember winning the prize for the most steps taken! One quarter mile! (Actually I didn’t win a prize as it was supposed to be bad news for me, but I decided to turn it around in my 19-year-old mind into a good thing.) Webster defines a time and motion study as: a systematic observation, analysis, and measurement of the separate steps in the performance of a specific job for the purpose of establishing a standard time for each performance, improving procedures, and increasing productivity —called also motion and time study, motion study, time study. This is what I envision my resulting steps to look like.

2. The disorganized don’t have to pay to go to the gym.

Years later when I really was a mom and wife, I never forgot the results of my time and motion test. One day it hit me while I was packing up stuff to take to the gym for an hour workout, that with my gift of taking too many steps in life, it really was a benefit! Because of my attention deficit disorganization, I suddenly realized I was probably getting in a full workout every day. In fact, if I didn’t go to the gym, I’d save the time, energy and money that that activity took from my day. Put that in your time and motion study Miss Cratzberry!

I'm torn by what happened today. It all started when we got in the Subaru to head to downtown Woodland, Washington and my husband Terry said, "Uh oh, there must be a mouse in the car! Look at those pumpkin seed shells all over the floor board by your feet." He pointed to a little scattering of shells on my side of the car.

Now I'm a big fan of Mickey Mouse, but he doesn't blaze through space when you least expect him to. It's that scurrying that mice do, like a flasher at a wedding, that scares me to death, and the thought of a mouse in our car made me ready to spring like, well a set mousetrap. "Where do ya think he is?" I asked, as if my  mouse husband were a big deal mouse expert.

"I don't know, he could be back at the house getting more pumpkin seeds."

That thought calmed me as we drove into town.

Just as we pulled into the bank parking lot, I sneezed (no I'm not allergic to mice) and reached for a Kleenex in the glove compartment. That's when I saw IT! The mouse had made a nest out of the Kleenex! I screamed, slammed the glove compartment door, wiped my nose on my sleeve and took some big, deep cleansing breathes to calm myself. Terry was hysterically laughing as I continued to try to regain my composure.

 And for the rest of the story……

Now that the kids are back in school it’s a great time to streamline their rooms. Children are much more likely to keep them neat if they don't have constipated drawers and closets. Parents have to be the laxative here, because kids can't do it alone, it’s too overwhelming to them. You may or may not have heard my warning: KIDS GROW QUARTERLY.