Category: Professional Organizers

What is a Professional Organizer?

Why Do Professional Organizers Exist?

There seems to be a profession for any problem, and organizing is no exception.

Because organizing struggles are so common, Professional Organizing has been booming to help people sort through their issues (often literally).

Here are some of the top reasons why POs have grown in popularity:

  • Because people bury important paperwork under mountains of useless stuff.
  • Physical and digital chaos is overwhelming.
  • Some folks have no system to decide what possessions to keep or toss.
  • Many people routinely can’t find the things they need.
  • Organizing your home before or after a move is serious work.
  • The difference between cleaning and organizing is lost on many people.

That’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

What a Professional Organizer Will (or Can) Do

The sky’s the limit for Professional Organizer services if your need is remotely organizing related. There are even customized memorabilia organizing systems and specialists available!

At a high level, here are the skills and services you can expect from a Professional Organizer.

  1. Collection and hoarding identification … and explaining their hazards.
  2. Process and system creation for maintaining a tidy environment (and brain).
  3. Solutions to your behaviors, personality type, or disorders.
  4. Possession management for moving or downsizing your living space.
  5. Workflow designer and spatial relationships guide.
  6. Resource connector to recycling, donation, and disposal options.
  7. Storage and action system expert (physical and/or digital).
  8. Creator of efficient email systems and how to manage your inbox.
  9. Teacher of moment-to-moment time management skills.
  10. Assessor of the elderly’s special physical, medical, and emotional organizational needs.
  11. “Document life cycle” guru.

Ask a Professional Organizer if they do “that” and the answer may just be, “Sure!”

What Professional Organizers Can Do For Your Kids

People with kids can appreciate the, shall we say, distinct organizational challenges of having them. I have three children and I know exactly how tough it can be.

Although kids have some of the same issues we do, POs deal with kid-specific struggles like:

  1. An out of control toy box or accessories drawer.
  2. A haphazard mess in their room, play zone, or study area.
  3. Time management with homework and chores.

 

What They Can Do For Your Business

Professional Organizers typically work with small businesses, especially those with the same problems as individuals. But most won’t shy away from a mid- to large-sized businesses, even if their needs and solutions are way different.

A really good PO can step in, assess an overall business situation, identify needs and goals, and develop a customized organizational system for many aspects of the business. Some can even help with project management initiation and implementation.

If you have a small business and need a Professional Organizer, definitely make sure they have experience with a structure like yours (not to mention the systems).

What They Can’t Do For You

Here are a few of things most POs won’t do.

  1. Clean your house.
  2. Provide long-term manual organization of your physical or digital space.
  3. Forcibly work with someone who hasn’t requested their services (e.g. a hoarder).

When in doubt, just ask, “Do you do that?”

How to Know If You Need a Professional Organizer

What symptoms make you a good candidate for Professional Organizer services? Here’s a great starting point:

  1. Trouble categorizing, sorting, and identifying the excess in life.
  2. Struggles with document, space, workflow, and time management.
  3. Chronic disorganisation, especially the kind causing stress and quality of life issues
  4. Repeated failure to reconcile organizational problems yourself.
  5. A lack of skills, patience, or emotional balance to convince or train a family member/friend about being organized.
  6. Issues setting smart goals.

 

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10 Benefits of Organization

One of the most important benefits of organizing your space is reduced STRESS. Simply having a more efficient system to keep track of your papers and appointments can help minimize stress-influenced conditions such as depression, ulcers and heart disease.

Likewise a cluttered environment is difficult to dust and clean. Prolonged exposure to dirty and dusty living conditions can cause allergies to flare up or lead to diseases such as chronic bronchitis. Some of my clients have already slipped and broke an ankle while walking on their papers accumulated on the floor of their home.

Both cases suggest organizing and cleaning your environment can help make a healthier and happier person

  1. If you are organized, you will have more balance in your life. You’ll be able to minimize the time spent on necessary things like shopping and looking for things, but increase the time spent on important things like family.
  2. You will be more productive. You’ll be focused, have better direction and get more done in less time.
  3. You will save money. Last minute purchases, party gifts, or grocery trips can be costlywithout adequate planning.
  4. You can better manage your time and prioritize your daily chores. These things tend to fall into place when working within deadlines and limits.
  5. It will reduce clutter. Most of us have too much stuff and are in the process of getting more. The new stuff continues to accumulate, adding to our never-ending clutter.
  6. It will help you set and achieve personal goals. With your goals in mind, spend a few minutes every evening planning for the next day. Make lists of the things you have to do and the things you want to do. As each day passes, you will be closer to your goals.
  7. You will learn to focus on the big picture; making sure you have room in your life for the important things.
  8. It will give you the proper tools to do your job right. Things that you need will be in their proper place. You will find what you need quicker, you’ll accomplish your tasks more successfully, and you’ll have more time to do the task because your tools will be readily available.
  9. It is economical to be organized. If you take the time to plan and be organized, you’ll save time and money.
  10. Being organized has to be a way of life. If you want the benefits of being organized, you might as well start now. The sooner you start, the sooner it will be a habit.
  1. There are many areas to focus on when getting organized. Your time needs to be organized. So does your money, your home, your family your kitchen cupboard and your mail, just to name a few. It can seem overwhelming at times, but getting organized will do wonders. Try it and see!

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