“Good question!” you say. I get asked this question on a daily basis and people often say “Oh……. you organise events do you?” Pretty much every time. After some time of being asked this question and seeing the look of confusion on peoples faces, I felt compelled to set the record straight!

Many people think that organising is something we should all be able to do. Why is that? If we haven’t learned it from our parents and it isn’t taught in schools (not that I know of) then why do we have this myth that we should innately know how to organise? A Professional Organiser is just like any other specialist who is there to help you if you don’t have the necessary skills required to do the job at hand. And it is “Okay” to outsource a Professional Organiser, even though there are people out there that think they should be able to tackle their clutter on their own. Just like you outsource a gardener, a tradesperson and the like (I outsource My Food Bag to make my life easier) you can also outsource a Professional Organiser. For some, it might be a time poor issue. For others, it might be that they just don’t want to do it. And for many, it’s a “don’t know how to” issue. Whatever the issue may be, being disorganised causes stress and anxiety among many other things and is very overwhelming for most.

In a nutshell, Professional Organisers are trained and skilled organisation specialists who help to create order in people’s lives. We help people to declutter their belongings and reorganise them in a way that makes sense to them. We then put systems in place that are tailored specifically to them so that long after we leave, they are able to keep on top of their clutter and maintain order in their home.

It takes a specific type of person to be a Professional Organiser – not only are we skilled in many different areas of organisation, we also have good listening skills and are able to tune into our clients needs and wants. Why? Because we realise that we are all individuals with varied needs and wants. No two of us are the same. What might work for me might not work for you. So in order to create systems that will stand the test of time, we have to be able to tune in sensitively to our clients.

Our clients put an enormous amount of trust in us – we are often going through their intimate items, which can bring up all sorts of emotions. Therefore, it is important to ask the right kinds of questions when going through the process of decluttering, so that we can help our clients to realise what is important to them. Organising isn’t about the stuff. It is always about what is going on behind it. Our fears are why we hold on to our items and facing them can be scary for many. But by only living with the things we truly love and use, we are able to see what is important to us now. And we as Professional Organisers, are there to support, nuture and guide our clients throughout the journey, how ever short or long it might be. Decluttering our possessions is not as easy as some of us think – it can be very difficult to let things go. It is our job to make this process as pain free as possible.

To conclude, being a Professional Organiser is a very rewarding profession. It’s not just about helping you to organise your stuff. It is also about understanding people, building relationships and having compassion. It’s about helping you to move beyond your stuff and to bring you into the present of who you are now, so that you can live the life you want to be living.

I hope this post has shed some light on this topic and if you have any further questions I would love to hear them, so feel free to ask!!