I was once asked why a professional organizer is needed when “we can all declutter.” This month’s blog post will outline two major benefits of hiring a professional organizer.
Support
Professional organizers provide a lot of support, both physical and emotional. We literally do the moving and lifting of things in a client’s home or office. We declutter and organize. Many clients have told me that without me there, they would not have done as much work as we had; some even say that they’d never have even started! This is key: having another person there makes the work easier and more fun too! Organizers create a system for the work that day: keep, toss, donate, sell, return to rightful owner. We provide emotional support too. We KNOW how difficult it is to part with things; we’ve been there too. We are patient and understanding. There’s no judgment in this work. We get it. You have years and years of memories in everything we touch. At times, there are tears; clients often say that they were not expecting to cry, but parting with things can be very emotional. We listen. We work at the client’s pace too. We give breaks when needed; when a client is clearly getting tired after two or three hours of sorting, I will suggest a short break to regroup and take a break from the decision making that accompanies a clean-out. We work with hundreds of clients regularly, and we see the hold that our stuff has over us. Support is a big part of our work.
Knowledge
When you hire a professional organizer, you gain knowledge. The organizer shares his/her tips, advice, and wisdom with the client. I share motivating quotes from the organizing books I read (e.g., The More of Less by Joshua Becker; The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo). Clients often say that the quotes get them thinking. I also share strategies for deciding whether or not to keep something (e.g., the 20-20 rule from theminimalists.com). I learn about the client so that I can recommend the perfect system for his/her home or office. The space must work for the client! Lastly, I share resources, books, and more with the client so that he/she can go deeper into each strategy and system I share. That way, after I leave, the client will have a way to gain more knowledge about decluttering and organizing.
There are many more benefits of hiring a professional organizer including the fact that many organizers are members of national and local organizing associations (i.e., napo.net and napo-newengland) where we have access to many resources and workshops including online courses. Through the NAPO meetings and conferences, organizers meet business owners whose work aligns with ours and in turn build relationships with these folks so that collaboration can happen in an effort to easily assist clients. Maybe in a future post, I can list out some of the other benefits of working with an organizer, or maybe it’s not necessary because you already know all of the perks!
As always, happy organizing!
Cheryl Russo
April 2018