Organized Living Dictionary

I created the organized living dictionary to define the terms used on this website. While the terms may be used in everyday language and varying contexts the meanings given here are within the context of "getting organized". The word declutter is not even in the dictionary yet! So out of necessity I invented my own definition!

attitude - an individual's view of a particular idea or event. An attitude is formed through various judgements based on the values and beliefs held by that person.

cognitive process - anything that refers to "cognitive" or a "cognitive process" means thinking! There is no doubt about it....organized living requires thinking.

clutter- A term that is used to signify a collection of objects that seem to have no visible relationship to one another. The word actually derives from an old English word "clotter" which refers to coagulation or clotting like in "clotted cream".

chronic disorganization - an long standing inability to create order using common ideas and principles of organized living. This inability manifests in all areas of the person's life and creates a negative affect on the quality of life.

declutter - the action of getting rid of clutter

disorganized - a way of functioning that lacks apparent order, planning or systematization. See the story of Betty whose children labelled her as disorganized because her system was not apparent to them.

hoarding- accumulating or storing stuff with no logical or apparent reason for doing so.

organize - to arrange things in a cohesive way so that relationships between items are clear and apparent. To create systems that make life easier and more predictable.

organized living - a systematic and controlled way of living that involves understanding how to achieve consistent and predictable outcomes in life's everyday processes.

planning - the cognitive and collaborative processes of creating the steps to achieve a desired outcome.

procrastination - the subconscious decision to avoid making a conscious decision

purge- to get rid of impurities and whatever is undesirable.

sort - to arrange or classify in pre-determined categories.

space - that three dimensional area occupied by stuff. Your space is the three dimensional area that you lovingly call your own and should be occupied by you!