Posts tagged benefits
12 Benefits of Hiring a Professional Organizer That Go Way Beyond Organizing

Many people hire a professional organizer to declutter, create order, or make their spaces more functional. The good news is that professional organizers can help achieve those goals. However, the benefits of working with a professional organizer can go much deeper than the visible changes in a space.

The right support can help you build confidence, make decisions more easily, develop sustainable habits, and create a home that reflects who you are now. These are just a few of the benefits beyond simply “more organized.”

For over 30 years, I’ve had the joy of helping people navigate organizing challenges. I’ve seen clients transform, becoming more confident, capable, and self-trusting. Beyond becoming more organized, they’ve made profound changes in their mindset, habits, and self-efficacy.

 

 

12 Benefits of Hiring a Professional Organizer That Go Way Beyond Organizing

While some clients have seen results in as few as three virtual organizing sessions, most continue working with me longer to create more positive changes. These are the top 12 benefits, beyond getting more organized, that my clients consistently experience during our work together.

 

1. Make steady progress.

“I am making significant progress. I couldn’t do that a while ago.”

  • Get past feeling stuck and take consistent action.

  • Complete projects that have been on hold for months or years.

  • Build momentum that carries over between virtual organizing sessions.

 

 

2. Reduce overwhelm.

“I am way less overwhelmed.”

  • Break large, overwhelming projects into small, manageable steps.

  • Replace confusion with a clear, personalized plan.

  • Feel less anxious about organizing tasks.

 

 

3. Create lasting organizing habits.

“This is so empowering.”

  • Develop realistic, sustainable routines.

  • Practice maintaining spaces rather than starting over repeatedly.

  • Learn systems that fit individual lifestyles and preferences.

 

 

4. Strengthen decision-making skills.

“I do not need those.”

  • Become more confident about what to keep, donate, recycle, sell, or discard.

  • Spend less time second-guessing decisions.

  • Learn practical decision-making strategies that work in all areas.

 

 

5. Develop accountability and consistency.

“I’m building on my wins.”

  • Stay focused on goals through regular check-ins.

  • Follow through on action steps between sessions.

  • Celebrate progress while maintaining motivation.

 

This is so empowering.
— Oh, So Organized! Client

 

6. Improve daily functioning.

“It feels great in here. I have hope and am not as overwhelmed.”

  • Create spaces that are easier to use and maintain.

  • Reduce time spent searching for items.

  • Increase efficiency in everyday routines.

 

 

7. Receive personalized guidance.

“I just want to be my true me.”

  • Benefit from solutions tailored to individual challenges, goals, and strengths.

  • Learn organizing strategies that work with, not against, personal thinking styles.

  • Adjust strategies as life circumstances change.

 

 

8. Experience compassionate, nonjudgmental support.

“Not impossible or unconquerable anymore.”

  • Feel understood, not criticized.

  • Work at a comfortable pace, without pressure.

  • Build trust within a supportive, collaborative partnership.

 

 

9. Improve emotional well-being.

“Things feel mentally more manageable.”

  • Feel calmer, less distracted, and more in control.

  • Reduce guilt and frustration associated with clutter.

  • Strengthen self-awareness and emotional resilience by addressing personal patterns such as perfectionism, burnout, decision fatigue, negative self-talk, and unrealistic expectations.

 

 

10. Create more functional spaces.

“I now have a blueprint for how to declutter.”

  • Reclaim rooms for their intended use.

  • Improve access to frequently used items.

  • Make spaces safer and easier to navigate.

 

 

11. Build long-term independence.

“I feel very motivated.”

  • Learn skills rather than relying on someone else to organize.

  • Apply organizing principles to new areas.

  • Continue making progress after formal organizing sessions end.

 

 

12. Increase confidence and self-trust.

“I can do this!”

  • Experience success through small, achievable wins.

  • Trust your ability to stay flexible and determine your best next action.

  • Feel more capable of managing your time, energy, space, and things independently.

 

 

 

How Can Hiring a Professional Organizer Help?

