Posts tagged supportive
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.

 
 
Goldilocks Inspires Useful Clues for How to Really Let Go

Do you remember the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears? One of the main themes is Goldilocks’ search for what felt “just right.” One chair was too big, and another too small. She rejected both. However, when she found the one that fit, she knew it was the one for her and used it. The chair was right-sized and “just right” for her.

At the core of the Goldilocks philosophy is finding the sweet spot, the optimal place where things feel balanced, comfortable, and supportive. Who knew Goldilocks could help with letting go?

Are you struggling to let go of things, ideas, habits, or commitments? If so, a Goldilocks approach could help. Her decision tree went like this:

“This bed is too hard.”

“This bed is too soft.”

“This bed is just right.”

What will “just right” look and feel like for you?

 

 

 

 

Why is Letting Go Overwhelming?

There can be a lot to sort through, which can make letting go feel overwhelming. Clutter can accumulate from:

  • years of acquiring

  • gifts and inherited items from others

  • postponed decisions

  • emotional attachments

  • unclear or nonexistent organizational systems

  • being overscheduled

  • unclear boundaries

  • not following through on closure loops

Time is part of the equation, too. You need time to make decisions and to align what you own with who you are and what you need now. This can be tricky if you feel stuck in the past or are holding onto things for an aspirational future or self.

However, when you start making decisions based on who you are now and your current needs, it brings greater clarity as you let go.

 

 

 

Are You Sacrificing the Present?

Many years ago, I attended an ICD class on consumerism, minimalism, and experimentalism, presented by my friend and colleague, Lynne Johnson. She shared a quote about letting go.

How much of your present are you willing to sacrifice in order to save remembrances of your past to ponder in your future?
— Anonymous

The question aligns with the Goldilocks philosophy of the three-point decision tree, but from a time-based perspective. Consider what you are holding onto in relation to the:

  • Past - Are you willing to hold on to things from your past that keep you stuck and no longer serve you? Can you release them and move on?

  • Present - Are you willing to let those things take up physical space and mental energy, distracting you from the present? Can you let go and be more aligned with the present?

  • Future - Are you holding onto things with a glimmer of hope that you will revisit, use, or need them someday? Can you say goodbye to them in service of an unencumbered future?

 

 

What DOES Letting GO Look Like?

When you release what you no longer need, you invite more ease, better life alignment, joy, and growth. Even releasing one thing makes room for what’s most important, essential, and valued by you.

Letting go can look like this:

  • Donate the never-used pots and pans to make the ones used regularly more accessible.

  • Release rarely-used purses to make room for the ones you do use.

  • Recycle the papers that ‘time took care of’ so you can focus on what’s current.

  • Skip the to-do list to enjoy a beautiful spring weekend day.

What does letting go look like for you?

 

  

 

The Goldilocks of Letting Go

What happens when you begin to align your life so it feels “just right?” Will you release what no longer belongs, brings you joy, or is useful? Will letting go bring you closer to living your best life now? When you release what's blocking your energy, space, and thoughts, you create room for calm, growth, and happiness.

Which ideas resonate with you most? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

 

 

 

How Can I Help?

Do you feel overwhelmed or disorganized? Do you want to let go of the unnecessary but feel stuck or unsure where to start? I’m here to help! You don’t have to do this alone. Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – Local feel with a global reach.

Let’s connect! I’m easy to reach.

Letting go and getting organized are possible, especially with support.

 
 
Three Surprising Lessons to Find Next in a Quiet and Curious Way

Have you experienced stress and anxiety when working out what to do next? Those negative emotions and thought loops can contribute to doubt and inaction.

What if instead, you chose a more supportive way forward? What if next wasn’t so stressful?

There are lessons to learn about figuring out what’s next from various sources. These can help you progress in a quieter, more curious, and gentler manner. How would it feel if the next step was less contentious?

I will share three sources that have inspired and helped me: a crocus, a quote, and a message. I hope they will be helpful for you, too.

 

 

Three Lessons About Next

1. The Purple Crocus

I’m taking one cue about next from nature’s playbook. Spring is my favorite time of year. While I love the entire season, I especially enjoy pre-spring. Seeing tiny signs of color and growth slowly transform the gray winterscape is uplifting.

One of my most joyful sightings is when the purple crocuses with their bright green stems emerge from the dirt to bask in the sunshine. I’ve often written about my delight in spotting the crocuses and the hopeful feelings they evoke.

Lesson for Finding Next: Channel the confidence and energy of the crocus. Envision yourself emerging from indecision and gently take your next step. Allow the hopeful feeling that new growth brings to guide you forward. The crocuses bloom, and so will you.

 

2. The Quiet Quote

In Oliver Burkeman’s book Four Thousand Weeks, he shared a Carl Jung quote about next that resonated with me. I thought you would appreciate it, too. Jung said,

 

“. . . quietly do the next most necessary thing.”

 

I love the emphasis on “quietly.” Do you often go forth loudly, brimming with self-doubt, putting up obstacles, or fighting every step of the way? Instead, what if you approached that next thing in a calmer, lower volume manner?

Lesson for Finding Next: Change the volume of your approach to next. Turn down the sound and minimize the obstacles to help you find next with greater clarity, curiosity, and focus.

. . . quietly do the next most necessary thing.
— Carl Jung

3. The Internal Message

The messages you tell yourself can help or hinder progress. I recently wrote about deviating from my routine for wrapping up last year and planning the current year. My departure from previous patterns, wasn’t just a change. It was more like I didn’t do any of those rituals, at least, not in the formal way I had been for many years.

Wrapping up the year and planning for the future involves several steps and requires considerable time. Given all that was going on, it didn’t happen. Here we are and it’s almost spring. I officially decided to stop berating myself for not accomplishing my self-imposed expectation, and instead focus on what makes sense at this juncture.

One of the tasks was figuring out my motto for the new year. It didn’t happen. Instead, I decided that the theme from last year, which served me well, gets to have another year to work its magic. With quiet ease and a gentle prompt, I remind myself, “You got this.”

Lesson for Finding Next: Repeating something that works isn’t cheating. Using the familiar to build from is a kinder, gentler path forward. Next doesn’t have to be complicated or completely different. Let next make sense for this present moment.

 

  

Reimagining How Next Happens

There are various ways to reduce stress and anxiety about determining your next steps. Nature's prompts, inspired quotes, and reframed internal messages can help you change how you navigate next.

How would reimagining next make a difference in your life? Which of these ideas resonate with you? What helps you figure out next? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

 

  

How Can I Help?

Do you want support organizing, editing, planning, or figuring out your next step? 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. Figuring out next is possible, especially with support.