Ra’al Ki Victorieux

I decided to review the process during this first month. In this article, I will share my reflections and learnings related with Challenging Disorganization, quality of life, & well-being, as well as the authors who have created instruments to measure these factors, and strategies to help people to be happy.

Quality of Life & Quality of Well Being

Abraham Maslow (1962) was one of the first in the field of psychology to describe “wellbeing,” with his characteristics of a self-actualized person. The Quality of Life Scale (QOLS), was created originally by American psychologist John Flanagan in the 1970s and has been adapted for use in chronic illness groups. There has been a development of the QOLS, it has been performed in different groups, and translated into several languages. The QOLS has low to moderate correlations with physical health status and disease measures. However, content validity analysis indicates that the instrument measures domains that diverse patient groups with chronic illness define as quality of life. The QOLS is a valid instrument for measuring the quality of life across patient groups and cultures and is conceptually distinct from health status or other causal indicators of quality of life.

As Burckhard and Anderson state in the article The Quality of Life Scale (QOLS): Reliability, Validity, and Utilization: «The QOLS was originally a 15-item instrument that measured five conceptual domains of quality of life: material and physical well-being, relationships with other people, social, community and civic activities, personal development and fulfillment, and recreation. After descriptive research that queried persons with chronic illness on their perceptions of quality of life, the instrument was expanded to include one more item: Independence, the ability to do for yourself. Thus, the QOLS in its present format contains 16 items».

There are different instruments to measure the Quality of Life and Quality of Well Being, some of them are (1):
Q-LES-Q Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire, by Endicott Jean.
QL Quality of Life, by Ferrell Betty R and Grant Marcia.
QL-Index Spitzer’s Quality of Life Index, by Spitzer Walter O.
QL-SP Quality of Life Questionnaire for Cardiac Spouses, by Ebbesen Lori S and McCartney Neil.
QLDS Quality of Life in Depression Scale by Galen Research.
QLDUP Quality of Life in Duodenal Ulcer Patients.
QLH-Y Quality of Life Headache in Youth.
QLI Ferrans and Powers Quality of Life Index by Ferrans Carol Estwing and Powers Marjorie.
QLI-CP Quality of Life Index for Colostomy Patients by Padilla Geraldine V.
QLI-L Quality of Life Interview -Lehman
QLI-P Quality of Life Index-Padilla
QLI-RT Quality of Life Index-Radiation Therapy
QLIHD Quality of Life Ischemic Heart Disease
QLILC Quality of Life Inoperable Lung Cancer questionnaire
QLIS-H Quality of Life Impairment Scale – Hypertension
QLIV Quality of Life Instrument Veterinary use
QLPI Quality of Life Profile Inventory
QLPO Quality of Life of Personas with Onychomycosis
QLPSD Quality of Life Profile for Spine Deformities
QLQ or CEQ Quality of Life Questionnaire or Client Experiences Questionnaire by Greenberg Jan S and Greenley James R.
QLQ-Asthma Questionnaire for the Assessment of Quality of Life in Asthma Patients by Brown David T.
QLQ-C30 + modules Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 Items (QLQ-C30) + modules by EORTC Quality of Life Group.
QLQ-E Quality of Life Questionnaire-Evans by Cope Wendy and Evans David.
QLQ-IR / QLQ-SR Oregon Quality of Life Questionnaire Interviewer Rating Version / Respondent Self-Report version by Bigelow Douglas A, Olson Madeline M, Smoyer Susan, et al.
QLRS Quality of Life Rating Scale
QLS Quality of Life Scale by Barry Margaret M and Crosby Charles.
QLSI Quality of Life Systemic Inventory by Dupuis Gilles, Duquette Roxanne L and Perrault Jean.
QOL-ACD Quality of Life questionnaire for cancer patients treated with Anticancer Drugs.
QOL-AD Quality of Life in Alzheimer’s Disease by Gibbons Laura E, Logsdon Rebecca G, McCurry Susan M, et al.
QoL-AGHDA Quality of Life in growth hormone-deficient adults
QOL-CA Quality of Life Cancer Scale by Padilla Geraldine V.
QOL-CS Quality of Life-Cancer Survivors.
QOL-Q Quality of Life Questionnaire (Quality de la Vie-Questionnaire)
QOL-RA Scale Quality of Life-Rheumatoid Arthritis Scale by Johson Darlene J, Layo Danao Leda, Padilla Geraldine V.
QOL-RTI Quality of Life Radiation Therapy Instrument by Casey Linda and Johnson Darlene J.
QOL-SPE Quality of Life Instrument for Symptomatic Patients with Endometriosis.
QOLAS Quality of Life Assessment Schedule by Selai Caroline E and Trimble Michael R.
QOLCE Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy Questionnaire by Sabaz, Mark.
QOLI Quality of Life Inventory by Rrish Michael B.
QoLIAD Quality of Life Index for Atopic Dermatitis by Galen Research.
QOLIE-10 Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory-10 by Cramer Joyce A, Devinsky Orrin, Meador Kimford, et al.
QOLIE-31 Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory-31 by Bryant-Comstock Linda, Cramer Joyce, Devinsky Orrin, et al.
QOLIE-89 Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory-89 by Cramer Joyce A, Devinsky Orrin, Hays Ron D, et al.
QOLIE-AD-48 Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory-Adolescents-48 by Camfield Carol, Cramer Joyce A, Devinsky Orrin, et al.
QOLM-P14 Quality of Life Module – Prostate 14 by Neville Alan J, Osoba David, Scott Ernst D, et al.
QOLPSV Quality of Life Profile: Senors-Version
QOLRAD Quality of Life in Reflux And Dyspepsia by Wiklund Ingela.
QOLS Flanagan’s Quality of Life Scale by Flanagan John C.
QOLVFQ Quality of Life and Vision Function Questionnaire by Carta Arturo.
QUAL-E Quality of Life at the End of Life Measure by Bosworth Hayden B, Christakis Nicholas A, Clipp Elizabeth C, et al.
Qqal-OT Quality of Life in Occupational Therapy by Gliner Jeffrey A, Robnett Regula H.
Qualeffo-41 International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) Quality of Life questionnaire by Lips Paul.
QUALIOST QUAlity of Life questionnaire in OSTeoporosis by Cialdella P, De la Loge Christine and Marquis Patrick.
QUEST Quality of End-of-life care and Satisfaction with Treatment scale by McIlvane Jessica M and Sulmasy Daniel P.
QVM Qualité de Vie et Migraine.
QWB Quality of Well being Scale by Anderson John and Kaplan Robert M.
QWB-SA Quality of Well Being scale Self-Administered by Ganiats Theodore G, Kaplan Robert M and Sieber William J.

