What makes an organizing session successful? In the 20 plus years I’ve been working with clients, I’ve observed many things that have created positive organizing visits. Both organizer and client contribute to the success. If you desire a better organizing experience, consider adding some of these “ingredients” into the mix.

12 Ingredients For Successful Organizing Appointments

1. Self-Care – Organizing takes physical and emotional energy. Taking care of your basic needs are essential. It's important that you and your organizer are well rested, hydrated, and have eaten prior to organizing. When you’re exhausted and hungry, it’s more challenging to think clearly, be creative, and make decisions.

2. Distractions – Eliminate as many distractions as possible. Some common ones include phone calls, email, digital “dings,” visitors, pets or children. Think about what you can do in advance to minimize distractions so that you can receive full benefit from the organizing session that you’ve committed time and resources towards.

3. Trust – Establishing a trusting relationship is crucial. You might feel uncomfortable with someone seeing or touching your stuff. Just remember that your organizer needs to be someone you trust. They are there to support and help you and not to judge you.

4. Clarity – It’s important to understand some basic parameters at the start of each organizing session. Include these:

• What is the session’s focus?
• What are your goals for today?
• How many hours will we work?
• Are the goals realistic based on the time allotted?
• Are there any concerns or relevant information that might influence what we’ll do or how we’ll be working?

5. Preparation – In addition to thinking about what project you’ll be working on, collect the basic supplies you’ll need. Supplies might include sorting containers, markers, place to make notes, or receptacles like bins or trash bags for items being donated or removed.

6. Atmosphere – Organizing can be fun, especially if you lighten the mood with music, laughter, singing, and even dancing (and yes, I’ve done them all.)  There are also simple environmental enhancements that can boost the success of an organizing session. If the rooms are dark, turn on more lights or bring in additional lamps. If you respond well to aromas, burn a favorite candle with an uplifting or energizing scent. Consider the room temperature and make the necessary adjustments to be more comfortable.

7. Decisions – The client is the decision-maker and gets to establish the parameters for what stays, goes, gets touched or not. The organizer is the facilitator, supporter, question-asker, timekeeper, goals-reminder, and cheerleader. Successful sessions are client-centered.

8. Strengths – Notice what’s already working well. Pay attention to your strengths and what you’re good at. Collaborate with your organizer to design systems and strategies that play to your strengths and how you process. Some examples include activating visual, auditory, kinesthetic, verbal or emotional organizing strategies. Denslow Brown, organizer, coach and author, identifies nine of the modalities in her book, The Processing Modalities Guide.

9. Breaks – Include snacks, water, caffeine, or fresh air breaks when needed. It's time for a break when you notice waning energy levels, decision fatique, decreased focus, or agitation. Breaks might also include switching projects midstream. This could be driven by attention needs or a desire to shift to a less emotionally intense project.

10. Letting Go – Successful organizing sessions include letting go whether it’s physical objects, pre-conceived notions, negative thinking, or calendar clutter. While the challenge to let go can range from easy to ambivalent to impossible, clients often share with me how great they feel once they’ve done it. This is reflected in a positive shift in their mood, which is noticeable by their smiles, laughter, giddiness, and open, receptive body language.

11. Review – Know where you are at the beginning, middle and end of each session. Know where you’ve been, where you’re heading, where you are, and what you’ve accomplished. Discuss follow through items to be handled between appointments by organizer and client. Review the schedule for when you’ll connect and next meet.

12. Compassion – The most successful organizing sessions include full servings of compassion. Negative self-talk and disparaging remarks get left behind. Positive language like, “I’m becoming more organized,” or “I’m working on my organizing goals,” is substituted. We all struggle with something. We are all works in progress.

Have you experienced a successful organizing session? What ingredient was part of your mix? Come join the conversation and share.

Do you wish your kids were more organized? Do you get frustrated trying to help them? I was curious about how others taught and transferred organizing skills to their own children. So, I enlisted help from a wonderful group of colleagues (Stephanie Calahan, Leslie Josel, Helena Alkhas, Ellen Delap, Yota Schneider, Diana Quintana and Aby Garvey.) I asked them, “What organizing success strategy have you passed on to your children? How did you accomplish that?”  Their responses are motivating and inspiring. My gratitude goes to each of them for sharing their personal stories with us. If you want your children to become more organized, keep reading to discover some kid-tested organizing success tips that might work for you.

What organizing success strategy have you passed on to your children? How did you accomplish that? . . .

