What do professional organisers look for?

4 Nov

There was an amazing opportunity, to collaborate with another professional organiser on a big job. The interesting thing was that we were thinking exactly the same.

What do professional organisers look for when they visit you and assess if and how they can help?

We look for:

How much clutter there is and how dense. Everyone that calls an organiser thinks their situation is the worst they have ever seen (and this is hardly ever the case – organisers specialise in this and we have seen a lot).
When doing an assessment, we look at how quickly things can be done. For example a kitchen or laundry problem can be done fairly quickly because they are big items that are relatively easy to group together, to clean and organiser in a new system.
If we are looking at paperwork, we know that the process will slow down dramatically because paperwork is small and relatively complex.
The other thing we are looking at is the ability to make decisions if you had to describe organising and decluttering in another way I could describe it as the speed at which someone can make decisions.
Lastly, we look at the client’s ability to let go.

I recently completed a two-bedroom job with a medium density of clutter. Because the client was able to let go we got through it in 6 short sessions and the whole house is a different place, as well as her morning routine because clothes can actually be found now.

So in summary, if you are at the point where you can use some help you will be ready to let go and ready for change. From that place experienced professionals can help you to not only get organised but to change systems, routines and habits to remain organised. The ultimate success factor of this process however will always be you.