What is a Professional Organizer?
A Professional Organizer is someone who can help with organizing all aspects of your personal or professional life. Professional Organizers specialize in a wide range of areas related to organization so you want to make sure you choose one that works with your specific needs. Some Organizers only work in homes while others provide organizing services to business. Some provide hands-on help while others speak on the topic in workshops and seminars. For examples of some of the areas Professional Organizers specialize in, visit the National Association of Professional Organizer's website
What qualifies a person to be a professional organizer?
Professional Organizers come from backgrounds as varied as their specialties. When looking for an organizer, look for one who has an affiliation with a professional organization such as the National Association of Professional Organizers, NAPO, or the International Association of Professional Organizers, IAPO, as it shows a level of commitment to training and networking which keeps organizers current on trends and products. An Organizer's qualifications are developed through a combination of talent, experience and training.
Are you going to make me get rid of things?
The short answer is "no" - Action Organization will never coerce you into purging items that are meaningful or useful to you. However, as a professional, a consultant will talk you through the "why" behind what you are keeping and help you keep the bigger picture in mind. There will inevitably be a purging phase, particularly if you have a problem with clutter, but you will find there are many things that should have been eliminated long ago and the process will be much less painful than you think. |
Is hiring an organizer expensive?
If you have tried to organize your space yourself and have found that the systems did not work long term, you have already wasted much time. If you have bought organizing products that have gone unused, you have wasted money. If you continue to function inefficiently you will waste more time or money looking for things, buying duplicates and adding to your overall frustration. When you are ready to hire an Organizer, you already know there will be value added. The important question is not the cost of the Organizer but the return on investment. Although rates will vary and organizers will use different fee structures (hourly, per project) the rates usually fall somewhere between $50-$200 per hour. It is an investment that will yield immediate and long-term results. Taking control of your life and your space has implications that far outweigh the monetary reciprocation.
Isn't organizing something I should be able to handle on my own?
As stated above, Professional Organizers have a combination of talent, experience and training. This allows organizers to objectively look at spaces and processes and fix what is not working or prevent patterns of inefficiency from forming. If you are not a plumber would you try to fix your pipes? If you are not an electrician would you try to rewire your home? Similarly, if you are not a professional when it comes to organizing, you should not feel any sense of self-defeat when you can't come up with working systems or maintain control of clutter. You are good at a lot of things-if organizing isn't one of them, there is nothing wrong with acquiring help from someone who is. |