The reality is that we all need help at times. There is no shame in reaching out for the support you need. I’ve experienced this many times, hiring someone to help with something I was stuck on, to manage a large project, or to fill a skills gap when I couldn’t accomplish what I needed on my own.

Have you worked with a professional organizer? What benefits did you experience? If you are an organizer, what benefits have your clients experienced working with you?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

 


 

How Can I Help?

Do you feel overwhelmed, disorganized, or stuck? You don’t have to do this alone. I’m here to help! Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – Local feel with a global reach.

Let’s talk! I’m easy to reach.

Getting organized, building confidence, and reaching your goals are possible, especially with support.

 
 
One Effective Strategy to Easily Calm Your Mind Clutter

Does this sound familiar? Your mind is filled with a running list of tasks, places to visit, and projects to start (or finish). The thoughts swirling in your brain feel like one giant, cluttered mess.

It can be more challenging to concentrate, take action, or make progress because your ponderings are caught in thought loops. Simply thinking about the possibilities can leave you feeling anxious, exhausted, or demotivated.

Guess what? I’ve been there, too. It’s not that I don’t have task lists to manage, because I do. However, those tasks and events have already been prioritized, planned, and accounted for. They aren’t the issue, but the unaccounted-for ones are. Many of those items require coordination with my husband, Steve.

To clear my mind clutter, I engaged in a helpful process that I will share with you. If your cluttered thoughts have nowhere to go, I encourage you to experiment with this strategy.

 

The Process to Calm Mind Clutter

Step 1: Activate the Process

  • This may seem obvious, but the first step is to schedule a time to actively work on clearing your mind clutter. This intentional act will help you move in a productive direction.

  • Choose a time when you’re at your best. Steve and I decided to meet on a weekend morning after breakfast when we felt alert and well-rested.

 

Step 2: Do a Brain Download

  • Release your thoughts, which will immediately clear your mind clutter. This clearing is analogous to decluttering a kitchen counter or editing an overflowing basket of magazines. Relief is felt as space opens up.

  • The brain download can take many forms. Your capture tool can be analog, digital, or auditory. I used a blank piece of paper, which I titled “Planning with Steve.”

  • Create categories if it’s helpful. I separated the page into four columns, each representing a different category: Papers/Logging, Fun, Home, and Financial.

  • Populate your capture tool. As soon as a thought surfaced, we categorized and added it to the corresponding column. For example, “Visit the New York Botanical Garden went into the Fun category. “Clear out the garage” was added to the Home column.

 

Step 3: Prioritize

  • Your capture tool is probably quite full now. You might feel overwhelmed, as in, “How am I going to get it all done?” You can accomplish everything, but not all at once.

  • Prioritizing comes next. Instead of planning every single thing you captured, select the top three or four things you want to focus on first.

  • There is no right or wrong way to prioritize. For example, your priorities could be time-based if something has a specific deadline, or preference-based, as in what you’d like to accomplish or do first. We opted to prioritize several things from the Fun and Home categories.

 

Step 4: Commit

  • Commitment is the powerhouse of the mind decluttering strategy. It is essential and is often neglected. Overlooking this aspect can make Steps 1-3 ineffective.

  • Have your calendar ready.

  • Choose one of the priorities you identified.

  • Schedule a time block or blocks for that priority. We began by scheduling dates from the Fun category and then added a few projects from the Home category.

  • Repeat choosing and scheduling until those three or four top priorities are blocked out on your calendar.

  • We found it less overwhelming to focus on and schedule only the top few priorities. We will revisit this process and repeat Steps 3 and 4 once we have made progress on our initial priorities.

  • As an alternate approach, you may prefer to schedule everything from your brain download list in one sitting.

Commitment is the powerhouse of the mind decluttering strategy.
— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

The Benefits of Mind Decluttering

There are many benefits to clearing mind clutter. Here are some of the positives I experienced using this process:

  • My mind feels clearer.

  • While we utilized a team approach for mind decluttering, I also see value in using this strategy individually.

  • The unproductive thought loops have ceased.

  • That anxious feeling has dissipated.