Condition-specific quality of life (QOL) or Well being (QWB) instruments are representatives of the priorities of people. A person’s level of satisfaction is related to their values. For example: Some individuals consider family more important than work, others put professional and personal fulfillment above personal or family relationships. Also, in people with a chronic illness or disability, it is understood that it is a little more difficult for them to achieve a high quality of life. Measurement instruments help health professionals to assist patients in increasing their overall well-being.

However, as Flanagan states, there are areas that reflect the quality of life in most people: Material and physical well-being, relationships with other people, social, community and civic activities, personal development and fulfillment, and recreation. QOL is an objective assessment of life conditions, and the subjective satisfaction. We can find people who objectively have health, wealth, and education, but nevertheless experience great frustration and depression, and people who, in the midst of poverty or adversity, are not only resilient, but also satisfied with their daily lives. The notion of QOL is particularly relevant in the field of positive psychology. In 2012, Martin Seligman defined the PERMA+ model and the theory of wellbeing, with five components:
P – Positive emotion
E – Engagement
R – Relationships
M – Meaning
A – Accomplishments

If someone were to ask you to assess your quality of life on a scale of 1 to 10, how would you answer? What aspects of your life would you consider meaningful to your well being? How often do you experiment hope, joy, love, compassion, gratitude? Do you savor, integrate positive emotions into your daily life and visualizations of future life? How do you cultivate the fearless, grifty, powerful, focused, fierce, committed, feisty you? Do you know your character strengths and spend time cultivating your skills? Do you create and maintain positive relationships with people who have things in common with you? Do you recognize your needs, your dreams and go for them? Do you set goals SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time bound?

ICD® Clutter Quality of Life Scale (CQLS)

Even though the goal of integral well-being is quite attractive, in this project to organize the office, I humbly intend to achieve a good archive and a work environment in order, balance, and cleanliness, which facilitates my creative work. The Institute for Challenging Disorganization (2) created a test to measure the scale related to the disorder and quality of life: ICD® Clutter Quality of Life Scale (CQLS) This was the test that Nacho Eguiarte (3) sent me, and with which he detected that I do have a conflict to resolve. You can find this test here:

Catherine Roster, Ph.D., from The University of New Mexico, worked on has been developed The Clutter Quality of Life Scale (CQLS) and it is being tested by the Institute for Challenging Disorganization® (ICD®) as a self-assessment tool that measures an individual’s felt, or subjective assessment, of the consequences of clutter on the person’s quality of life across various life domains, including relationships with others, psychological distress, financial implications of clutter, and physical challenges or challenging living conditions created by clutter that impede life goals or the execution of daily tasks that contribute to negative consequences for one’s well-being. The CQLS can help organizers see where clutter is impacting the client’s life, and how it may affect their motivation. The CQLS has been tested alongside numerous other scales that are similar in nature, including the Savings Inventory- Revised developed by Frost, Steketee, & Grisham (2004) and Diener et al.’s (1985) Satisfaction with Life Scale. The CQLS correlates appropriately with those scales.

