On organization for disorganized people.

Here is an article on a Washington Post blog that I found interesting.

Here's the comment I left to that article:

I think this is good advice and applies well to things I do in my life. I am a naturally disorganized person and as you say, it is better to develop tools like these than it is to try to become someone you are not. I have used tips like these in my life and they have helped me a great deal. Where I had difficulty in the past, and where I have my questions about how much this helps, is in the area of children and their homework. As disorganized as I am, my two homework-proficient children managed to do well, go to college, and move on with their lives. My one homework-deficient child had difficulties with the task that really called for homework to be reduced and in some cases waived, and, as a parent, I lacked that authority to make that decision. I think this is a major flaw in the homework system. So while I agree strongly that parents should try the approaches you mention, I think it is also important for parents to insist on having the right to make the final decision about what takes place in their home. As you say, ten minutes of snuggling has a lot of value for a child, and sometimes, you only have that ten minutes by saying, forget the assignment, let's snuggle. It's hard to do that if an authority, the teacher, is out there overruling your decision with a negative grade.


Dr. Kenneth Goldberg, is the author of The Homework Trap: How to Save the Sanity of Parents, Teachers, and Students, published by Wyndmoor Press.