Her name is Julie. She lives in eastern Wisconsin. She has three children aged five and under. And she was featured last week on the nationally syndicated “Dr. Phil” television show as a candidate for “Worst Spouse in America.”
The problem is that she is a disorganized slob. Clothes, papers and general clutter permeate her house. Dr. Phil apparently was so awed by the piled-up laundry that he asked her, “Have you ever worn anything a second time?”
But Dr. Phil — psychologist Dr. Phillip C. McGraw — knew whom to call for help when Julie was one of the guests on his May 7 show: Barb Friedman, founder and director of Organize IT and president of the Wisconsin chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers.
According to her firm’s web site, Friedman has been helping individuals and businesses organize and manage time for more than 16 years. She created Organize IT about five years ago.
In a telephone interview, Friedman explained that the “Dr. Phil” show’s staff found her via the NAPO’s national web site, which listed the Wisconsin chapter, and called her because she is the recently elected president.
So the show’s staff called Friedman on April 21. It turns out her firm also happened to be the closest to where Julie lives.
The show’s staff also e-mailed to Friedman photos of Julie’s home. “That gave me the opportunity to see what I was getting into,” Friedman said. “It was positively a disaster.”
Friedman did not appear on the show. Only her voice did when Dr. Phil moderated a telephone conversation between Friedman and Julie.
But Friedman will be filmed with Julie after they have worked together for some weeks and that will be aired on a future episode. “They’ve got to show the ‘befores’ and ‘afters,’” Friedman said.
The “before” show aired May 7, but Friedman and Julie met and began working together after the show’s taping on April 24. “This is a very big job,” Friedman said. “Usually, when things have gotten to this point, there are a lot of issues why.”
Friedman said she will teach Julie organizational and time management skills. “I can help set up routines,” Friedman said. “That’s what’s missing. Her time is literally being eaten away and she has no idea where it’s going. She has to have a plan. And we all do.”
And there may already be progress. At their first meeting, “we did manage to tackle two surfaces and get those cleaned up. That’s the only homework I gave her so far; she’s got to maintain those two areas.”
Above all, Julie and others Friedman works with have to change attitudes. “As it says on my web site, ‘Don’t agonize; organize,’” Friedman said.
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