I understand that if my answer to the questionnaire was on February 2, 2023, after some time of working to improve the situation, I should show progress by answering the same questionnaire again. Of the four areas it addresses: social, habitability, finances, and emotional, it seems that my number one issue (which I scored highest on) is emotional, with habitability second. I hope that by the end of this year, I can feel better.

I visited the website of the The Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD), which is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to provide education, research and strategies to benefit people challenged by chronic disorganization. There, I found some resources:

ICD® Introduction to Chronic Disorganization For The Public

A 20 min video introduction to Chronic Disorganization is hosted by Laurene Livesey Park and Lynne Poulton. Judith Kolberg talked about Chronic Disorganization, CD in 1992, and in 1998 she wrote a book about it. It has 3 defining features: 1. The persistence of severe disorganization over a long period of time. 2. The daily undermining of one’s quality of life by disorganization. 3. A history of failed self-help attempts. Chronic Disorganization is not a diagnosis. To know if someone has this issue, ask these three questions: 1. Has getting organized been a challenge for you for most of your adult life? 2. Does being disorganized negatively affect your life in some way every day? 3. Have you tried and failed to get organized on your own? Some of the common characteristics of a person affected by CD: Needs visual cues. Is easily distractible. Has multiple unfinished projects. Is chronically late. Has many interests and hobbies. Is talkative, intelligent, and emotional.

Here you can find a questionnaire to find out if Are You Affected by Chronic Disorganization?

CD is different that hoarding behavior or regular disorganization. It is fair to say that all people with hoarding disorder are chronically disorganized, but not all people affected by CD are hoarders. Hoarding is a subset of CD. Anything that interferes with the typical executive function of the brain will affect the organization, for example, adults with ADHD. Regular disorganization doesn’t meet the three characteristics we enunciate before. Regular disorganization is usually a short-term situation, a move, a change in family make-up, or a life-changing event. Usually, a fairly organized person is thrown into disorganization due to the circumstances. Chronic disorganization is always disorganized, and often need help in finding organization systems. A lot of organizing systems that seem really natural to many people, just don’t work for people affected by CD. But some ideas that you can try are:

Tips and Techniques for people with Chronic Disorganization

1. Treasure Hunt: You stand in front of the room, and instead of going from left to right, search, as in a treasure hunt, for a) things to donate. b) things that can go to the trash can. c) things that you want to keep. d) things to recicle.
2. Play Favorites: You could get ruthless, and declare «this will live», and «this will die», to decide the future of the stuff.
3. Friends, Acquaintances & Strangers: If you have a large amount of some items, you over-personalize things, to decide what to keep close (friends), you can think about if save them or not (acquaintances), and what to let go (strangers).
4. Keep Things Whole: Look at the room as a timeline, past, present, and future. Items from the past; do they fit in my life now, or is time for them to go? Items in the present; is this serving me, does this thing need me or do I need it, has it earned a place in my house? Items in the future; does this item has a place in my future, or will I do something with it someday?
5. Body Doubling: A person who works as an anchor or mirror, to keep you in the present to do a task. It can be a non-judgmental friend.

I haven’t tried Treasure Hunt, but I think it would be useful to have 3 boxes to fill with: trash, recicle and donations. Or even to have 3 shelves or designated drawers for donations, recycling or sales. About Playing Favorites, since I am committed to the principle of harmlessness even with things, it would be difficult for me to declare capital punishment on them. I could say, «this will live», «this will travel» (donations), «this will mutate» (recycling or compost), «this will go out» (trash). The technique of friends, acquaintances, and strangers has been particularly difficult for me. I have very few friends, and these are people who I consider to have a good heart and I can trust them, generally, they do not exceed five, and I always keep in mind that this small number could change, because nothing guarantees that any of these people could stop being reliable. Friendly stuff? There are more than five, particularly if we try to get me to choose five books from my library of 2,000, I definitely couldn’t. Perhaps a reasonable minimum number of «friendly books» would be 500, the ones I have read most frequently, or those that are directly related to projects that interest me. Acquaintances… perhaps due to the heyday of social networks, I am aware of a few hundred, and I think a few thousand recognize me, I do not give them personalized attention, but I am aware of their presence as groups to which I can send periodic notifications of my life through publications, etc. Acquaintances as objects… If we talk about books it would be another thousand, or fifteen hundred. Strangers, if I’m talking about the people of the world, I don’t think I would even include in this category those I don’t know… I’m partly in favor of that «nothing human is alien to me» phrase, so even strangers seem familiar or at least part of the human family to which I belong… If, in addition, we include a Buddhist consciousness in the equation… I would have to embrace in my consciousness all sentient beings, not only of the human kingdom but also of the animal, vegetable, mineral kingdoms, etc… And none of the things that have crossed the door of my house are strange, everything is a trigger for questions, if I were a chemist -something that I have sometimes wished for, I would like to know the different uses and potentials of the «x» forms that matter has in its manifestation. However, I understand, you have to let some visitors go elsewhere, that’s why I’m reflecting on the subject. I could give a try to Keep Things Whole.

