I Just Don't Know Where to Start!
I'm Chronically Disorganized. HELP!
I'm So Embarrassed About the Clutter. How Can I Bring Someone in to Help?
I Guess I Should Clean My Place Up Before You Visit, Right?
I'll Bet Your Own House is Perfect, Right?
What's The Secret to Being Successful in My Organizing Projects?
How Do You Charge?
Can You Provide an Estimate of the Total Charges for My Organizing Project?
How Long Does It Take to Organize?
What's a Typical Session Like?
Do I Have to Sign a Contract?
Will You Act Ethically in Our Dealings?
Should I Purchase Containers Before You Come to My Home?
You Worked with My Neighbor. She Told Me About the Boneyard. What's "the Boneyard"?
What Areas Do You Serve?
I'm a Family Caregiver. How Can Organizer to the Rescue Help Me?
What Will We Do with All the Stuff I Want to Get Rid Of?
Can You Dispose of My Household Hazardous Waste Too?
Is This a Service Only for the Wealthy?
How Realistic Are Those Organizing TV Shows?
Help! I Need You to Come to Organize My (Mom, Dad, Husband, Wife, etc.)
Do You Work with Hoarders?
Do You Have Any "Before and After" Photos of Jobs You've Done?
Why Is This Website So Wordy?
I Just Don't Know Where to Start! Often, at the initial consultation, my new clients say this. They have a good idea of what needs to be done, but they just don't know where to start or how to move the process along. Sometimes the scope of the work is totally overwhelming. Working with a Professional Organizer can help in several ways. First, the Professional Organizer can help determine the best starting point based on your unique needs. The PO will help keep things moving along at a pace that feels right for you and your household. The PO can introduce you to products and services that will fit your needs perfectly. And finally, the PO can help coach you on techniques and strategies that will help prevent recurrence of the problems.
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I'm Chronically Disorganized! HELP!!! There really IS such a thing as "chronically disorganized." The Institute for Challenging Disorganization, ICD (formerly known as the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization, NSGCD) helps educate the public and professionals on chronic disorganization. Check out their web site at www.ChallengingDisorganization.org . Click on the "Clutter and Hoarding Scale " sticky. This document will help you learn more about your own degree of disorganization and put it in perspective with different levels of chronic disorganization. Connie, of Organizer to the Rescue, is a past member of the NSGCD. She holds 9 Level I Certificates of Study in Chronic Disorganization from the NSGCD. She also has earned both Level II Certificates: CD Specialist Certificate and ADD Specialist Certificate.
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I'm So Embarrassed About the Clutter. How Can I Bring Someone in to Help? As a Professional Organizer, I've seen all kinds of clutter and disorder. I'm sure yours will be well within a typical range. My goal is to discover workable solutions for you and your environment. It's counterproductive to judge you or otherwise make you feel ashamed about the situation. The work we do together will be in partnership mode, with no place for criticism or judging from me. You are to be commended for taking the first step in getting organized!
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I Guess I Should Clean My Place Up Before You Visit, Right? No. Please don't! When I get to see your place as it has evolved, there is real information as to potential causes of the problems . If you clean up before our visit, I won't get the full benefit of viewing all the clues that can help in the assessment phase. For our visit(s) don't be embarrassed about leaving things just as they are on an everyday basis. Trust me.
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I'll Bet Your Own House Is Perfect, Right? No Way! Perfection is not a realistic goal and it takes too much energy to try to achieve it. I'm just organized enough so that there's a good payback: I can find what I want in a reasonable amount of time, I'm pretty relaxed at home, and my bills are organized so that they get paid on time. I'm always looking for a better way of doing certain things. I do struggle with my home office, but each month it's getting better and more streamlined. Just because I CAN organize a lot of stuff doesn't necessarily mean it should all be KEPT. For example, I recently downsized from a beautifully organized, but overstuffed 4-drawer lateral file to a much smaller 2-drawer file. I shredded a bunch of papers I no longer needed and archived several boxes of papers I wanted to keep, but not in my office. I think that we do get used to what is around us every day and that we are often are blind to the stuff that clutters our lives. This is one of the primary reasons people need help getting organized.
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What's the Secret to Being Successful in My Organizing Projects? The single most important key to success is commitment. My clients who've experience the most positive changes were simply willing to commit the time and effort to the job. And..
