“You are either part of the solution or part of the problem.” – Eldridge Cleaver
10 Ways to Have a Great Organization Experience
Tips for Life from Professional Organizer, Jenny Bair
Tips for Life from Professional Organizer, Jenny Bair
- Make this process fun!! Pick an organizer that you can “jive” with, feel comfortable crying with, sharing with, getting frustrated with and laughing with…you may spend anywhere from 3-8 hours at a time with your organizer. It is important that you both get along and are in alignment with the project goals.
- Have a budget in mind for how much you want to spend on services, supplies, decorating, re-modeling, for each room that you want to organize. This will determine what you will focus on for your Homework and what the organizer and assistants can put their energy and time towards to leverage your budget.
- Please realize that organizers are not maids! There may cleaning involved in the organization process but there are actual theories, principles and guidelines that organizers follow that may be taken from the field of Education, Social Work, Psychology, Health Education and Organization field/s. Therefore, it is very important remember that organizing a space takes more time than cleaning. Each piece of paper or thing has to be touched and decided upon its future. There may be actual cleaning staff involved in your project based on what you and your organizer decide together.
- Do your homework! Well, it is possible in this situation (extreme clutter) that you’re dog did eat your homework, but that excuse won’t fly with this organizer. The organizer/team may give you homework assignments to work on in between appointments such as sorting and purging through books, papers, clothes to decide on its future. (Goodwill, Consignment, E-Bay, Give Back etc.) It will make the next appointment go more quickly and efficiently if you have done your exercises. Your organizer may also give you journaling, movement, breath work, behavioral and other types of written and/or experimental exercises as homework. We suggest dedicating a minimum of 1-2 hours a day to your homework until the next appointment.
- Tell people that you are making CHANGES in your life. Whenever you are creating change in any area of your life, it is essential to let the people closest to you know that you are venturing into the land of CHANGE. A public commitment is more powerful than a personal commitment. Think of organization as a lifestyle change just like starting an exercise program, quitting smoking, or quitting an addiction. It won’t necessarily be an easy change at first. Be patient with yourself. 90% of all humans have to “fall off the wagon” at least 3-11 times before it has become ingrained in their minds, lifestyles and become apart of their new identity.
- Flexible vs. Fixed activities are the difference in becoming successful with any change that you are ready to make a reality. Think of it like this; an athlete doesn’t get fit, strong and build up endurance by training once a week, right? They train four-six+ hours every day to reach their goals. The same is true for becoming organized. For some it is in their wiring, but for many of us organization is a learned behavior through training, processing, and experience. It is a planned, timed activity built into your daily and weekly schedule. To save yourself from the organizer that never leaves, it is best to set realistic deadlines for the beginning and ending of your project together. Your organizer and team can assist you in deciding how much time to plan for homework and how many times to meet for each project.
- Expect Resistance and other feelings to come up in yourself and others during the organization process. This is natural response for most people in and around the organization process. Even if you desire change; you may try to resist or sabotage yourself at times because of the deep need for comfort and security. Others may be invested in you staying the same or changing therefore; their interesting reactions to your change.
- Organization can bring up feelings, beliefs, and memories that you may not have planned on or expected to come up. This may happen during a variety of projects such as: going through a deceased loved ones personal items, splitting up items for a divorce, moving, loss of a loved one, extreme clutter, and others. It is important to surround yourself with a caring organizer, but also family, friends, and possibly a counselor.
- Organizing can provide an opportunity to look at your beliefs that are guiding your behavior consciously or unconsciously. You can work on looking more in depth at your beliefs and how to change them with your organizer. Mapping sessions are great to help solidify the belief statements that are currently “running” your life.
- Make change in 2 or more areas of your life-see results. It has proven in behavioral research that when individuals are working on making changes in 2 or more behaviors they are actually more successful for a sustained period of time. (I.e. Exercise and Nutrition, Paper Flow Management and Stress Reduction etc.)