7 Kid-Tested Organizing Success Tips

1. Small Steps

“Ever since my son was small we have worked with him to understand how to take big projects and break them into simple doable steps. For example, cleaning his bathroom breaks down into gathering the supplies needed and then cleaning the mirror, counter, sink, tub/shower, toilet and floor. We did this by sitting with him and having him think through the steps and we'd fill in the blanks when he would get stuck. Now that he is twelve, we use the same strategy for his school and extra curricular activities. We found that by giving him the opportunity to think it through first, he is quite independent with most of his work and often gets it done ahead of schedule because he has thought through the variables.“

Stephanie LH Calahan– The Big Vision Catalyst, Business Strategist, Author and Producer

2. Prompts

“The organizing success strategy that I’ve taught my children is to use external prompts to remind them of tasks or responsibilities they need to get done. So if they need to do homework, call a friend, walk the dog, put dinner in the oven, etc. They’ve been taught to set timers, phones, alarms, or use visual and written prompts. I started teaching them this strategy by asking them the question, “How are you going to remember to…” and having them work out the strategy that would best fit the task. It’s not enough to ask them to do something but ask them how they are going to remember or prompt themselves to do it.”

Leslie Josel – ADHD Specialist & Author

3. Routines

“I am a believer in having routines to structure our time, know what comes next and to be more productive. We have a clear routine that "guides" us through the day and the kids grew up with that. From the moment they wake up, through going to school and back, all the way to going to bed at night we follow a "self-care/school" checklist that helps them cross the dots of daily life and lets them know when is work time, when is play time. This also teaches them to be independent and to self-guide. As a parent it is my hope that this will stay with them and help them when they have to leave and be on their own.”

Helena Alkhas– Professional Organizer & Virtual Assistant

4. Practice

“My kids are amazing, organized parents! They are list makers with a family calendar in their kitchens. They organize not only their closets, but also their children’s clothes.  Each has a file cabinet with easy access, simple filing. How did this happen?  It’s all about talking the talk and walking the walk.  Living in a home with organized parents created the expectation that organizing is an important life skill.  We focused on strengths, talked about organizing, and down played perfectionism.  They practiced as teens and young adults.  Now as parents of young children they have created organizing solutions in their own homes.”

Ellen Delap, CPO®  – Professional Organizer, Productivity Consultant & Family Manager Coach

5. Preparation

“August is traditionally Back to School month and there's tremendous marketing pressure to get out there and buy. The girls, high school juniors, know that I'm not going Back to School shopping unless they've inventoried their closets and desks, assessed their needs and wants, and de-cluttered their space.

Piles of paper, old homework and folders head to the recycling bin, used up school supplies are thrown away, and clothes they've outgrown and are usable head to the donation pile. Next, they create a prioritized list of their needs and wants. I assure them that they'll always get what they need and occasionally what they want. What they’ve learned is that, in order to make room for the new, we simply have to let go of the old and outdated!"

Yota Schneider, Seasons of Change Certified Master Coach – Life Transitions Coach, Workshops & Retreat Facilitator, Blogger, & Mindfulness Meditation Practitioner

6. Completion

“There is a saying that goes like this: Don’t put it down, put it away. I used this saying over and over with my two boys. When they were very young I asked them to put something away when they were finished with it. This translated to games they were playing with when they were very young. As they grew older this saying could also be applied to things like clothes (in a laundry basket or hung up), dishes in the dishwasher, homework in the correct binder, and taking things they belonged to them back to their rooms.”

Diane N. Quintana, CPO®, CPO-CD®– Professional Organizer & Author

7. Letting Go

“By organizing and decluttering with my kids since they were very young, I've taught them how to let go of things they no longer use or love. For one of my kids, letting go didn't come easy. It required a lot of patience and a long-term focus on my part, as we spent hours going through her stuffed animals, clothing, toys, and books. I always let my kids make the decisions, and never let go of anything behind their backs. In the process, I've taught them that letting go is a natural part of life and maintained their trust.”

Aby Garvey – Professional Organizer, Author, & Online Class Instructor

I love this collection of strategies from my colleagues! As a parent with two daughters in college and beyond, I have spent a lot of time teaching them organizing skills. The investment was worthwhile. I marvel at how they’ve integrated those skills regularly and naturally into their lives. Here are some more articles about transferring organizing skills to our children:

Failing Your Way to Success by Linda Samuels

Moms’ “To Do” Lists by Linda Samuels

Cutting the Organizing Umbilical Cord by Leslie Josel

11 Tips to Conquer Your Child’s Clutter by Aby Garvey

Which organizing success tips resonate with you? Do you have additional ones to share? Come join the conversation.

Is the desire to be and feel successful in our work, life, and relationships a universal pursuit? It's certainly something we often talk about and strive for. Our personal definition of success varies for each person and situation. During a conversation with my Mom, I was reminded about one of my favorite "success" stories about my Dad.

Like many others of his generation, my Dad worked for the same company for 25 years. He could have easily become a lifer. Due to several reasons, at age 50, he made a bold move. He gave up the familiar along with the security of income and benefits to start his own company. With two kids in college and one about to start (me), he took a big financial and personal risk.

The story goes that on his first day of being his own boss, he went to his newly rented office and worked. Opposite of his normal work habits, halfway into the workday, he left to see a movie. He’d never done that before. Later that night, when he got home, he told my Mom about his movie adventure. When she asked him why he went, he said, "I wanted to see what would happen."

