Amusing.
Negative self-image. Fantasy-induced over-spending. Marital tension. A new kind of airbrushed fantasy-land is wreaking havoc on our homes and our psyches: org porn. “Org porn is that glossy, airbrushed fantasy world where everything is pristine, serene and perfectly in order, sort of Playboy, but with chore charts and name-plated cubbyholes,” said Sarah Welch. “It’s everywhere you look these days: in magazines, coffee table books, advertisements, and TV shows. And when consumed in excess, it can lead to feelings of inadequacy, binge spending on organizational products, and even marital discord.” The authors [ Alicia Rockmore and Sarah Welch] have interviewed hundreds of women on the topic of organization and an astounding 80% of them feel they fall well short of the mark when it comes to getting organized.
“Don’t get us wrong, gazing at beautiful images of meticulously organized rooms, perfectly displayed collections, color-coordinated closets, flawless family schedules, pristine kitchens, tidy mud rooms, and picture-perfect work spaces can be titillating — even meditative. There’s a reason we call it ‘org porn,'” said Alicia Rockmore. “But when they become the primary yardstick by which you measure your own general state of organization is when it becomes unhealthy. An airbrushed land of perfect organization cannot be sustained in this messy, unpredictable world called real life.”
Chasing perfection fuels something the authors call “organizational inertia,” a type of paralysis that makes it virtually impossible to get started. Nearly every woman surveyed for Everything (Almost) In Its Place agreed that the most difficult part of getting organized was knowing where to start. If perfection is the objective, that paralysis makes sense. Keeping your house, work and schedule magazine-ready requires a superhuman effort to achieve and constant, superhuman vigilance to maintain. The goal of getting organized isn’t necessarily to have everything picture-perfect, but rather to eliminate inefficiency, so that you have more time to do what you actually want to do.
[From Are Women Addicted To Org Porn? ]
Anyone who has visited my home or office knows that I am not addicted to organization, unless absence of organization is sign of addiction too. Clutter is Us could be our motto. Luckily, finding bits of information is relatively easy when the information has been digitized, so life has gotten better in that regard. Digital music has been a boon as well, actually. Finding the right album was more difficult when I had to flip through stacks of vinyl. Now if I could only figure out how to digitize my refrigerator…