Drowning In Disorganization?
Are you bombarded with responsibility? Do you work weekends, evenings, and have children. Are there house projects mounting, making you feel out of control?
Does your life make you feel like you are scrambling and looking for things that cost you time? Then, it may be time to reach out for some professional assistance from a professional home organizing expert— like you would enlist a trainer or nutritionist to help with fitness or wellness goals.
What Does A Professional Do?
A professional organizer is a person who can help you organize any of the physical and digital spaces in your life — a closet, a kitchen, garage, photos, paperwork, etc. They can also help clinical clients who struggle with A.D.H.D. or other conditions that impair disorganization, such as disabled seniors.
A professional home organizer will not tell you what to get rid of if they are good. Still, they shed light on over-accumulation of items and suggest that you pare them down.
The best thing a qualified professional organizer will do will be to get your space organized with proper containment, so everything has a home. Otherwise, the order will get lost, and you will waste an investment of your time and money hiring a professional organizer. They can label items to help you maintain the order and suggest where to donate unwanted belongings. The best professional organizers also teach the client how to organize and maintain order.
Why Organize Now?
In my experience as a professional home organizer, most people reach out when life events are pulling them away from normalcy or how their former life is no longer.
When someone has reached a personal tipping point — they’re frustrated, angry, emotionally frayed — and they’re not meeting their personal or professional goals, they need to consider calling in a professional.
Do I Need A Professional Home Organizer?
Most people are confident that they can tackle their organization projects, but getting to them always starts tomorrow; the problem usually is that the client does not know where to begin and freezes when they organize. Procrastination is commonly the root of the problem with the individual, and this is why the disorder started.
Marriage, divorce, a new baby, downsizing empty nesters, starting a new career, or newly moving into a new home create the need for organizational assistance.
But even in the absence of a specific life change, if you find yourself stuck, it’s time to consider hiring a professional organizer.
I can assure you that the money put toward a professional organizer will pay for itself because you find more time to work and make money when you are not wasting time hunting for things. Also, you will not overspend because you will know the actual inventories of your belongings.
I am a professional organizer with years of experience, and I am here to give you some advice before you take the plunge and hire one.
I am in this business to help people, and the most important thing for me is to know that I free my clients of the anxiety and frustration they feel living with disorganization.
Advice Number 1
Look at the potential home organizer’s social media and website profiles to see their work. Otherwise, ask for a portfolio of their projects. Anyone without any way to present their company is not a serious business professional.
Advice Number 2
You should be able to contact the home organizer within a couple of days with either a date and time to virtually or in-person set up a consultation. If they take too long to get back, they will most likely not be responsible after you hire them; I call this a big red flag.
Advice Number 3
A professional home organizer who locks you into a contract committed to an excessive amount of hours to receive a lower rate with no way out is probably not the fairest way to do business.
What if you do not like their work or personality. Maybe the professional organizer works at a slow pace, thus milking hours, or they do not listen to your needs. Can you get out of the contract if that is the case? Beware of one-sided agreements.
Advice Number 4
Ask tons of questions such as:
- Do you charge for travel?
- What do you charge for shopping time?
- Do you offer CAD or graph drawings for organizational layouts, and what are those fees?
- What if something breaks, are you insured?
- How many hours does the organizer work at a time?
- Do they work weekends or odd hours?
- Can we set a deadline for a project?
- Do you use eco-friendly cleaning projects?
- What are the fees for donation dropoffs?
- Can they provide ways to donate or sell unwanted items?
- Do you have backup people if an organizer does not work out?
- Did the organizing professional receive training?
- Can they negotiate rates?
- What forms of payment do they take?
- When is payment due?
- Are there guarantees on the work performed?
- Will they do product returns?
Advice Number 5
Will the organizer work side-by-side with you?
It would help if you worked closely in the beginning while working with a home organizer. First, you want to make that you are setting them on the right course. The last thing you need is a headache because the organizer puts things in the wrong places, and the work needs to get redone. Also, you need to see if you can work with this person.
Once you feel comfortable with the organizer and set them on a planned course, you can confidently drift away to the store or home office.
Advice Number 6
Get a few estimates before you pick someone. A referral is excellent, but because they worked for your best friend does not mean you will have the same experience.
Advice Number 7
Do they do maintenance? Sometimes we need tweaking, modifications, or more organizing after the initial organizing project. I would pick an organizer that can fit you into their schedule and offer such a program because they are often needed.
Advice Number 8
Larger home organizing services have an owner(s), or are incorporated. Commonly, larger outfits have in-house training programs that shape people to organize in their preferred method. A more prominent home organizing company will have their organizers work in teams, thus getting a project done swiftly. These are excellent services for unpacking and packing jobs for an entire home.
A smaller home organizing business may include one to a few people. The vibe will feel very personal as, most often, the owner is working on the project alongside assistants. These are great companies for small or big projects spread out over time.
It is up to you to decide which business style fits your personality.
Advice Number 9
Does the home organizer clean? They ought to do light cleaning is my considered opinion. Those that do not can be placing nicely organized food on a shelf with stuck jelly, crumbs, and a trail of spices. I would not be happy about that if I were the client. Logically, organizing and cleaning go hand-in-hand. For example, I recently decluttered a large bookcase of books, and dust plus spider webs were everywhere. So a disorganized home always has some dust and sparkling up to do! A professional organizer does not do deep cleaning, but some light cleaning is in order, so do not forget to ask that question when interviewing a professional home organizer.
Advice Number 10
Please be ready to let go of stuff, or you are wasting your time and money with an organizer. A big part of organizing is getting rid of stuff that serves no purpose anymore. Unfortunately, you will find yourself buying expensive organizers and using valuable real estate storing things that will sit there for infinity.
