Study and organizational skills

At one time or another, everyone has felt disorganized and a sense of loss of control. However, what makes it different for persons with organization disabilities is that their lack of organizational skills often impact on all aspects of their life and is constant. In some cases, adults may not even be conscious of the disability and live in constant disarray. Their weak organizational skills can affect how they approach tasks, conversations and overall life-management skills. These adults may be impulsive with their responses and may not think before they speak, which can lead to the delivery of unclear messages. They may start tasks without thinking through the steps, which can lead to frustration and incompletion of the tasks. Unless these adults become aware of their limited organizational abilities and the impact on all aspects of their lives, the continued frustrations they experience can lead to withdrawal from social settings and reluctance to try new activities or tasks.

Most adults recognize when they feel disorganized. They access strategies and take control before it is too late. Unfortunately the ability to recognize and access strategies is not automatic for persons with this type of disability. As a result, before practitioners present any type of organizational strategy, they first need to help learners recognize and understand their disabilities and see how they can impact on everyday functioning.

Prior to implementing any type of strategy, it is beneficial for learners to conduct self-assessments of their organizational skills and current strategies. Have them explore the following factors:

• Identify their top five time wasters
• Identify strengths and weaknesses in their time management practices
• How do they stay organized currently?

Overall, to help reduce impulsiveness when approaching tasks, encourage learners to pause and read instructions or think through tasks before beginning them. Teach learners to break work into smaller tasks and encourage them to decide what task to do first, second, etc. Help them set time goals for each task and develop checklists for each step.