“Refine what you’re doing, try something new, and pave the way for your success.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO™

That singular event, set the stage for the next 25 plus years as he tested the “let’s see what will happen” theory. He became highly successful in his computer graphics consultancy business as he traveled the world saying, “yes” to opportunities and trying things he’d never done before.

While the lessons I learned from him are many, here are a few of the success rules my Dad modeled for me:

9 Success Rules

1. Try something new.

2. Question the familiar.

3. Fear will be there, but forge ahead anyway.

4. Just because you never have, doesn't mean you can't.

5. Connect people.

6. Say, “yes” to opportunities.

7. The glass is half full.

8. Humor is a good thing.

9. Enjoy the journey.

It’s a new season. It’s a chance to reset your goals, refine what you’re doing, try something new, and pave the way for your success. What does success look and feel like? What are your success rules? I’d love to hear from you. Come join the conversation.

From the perspective of being a professional organizer for more than twenty years, I consider my field to be one of the helping professions.  There are many ways I assist my clients, which involve helping them with their “stuff.” I use that term loosely because it isn’t always the traditional physical things of life that are part of the work. The “stuff” extends to emotions, time, transitions, and more. While the list is extensive and ever changing, I’d like to share a recent sampling of how I’ve helped.

While my clients have a wide range of needs, I specialize in working with individuals who struggle with chronic disorganization. I have extensive training and certification in chronic disorganization through the Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD).

What are some of the ways organizers help their clients? Depending upon your perspective, as you read ahead, you might identify ways that you might benefit from hiring an organizer. Or perhaps, you’ll discover new options to provide organizing help to others. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

10 Ways Organizers Help Clients With “Stuff”

1. Assessment Stuff - Organizing involves doing and thinking. Assessing is done at various stages of the organizing process. It’s always done before work begins, so we can understand the organizational areas that need attention. Assessments don’t end there. They continue once the work begins. Each organizing visit includes an assessment before, during, and at the end to help clients stay focused, adjust the scope as needed, and acknowledge their progress.

2. Physical Stuff - No matter how much the digital era has infiltrated our lives, we still have an abundance of physical things to manage, maintain, evaluate, and organize. From papers to clothing, toys, and gadgets, helping to organize the physical possessions of life and the space we live and work in is a major part of the work I do.

3. System Stuff - With all of this stuff, we need systems to manage everything from paper flow to recycling, donation, or return centers. Those are some of the ways I help my clients organize.

4. Emotional Stuff - There are distinct boundaries between organizers, coaches, and therapists. You might more readily equate “emotional stuff” with a therapist’s work than you would with an organizer’s. I’m not a therapist, and I respect the professional boundaries. However, organizing and going through “our stuff” can evoke a range of emotions. While I don’t counsel, I am there to support my clients during the organizing and letting-go process, which can be an emotionally charged experience.

“Organizing involves doing but also thinking.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO™

5. Maintenance Stuff - Even after all “things” are organized and in place, there is often a need for periodic maintenance, especially with the chronically disorganized population. This can involve clearing spaces, closets, or surfaces that were previously organized. It can include processing and filing papers, updating financial records, or switching seasonal clothing. Scheduling maintenance builds in time to reroute and restore things to their designated homes and evaluate changes that might be beneficial.

6. Project Stuff - Instead of ongoing, overall organizing help, some clients enlist help for specific projects. This can include everything from organizing a closet to house linens, clothing or gifts to setting up a unique paper management system for college applications, committee work, or writing projects to making lists and packing for a trip. The help needed is often short-term, clearly definable, and has a distinct beginning and end.

7. Routine Stuff -There are times when clients need help with managing routine items like making calls for research, setting up, reviewing, or canceling accounts, scheduling appointments, logging receipts, updating check registers, processing mail, creating lists, or writing correspondence.

8. Resource Stuff - More often than not, I’m asked about specific resources for my clients. Their requests range widely, from help finding the best places to purchase organizing products, sources for donating furniture, companies that remove junk, and therapists who specialize in compulsive buying. I’m constantly collecting new resources, generously shared from other professionals, friends, and family.

9. Time Stuff - Many clients are overwhelmed by their overflowing calendars. Their schedules can feel as cluttered as their spaces. The busyness also affects their thoughts, which can create mind clutter. For many clients, I help them evaluate their time commitments, establish their priorities, work on planning, and design a more comfortable version of the 24 hours they have each day.

10. Transition Stuff - A favorite aspect of my work is the long-term relationships that develop. Especially because of this longevity, I have the privilege of helping clients navigate the organizational aspects that life’s transitions bring, such as marriage, birth, graduation, job changes, children leaving, children returning home, moves, divorce, loss, and death. Transitions are dramatic periods of change. Being able to help clients organize during the tumult gives them some sense of control, normalcy, and comfort. 

I’d love to hear from you. Are you thinking about enlisting help from an organizer? Are you an organizer who helps others? Perhaps you’re in another helping profession. Which ways to get help with “stuff” resonate with you? Introduce yourself and come join the conversation!