Autism Organizational Ability…or Not

Autism Organization

Autism Disorganization

I’m in the not organized category then at other times, I hyper-organize to a point that is not necessary.  Most of the time–not organized.

My mum said that as a child, I had stacks of papers and books in my room, and she couldn’t figure out how I could find anything.  I kept and still do keep lists of activities I must remember to do, such as household chores, when children are coming over (the ones that don’t already live here), or when to run errands.

I also keep papers of thoughts or ideas that I don’t want to lose, and in OneNote in my computer, I have pages upon pages for both personal and work.  I end up with repetition, so I have to stop myself sometimes, ignore the lists, and just do.

I often wonder if that is behind the autism inertia some adults have reported online.  Is that analysis paralysis?  I want to know all the details before I begin or the task or project doesn’t make sense to me–this doesn’t fit well in the regular job workplace at all, but that’s another post.

“What is the priority?” I ask myself.  So I get one of my many clipboards and make a new list of only priorities and fill the entire paper.  I now ask hubby to help me set ONE priority to get done, which helps tremendously.  He says I can’t do all things at once, so just do that one thing while ignoring everything else.  It works.

What has helped are online organizational tools and a list of what I am to do each day at work with specific blocks of time for specific activities that I keep on the wall in my office.  Reducing visual distraction helps a lot.  I also have three large whiteboards I use to plan and work through ideas using multiple colors of markers, which is a great visual help for me.

I have learned so much about organization that after my business, maybe I’ll be a professional organizer.  Kidding.

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About Eileen Parker 100 Articles
Support a starving writer, by buying my current book, The Weighted Blanket Guide, on Amazon. I'm a writer working on my fourth book. I live in the Twin Cities with my husband. Between us, we have four children.