Organizational Styles

Image credit via katerha

Did you know there are different organizational styles? This might help explain why the organizational method that works for you, doesn't work as well for your child or your spouse.

Kutscher & Moran in their book, Organizing the Disorganized Child, have categorized three organizational styles often seen in children and students:

• Visual Organizers: These are the children who like to have everything within sight and may feel disorganized when their work area is visually overloaded. Visual organizers respond well to visual cues, such as color and pictures. Visual organizers may try to locate a missing item by thinking of where they last saw the item.
• Spatial/Cozy Organizers: These are the children who are very sensitive to their environment, as well as the feelings of others. They need their workspace to "feel good" in order to do work. Spatial/cozy organizers respond well to clean and calm work environment. Spatial/cozy organizers may try to locate a missing item by thinking of when they last used the item.
• Chronological/Sequential Organizers: These are the children who like to think with numbers and pay attention to details. I think of this category as the "mad scientist" category. Their workspace may appear messy, but it is all in a particular order to them. Chronological/sequential organizers respond well to structure and order. Chronological/sequential organizers may try to locate a missing item by thinking of the last time they had the item.

 

Reference/Recommended Reading:

Organizing the Disorganized Child: Simple Strategies to Succeed in School by Martin L. Kutscher & Marcella Moran

As a spatial/cozy organizer, I dream of my home workspace looking something like this:
 

 

Image credit via hownowdesign

So peaceful. Just looking at that photo clears my mind.

What kind of organizational style do you have? I think I'm a spatial/cozy organizer and my husband is more of a chronological/sequential organizer. How about you? Is your organizational style different from that of your spouse or children?