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They know that change doesn't happen overnight |
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They enlist the entire household in supporting the effort |
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They make regular appointments and honor the importance of each session |
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They limit distractions during the session |
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They are able to handle what I call the "loose ends" meaning: charity drop offs, trash pickups/hauling, returning items to non-resident family and friends, errand completion (arranging for repair/cleaning/restoration), etc. |
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They celebrate their progress, no matter if great or small |
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They are tuned in to their feelings about the organizing (positive and negative!) |
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They openly address procrastination and backsliding and are strong in combating these |
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They have fun! |
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How Do You Charge? I charge by the hour (in 15 minute increments), with a 3 hour minimum per session. We can work longer than 3 hours per session if you're up to it. There is no charge for mileage. There is no charge for travel time. Rate Changes: The specified billing rate will be honored for 90 days after signing the Services Agreement, even if my rates have gone up. Payment: Visa and Mastercard are accepted! Or, check or cash are always welcome. Payment is due at the end of each session, including any materials I've purchased on your behalf. Free Phone Consultation: An initial phone consultation to assess your organizing needs is free. This usually takes about 20-30 minutes. Shopping: If you want me to shop for your organizing solutions, shopping is billed at the same rate as organizing. Occasionally, on my own, I pick up items that I think might help my clients with their organizing. There is no charge for this kind of shopping time since you didn't make the request. And you're under no obligation to buy these items. Research: Often my clients ask me to do research of one kind or other. This is billed at the same rate as organizing. "Fresh Start" Filing System Reorganizations: This is another new offering. Call me if you'd like more information on how you can get a "Fresh Start" on your filing.
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Can You Provide an Estimate of the Total Charges for My Organizing Project? No, but I truly wish I could. A good percentage of the total organizing job is all about decisions: what to keep, what to toss, what to donate, etc. And the client is the one making those decisions, with me taking you through the pros and cons of each action when the decision is difficult. At the beginning of your project, when you would love to have an estimate, it is impossible for me to know how long your decision-making process will take. For many of my clients, some categories of items are easier to decide on than others, but not always. For example, it might be easy for many clients to decide on the kitchen items they want to keep, while very difficult to decide on sentimental items. On the other hand, it's not always apparent to me which items or categories you'll have trouble deciding about. For example, I once had a client take a very long time thinking about a small, banged up kitchen item. Although it looked like a common little pot to me and I felt like it could easily be discarded, she told me that it was what her late mother used when she made the children hot cocoa each morning. To her, it was not a pot at all: it represented the love, care and attention her mother showered on the family each and every day. My client eventually decided to keep the pot, even though she would never use it herself. These kinds of scenarios are typical of the organizing process and, since I bill by the hour, exemplify why I can't give estimates. I WILL promise that I will work as efficiently and as quickly as is appropriate for your comfort level--not too fast and not too slow. Many of my clients minimize the overall costs of their projects by accepting and completing homework between sessions. Also, refer back to the question What's the Secret to Being Successful in My Organizing Projects? listed above and How Long Does It Take to Organize? listed below for other suggestions that will help reduce the costs of your project and keep it moving along.
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How Long Does It Take to Organize? I wish I had a crystal ball to figure this out. How long did it take to get disorganized? Here are some of the factors that will affect the length of time required to get organized:
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Your ability to focus and your ability to make decisions about what to keep and what to toss or donate |
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Your ability to describe to me how your household or office functions |
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Your ability to describe what you've tried in the past and why it didn't work |
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Our joint energy level |
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The quantity and quality of any interruptions we might have |
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The quantity of extremely physical work |
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The volume of paper involved in the organizing task |
Sessions: I've found that it's best to work in sessions that run 3-4 hours in length. The quality of our work will be better and we'll be able to keep a positive attitude about the job if each session is neither too long or too short. Most clients need multiple sessions to complete the whole organizing job. Internet Special: To encourage my clients to keep going with their project, I offer an incentive via an Internet Special. Click here to check out the details on the Internet Special . Homework: Often, when I work with clients who have lots of organizing to do, I give them "homework" to do between sessions. I believe this is a great way to become accountable in the organizing process and, at the same time, reduce the overall cost of the organizing effort. If you choose NOT to do homework, that's OK too. Client Expectations: It's important for the client to have a realistic picture about the organizing work. For example, clearing out a crammed and cluttered linen closet might take a very short time and the results will be rather dramatic. However, going through every paper in your filing system and deciding what to do with each paper might take a very long time and probably won't have the same visual impact.