  • I feel less burdened by the projects and events because they now have a designated slot for attending to them.

  • I am excited because we have set aside time to focus on things that are important to us.

  • I feel confident that we will complete the tasks we prioritized.

  • I am glad that projects that have been incomplete for a long time will now be brought to completion.

  • I have happy anticipation about the fun things we’ve scheduled.

  

What Helps You Release Mind Clutter?

There are many ways to ease mind clutter, including the strategy I shared. What helps you declutter your mind? In what ways could the process I described be beneficial to you?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

 

 

 

How Can I Help?

Do you need support with organizing, editing, or decluttering your thoughts? I’d love to help! Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – Local feel with a global reach.

Please schedule a Discovery Call, email me at linda@ohsoorganized.com, or call 914-271-5673. Living clutter-free is possible, especially with support.

 
 
How to Use Virtual Organizing as the Bridge to Help You Achieve Your Goals

What do tea bags, Elfa drawers, and virtual organizing have in common? The tea bags represent what needs organizing. The Elfa drawers embody an organizing solution. Virtual organizing is the bridge that transports you from where you are to where you want to be.

One benefit of the ‘bridge’ (virtual organizing) is the traveling-the-road aspect. In the time it takes to move from one place to another, you get to:

  • Rethink what’s working and what isn’t

  • Clarify your goal

  • Open your mind to alternate solutions

  • Think creatively

  • Discover alternate possibilities

  • Identify what’s holding you back

  • Mentally prepare to take action

  • Brainstorm with a professional who is 100% focused on your success

In essence, virtual organizing affords you the time and space to think through your organizational challenges and solutions. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong about diving into the action piece. However, designating time to discuss, reflect, and clarify can enrich and empower your organizing outcomes.

 

Virtual Organizing Benefits in Real Life (IRL)

For example, a client might need one or more sessions to discuss their challenges with letting go of sentimental or aspirational clothing. It’s valuable to tease out the thought patterns and potential obstacles. They take time to consider and sit with those ideas before taking action.

Sometimes, they move forward on their own. Yet, often, they find it helpful to devote some virtual organizing sessions to work with me on active editing, decision-making, and letting go. That means we’re not only talking about it, but they are doing the physical work as I support them through the process.

  

Releasing Stuck Energy

I’ve observed something fascinating for myself and my clients. When you begin editing, letting go, and clearing a space, it creates a path for new solutions and ideas. When things remain status quo, the energy in a space and your thinking can get stuck. But once you stir the pot, incredible changes happen.

Virtual organizing is the bridge that transports you from where you are to where you want to be.
— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

An Unexpected Project Outcome

One of the recent projects I’ve been working on is redoing our guest bedroom, which was our daughters’ bedroom. Renovating it has been on my ‘want to do’ list for many years. Finally, its time arrived. I will share more about that exciting transformation in the coming weeks.

However, for now, I’ll tell you about an unexpected outcome. One of the unanticipated side benefits came when we emptied the room to prepare for painting it. I removed the small Elfa drawer unit and temporarily placed it in the pantry. I wasn’t sure if we’d put it back into the bedroom post-renovation. After a few days of observing the cabinet in this other location, I decided to make it pantry-worthy.

I removed the games and playing cards and repurposed the cabinet for tea, spices, and food-related items. I also found these fabulous Container Store Elfa drawer dividers, which keep the items in the drawers organized and in place. It makes me giggle whenever I open the drawer and see those dividers. I love the reimagined cabinet!

If I hadn’t been willing to disrupt one space, I might not have improved another. Like my clients, I gave myself time and the opportunity to think through my organizing systems, get creative, and try something new.

Disrupting a space has value, as does having a thought and accountability partner to help you navigate to the other side of the bridge.

  

Virtual Organizing is an Empowering Path

What have you disrupted lately? What benefit have you received from your virtual organizing sessions? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

Do you want help getting unstuck, planning, or creating new organizing systems? If so, I’m ready to help. Please email me at linda@ohsoorganized.com, call 914-271-5673, or schedule a Discovery Call. Moving forward is possible, especially with support.

