…Buttigieg, that is. She of the TV show neat.

As an incorrigible Mess Monster from Planet Chaos, I’ve never understood neat people. How do they do it, anyway? Anytime I’ve ever tried to get organized (from Franklin Planners, to Covey — before they merged — to 189 different books and shows) I’ve always ended up worse than before. Rather like a fad dieter, I always end up farther away from my goal instead of closer. (I write these lines in a 110 square foot office with maybe as much as 8 square feet of floor space showing — including the space under my desk. It takes two strides of about a meter — that’s in honor of Hellen, a Canadian — length each to get to my chair. Any less and I either break myself or something else. Currently the stacks on the desk top out at about 14 inches. The desk itself is 16 square feet of surface area with less than ten square inches visible.)

But Hellen gives me hope. I watch her in action (highly recommended, BTW) and unlike the rest of the organizers, I see she doesn’t come in with a pre-built solution, but actually tries to learn why the disorganization is there in the first place, and then construct a system that not only works but isn’t one that you have to fight against yourself to use.

Almost I think of giving it one last try. Thank you, Hellen.