Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Organizing for Husbands and Wives - Where to Start

Do you and your spouse clash when it comes to organizing? If you say "Yes!", please know you are not alone. Unfortunately there is no magic answer or system to settle this battle, but there are steps you can take to try to understand each other a little better and perhaps make some compromises.

When this topic comes up when I am speaking or teaching a class, the number one thing I stress to start with is communication -talk about it in a manner that is open and non-criticizing and leave the blaming out!


  1. What areas are stressful for each of you and why?

  2. In what areas have each of you been successfully organized?

  3. Are there underlying issues in the family or relationship that are involved?

Remember, organization is different for each person. Our brains function in different manners and we each have our own thinking styles. I strongly believe when you bring two people together, compromises have to be made.

For more Works-For-Me Ideas, visit We Are THAT Family.

6 comments:

Creative Junkie said...

You would think that two anal retentive, partially OCD people would agree on organizational issues, but we don't. Whatsoever. At all.

Helene said...

This is a huge issue for my husband and I!! We're so different when it comes to organization. I've been trying to go through the mail right away to get rid of all the junk we don't read, etc, etc. And I've been trying to keep the kitchen counter free of "crap". Not 5 minutes after I go through the mail and clean off the counter, he's putting stuff all over it again. Or he'll say "don't throw that out...I want to read it" and yet it sits on the counter for days. It's so frustrating!!!

Paula @ Organizing Tips For Moms said...

Helene,
What if you had a basket for his stuff-keep it contained and if he is looking for something-he knows where to look…….

Paula @ Organizing Tips For Moms said...

CJ, you make me laugh! I'm sure you could write a humorous post on this topic!

Unknown said...

My husband doesn't really care about organizing and just leaves it to me which is how I like it. lol

Arlice Nichole said...

This would be a battle. I hate his stuff and he hates mine!

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