 
 
41 Amazing Results Clients Actually Experience from Virtual Organizing Sessions

I love helping my clients succeed as they make changes in their lives. Being part of their organizing journey as they experiment and grow is a privilege.

Prioritizing goals, changing habits, and learning new skills is no small feat. It takes patience, time, and curiosity. Sometimes, I’m asked, “How much can you accomplish in a one-hour virtual organizing session?”

Of course, that depends. However, it doesn’t matter if you’re planning, decluttering, assessing, or something else. My goal is to help my clients experience and notice their progress during every session.

Progress shows up in different ways. It might be . . .

  • Having a perspective shift

  • Decluttering a surface

  • Reducing overwhelm

  • Letting go of unhelpful ideas

  • Making decisions about emotionally charged possessions

  • Gaining clarity around the next tiny, doable step

  • Designing an organizational solution for a challenging area

  • Planning a big project

  • Figuring out where to start

  • Gaining confidence

  • Identifying potential obstacles

  • Noticing the changes they made

  • Learning new skills

  • Organizing mind clutter

  • Brainstorming about how to prioritize commitments and goals

  • Getting unstuck

  • Organizing a specific area

  • Improving their mood

  • Feeling empowered by their progress and agency

 

An Essential Question

My friend and colleague, Juliet Landau-Pope, begins each client session with this question. It’s a beautiful query because it encourages the client to review their progress and identify the benefits they’re experiencing. She asks,

“What value did you get from the last virtual organizing session?”

I listen carefully to what my clients say. They talk about their obstacles, positive changes, progress, and goals.

My clients experience many positive results from their one-hour virtual organizing sessions. I’m sharing their inspiring thoughts with you, which are categorized into five areas. They are:

  • Clutter

  • Progress

  • Mood

  • Enjoyment

  • Empowerment

 

41 Inspiring Results Clients Describe About Their Virtual Organizing Sessions 

Clutter

I’m in the process of un-messing.”

“The bedroom is more habitable.”

“Clutter is more energy than it’s worth.”

“The couch looks better.”

“My pile of ‘going’ is getting bigger.”

“Stuff was much more overflowing before.”

“I now have a blueprint for how to declutter.”

 

Progress

“I made headway.”

“So much progress has been made.”

“Once on a roll, it’s easier.”

“I got so much done during our session.”

“It’s a big deal for me to be this focused.”

“I am making significant progress. I couldn’t do that a while ago.”

“Wow! This is starting to come together.”

“I feel more in control.”

“I see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

I now have a blueprint for how to declutter.
— Oh, So Organized! Client

Mood

“Things feel mentally more manageable.”

“I am way less overwhelmed.”

“I feel better.”

“I am so relieved to be dealing with this.”

“I feel good. I was down in the dumps when I couldn’t do anything.”

“It’s good to talk about emotional strategies to make it better.”

“This feels so good what we did today.”

“At the beginning of our session, I felt like crying. Now I feel giddy.”

“I’m in a better mood now.”

 

Enjoyment

“This was super helpful and fruitful.”

“Who knew organizing could be so fun?”

“This was very helpful. It was better than I thought it would be.”

“I really enjoyed our session.”

“This has been so much fun.”

I see the light at the end of the tunnel.
— Oh, So Organized! Client

Empowerment

“Things are improving. I’ve got this.”

“I have a plan that I can actually accomplish.”

“Not insurmountable anymore.”

“I’m in a whole other place than before.”

“It's not scary anymore.”

“I know I can do it. I can pair things down.”

“Not impossible or unconquerable.”

“I feel very motivated.”

“This is so liberating. I deserve this.”

“This is empowering.”

“I can do this!”

 

Virtual Organizing is a Powerful Path Forward

Which client experiences resonate with you? Have you worked with a Virtual Professional Organizer? If so, what positive results did you experience? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

Do you need help getting unstuck, making a plan, decluttering, or organizing? If so, I’m ready to help. Please email me at linda@ohsoorganized.com, call 914-271-5673, or schedule a Discovery Call. Moving forward is possible, especially with support.