Body Doubling is very difficult for me. After the bad experiences trying it, I reflected on my ability to choose companions. The people to whom I offered a fee in exchange for accompanying me to carry out some things such as legal or bureaucratic procedures, making photocopies, buying some things, etc., I did not explain to them in advance my Asperger situation, and that because of this I required them to be emotionally supportive, nonjudgmental, and patient. They were people who knew me due to my creative activity, since I had invited them to collaborate in some event, but they were not close friends. Going from being a «creative guest at a collective event» to being a «support escort» I think it was asking them to take a very big leap for their personality. Let me explain, artists are usually a bit or a lot of divas, protagonists, and asking them to be like a shadow while I do routine tasks, surely it was not in their interest.

Time Management

The Institute for Challenging Disorganization suggest, if you have CD, some Time Management Tips:

1. Plan your morning the night before: Lay out the clothes you will wear, gather your briefcase, and collect the children’s clothes, backpacks, shoes and items needed to take to school. Think through everything you will need in the morning and have that ready to go. Request and encourage your school-age children to do this nightly to avoid morning madness.
2. Find a secure place by the door or entry to household to hang or hold your keys. Several ideas are in catalogs or you may find key holders in organizing stores. This space or area may also be a place where outgoing mail and other outgoing items are kept. A nice basket in the area works well.
3. Schedule your priority tasks early in the week so if they have to be rescheduled there is still time left to complete them.
4. Schedule the most difficult tasks during your “prime time” when you are at peak energy level.
5. When planning errands, be realistic about the amount of time each errand will take. Add at least 15 minutes to the time you think it will take. This way you will learn not to over schedule and continually work under pressure.
6. Maintain a family message center and a perpetual shoppinglist.
7. Recognize that you do not have to complete the entire job in one sitting. Do a little at a time by scheduling appointments with yourself and keeping them.
8. Remember that you are procrastinating if you work on a trivial task while a more important one remains undone. Prioritize the jobs to be done and work on priorities first.

Here is my experience, opinion, about this list: 1. Many times I can’t plan my day the night before… Sometimes I start work at dawn, I estimate that I can achieve a certain objective for that day. It’s like it requires the adrenaline rush of the deadline. On other occasions, if I need more time, I start late the night before, and I don’t sleep. Not that I like this procedure, I would love to be able to change it, so getting things ready the night before and getting 8 hours of sleep would be super. 2. I’m a bit paranoid so leaving the keys at the entrance is not something that makes me feel safe. On one occasion I had a key holder, I never used it, and I decided to give it away. I usually keep the keys in the bag, and empty the contents into a drawer before putting the bag in the closet. Sometimes I leave the bag in the office, but I like the idea of ​​emptying the contents in a drawer better, if I can implement it. Maybe I need to take the bags and umbrellas out of my closet, and put them in a cabinet where I have an empty drawer to move the contents. 3. One of the problems with my schedule is that I often add too many tasks, and then I feel overwhelmed and end up procrastinating almost everything. However, I keep the to-do list close, and I am learning to measure how long certain activities take me, to improve my schedule. 4. A time of day when I have the most energy? I suppose in the morning, but it is not stable. Sometimes I work better at night. The truth is that my eating and sleeping and activity schedules are very erratic… 5. Yes, that’s okay with me, I understand that things usually take longer than one supposes. 6. I don’t have a constant line of communication with my family, I don’t even have an updated directory. Thinking about generating that does not motivate me, I think it would be useless. A shopping list has been appropriate for me. 7. To date myself? What I have managed to «figure out» is that after achieving a mental goal -writing an article, or any other task on the computer-, I give myself time to do a physical or recreational activity -eating, or watering the plants, or watching a series that I like. 8. I understand it perfectly, but it is difficult for me to do it.

Ok, for now I hope this roundup of authors, tools, and experiences has given you some clarity on the subject.

1. List of instruments in alphabetical order: https://www.qolid.org/
2. Institute for Challenging Disorganization https://www.challengingdisorganization.org/
3. https://www.nachorganiza.com/

*God bless, I wish you healing and light. I appreciate it if you like or share this post.

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