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What's a Typical Organizing Hands-on Work Session Like? 99% of my clients want me to work alongside them in a hands-on work session. We have already discussed what your organizing goals are when we spoke on the phone but now that I'm onsite, I'll need to look around and ask lots of questions.Your answers will help me see how the disorganization happened. They will also help me get to know how you and your household work, help me see how you think, and help me develop the solutions that will work for YOU. Many clients are most anxious to jump right into the organizing, but this approach is usually a mistake. Unless the organizer knows how the disorganization happened and how you work and think, the organizer might apply solutions that don't meet your needs. I will challenge you to think about your stuff--why you're keeping it or why you might be having a tough time letting it go. I'll never force you to get rid of something, but I will press you to think about each item you're keeping. Organizing can invoke lots of emotions. Most people have way too much stuff and clutter is almost always a problem, but that doesn't mean that it's easy for us to get rid of our things. I'll help you work through these issues. What about a Typical Organizational Assessment Session? If you want, you can elect to have an organizational assessment instead of a organizing hands on work session. For the organizational assessment session, I'll come to your home and we'll move through each area of the household, including the garage and any storage areas. Along the way, I'll ask tons of questions about your household and your organizing issues: what the flow is of items in and out of the house; what's working or not, and what your goals are in getting organized. This usually takes about 2-3 hours. When we're done, I'll write up an Action Plan for you to follow and give you written feedback on my observations and recommendations. I'll also give you an opportunity to ask questions about my recommendations. Then it's up to you to either follow the Action Plan on your own or hire a professional organizer (like me!) to work with you to get the job done. I am certified to do organizational assessment through the "Eyes of a Stranger" program. developed by Kathy Waddill, well known professional organizer and trainer, past President of San Francisco's Chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers, and author of the book "The Organizing Sourcebook: Nine Strategies for Simplifying Your Life."
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Do I Have to Sign a Contract? There is a Services Agreement that we both sign. It includes my hourly rate, the payment terms, and my cancellation policy. As noted above, my billing rate will be honored for all work done within 90 days of signing the Agreement. If my rates rise, you will be given the lower rate until the 90 day period expires. The Services Agreement also describes my commitment to you in regards to protecting your privacy and keeping confidential anything I learn about you and your family during our session(s).
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Will You Act Ethically in Our Dealings? As a Professional in my field, I adhere to 3 Codes of Ethics:
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Should I Purchase Containers Before You Come to My Home? In almost all cases, the answer is "no." How do we know what containers we'll need until we've gone through all your stuff to see what to keep? There are a few exceptions. If we're working on your filing system, there are some standard supplies that you should have on hand. We will discuss these during the phone consultation. And, if we're sorting a lot of stuff, it's a good idea to have boxes or plastic trash bags to keep everything separate. I usually keep a limited number of these in my car, but it may not be enough if we have a lot to go through. Otherwise, in almost all cases, you'll be better off purchasing containers near the end of the organizing. Or, if your time is limited, I can purchase these for you on a client-requested (i.e. billable) shopping trip.
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You Worked with My Neighbor. She Told Me About the Boneyard. What's "the Boneyard"? It's a term I use as I'm working with a client to indicate all those items the client already owns that we might use near the project completion, such as bins, boxes, shelving, and other organizing gadgets. Wikipedia gives one definition of boneyard as "a term used by event planning staff to refer to an area where spare and left-over items are kept." You'd be surprised how many organizational gadgets a client might collect before calling in a Professional Organizer. The client often hopes that, by buying lots of organizational tools, their problems will be magically fixed. In most cases, these gadgets are probably not working well for the client. When my clients work alongside me, the most common objective of the organizing process is to go through the stuff to reduce the volume. As we do this, we put aside (into "the boneyard") any of those organizational products that are not working correctly for the client. Near the end of our process, we go through the boneyard to see which gadgets can be successfully used going forward. Not all items in the boneyard can be used, but usually many can. Using objects out of the boneyard helps reduce the overall cost of the organizing project and often helps to curb future client impulses to buy unnecessary organizing gadgets.
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What Areas Do You Serve? My office is in Dublin, so my primary area includes Alameda and Contra Costa counties. However, I do work in most all other Bay Area counties and have clients in the Central Valley area. I do ask that if I travel more than 30 minutes to your home that we arrange a four hour session minimum.
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I'm a Family Caregiver. How Can Organizer to the Rescue Help Me? Click here to read an article related to caregivers that was published in "Bay Area Connections," the newsletter for San Francisco's Chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers. It was also published in "The Chronical," the newsletter for the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization (NSGCD).
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What Will We Do With All the Stuff I Want to Get Rid Of? Almost all professional organizers will strongly suggest that you get rid of the stuff you don't want as soon as possible. Why? You or members of your household might drag stuff out of the discard pile and circumvent the organizing that's already happened! Check out the Links page for more ideas and local resources for recycling your unwanted items.
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Can You Dispose of My Household Hazardous Waste Too? Sorry. The law is very clear on this. I am not authorized to transport and dispose of any HHW (paint, gardening or household chemicals, etc.) other than my own from my own household. It is up to each household to transport its own HHW or pay a licensed HHW transporter to do it. Go to the Links page for links to Household Hazardous Waste websites for Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Joaquin counties.
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Is This a Service Only for the Wealthy? Definitely not! Most of my clients are people of average means. A professional organizer will almost always save you money and time and allow you to be more productive. How? Here are some examples
