You organized your toys into neat piles when you were just 5.

You love to move and change furniture around and re-design your living room often.

You’ve helped your friends and relatives get organized for as long as you can remember.

Sound anything like you? Great, but do any of them mean you would make a good professional organizer? Not necessarily. Being a professional organizer takes a lot more than just being organized. Take this quiz and see if you have what it really means to be paid for your skill as an organizer.

Answer YES or NO to each of the following 25 questions.

1. I am okay around spiders or droppings?
2. I can find anything quickly on the internet or a department store?
3. I can move heavy objects by myself?
4. I’ve trained, taught, toured or counseled people who were not my friends or family?
5. I cringe at the word miscellaneous (or have difficulty spelling it)?
6. I can easily spot personal identifying information on a complex document?
7. I like dogs and cats?
8. I can function well on less sleep?
9. I’m physically flexible and don’t mind crawling into small spaces?
10. I’m good at getting to know people quickly by asking the right questions?
11. I’m decisive but not pushy?
12. I can work outside in the rain or cold?
13. I’m just as good at organizing a cluttered garage as a gourmet kitchen?
14. I know how to comfort people at times of distress?
15. I am NOT a perfectionist?
16. I have multiple skills beyond organizing?
17. I can operate a hand drill with ease?
18. I know practically every product sold at The Container Store?
19. I’m good at negotiating?
20. I have excellent spatial perception skills?
21. I like people?
22. I have a great ‘poker face’?
23. I’m a great networker?
24. I never assume something is trash?
25. I know what my time and talents are worth?

If you answered yes to a majority of these questions, congratulations!  You may have what it takes to be a professional organizer. Want to know more? Consider joining NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers), share your comments or contact us at LET’S MAKE ROOM.

January is the perfect time to plan your personal organizing and productivity goals but like most people you’ll probably never do anything about them.

Forgive me if that sounds a bit cynical but over the years I have realized a lot of people say they want to get more organized but don’t.  That’s because they realize it’s boring and tedious, which it can be unless you are naturally organized.

After all, who wants to think about organizing a garage or the year’s tax receipts when it’s all you can do to get out of the house in the morning?

Instead of resolving to “get organized” this year,  think about what positive change you want in your life and then connect that change to something you can control.

Here’s what I mean. Let’s say you want to do a better job at saving money.

Start by examining the ways you spend your money now. There are numerous and easy ways to do this. One of the simplest is perusing your bank account over the past year. Many banks provide a “quick view” of where your money went by category such as groceries, mortgage, gifts, utilities, tuition, etc.

Look for some of the hidden ways you spend money. For example, I had a client who owned four identical blouses, two with their price tags still attached.  Her clothes closet was so cluttered she didn’t remember she owned them.

After organizing her closet, she could easily see everything she kept stored.  No more time wasted looking for things she couldn’t find. No more getting late to work every day. No more money spent on duplicates.

When you discover how and where you spend your money, it becomes easier to adjust your budget and your spending.

Did you resolve to get healthier this year? Try losing a few clutter pounds.

I guarantee, when you let go of unwanted things in your life it actually makes you feel lighter. When you feel lighter you feel like being more active. The more active you are, the healthier you will be and feel.

I had a client who felt so much lighter after our work together organizing his home office, he started a regular jogging routine. Eventually he started running and last year he entered and completed his first marathon.

Is 2014 the year you change your job or career? Be innovative.

Keep your mind active any way you can. Whether that means taking dance lessons or organizing your model car collection. Make connections and start connecting the dots. What kind of people or ideas attract you?  Take small risks like joining a networking group (if you’re shy).  Do something productive.  Bake a cake.  Write a poem. Fix a broken appliance. Organize your closet. Anything so long as you can see and experience the result.

I know a woman who was unhappy at her job. In 2008 at the start of the recession, she found herself unemployed.   She spent the next few months doing all the things she had wanted to do while she was working but didn’t have the time or energy to do. She read books, took classes, did volunteer work and one night she organized her bathroom cabinet, just because she felt like it.

Four months later she started her own organizing business. That woman, by the way, is me.

So when you are thinking about your resolutions for 2014, don’t include “get organized” unless you know why you want to get organized?  Instead, consider what you want to accomplish and see if it’s something you can get by doing what you do naturally. 

Life is short.  At the end of your life, chances are you won’t wish you were more organized. If, however, getting organized gives you what you want, helps you save money, advances your goals, takes away your stress or gives you more peace of mind,  then by all means, do it.

Still feeling stuck? Come back next week to get some quick-start tips that will help you start your year off on the right track.

2013.

A year of transformation.  As you recall the most notable events of the past year, whether they be global, local or personal, why not take a moment to reflect on your life today, right now, in this moment. Because it will change.

If you’re not even sure where to begin, here are a few thought provoking questions to help you get started.

Did you accomplish what you set out to do?

Did you take the time to focus on what is really important to you?

Do you recognize the areas where you succeeded and where you would still like to grow?

Can you see how your contributions fit into the grand scheme of life?

Transformation takes mental and physical sweat, I once read. It also takes intensity mindfulness and focus. It’s not easy to know who we are supposed to be let alone know how to fully inhabit ourselves.  At the beginning of this year, I decided it was time to think bigger. It was time for LET’S MAKE ROOM to make room to grow.

I love helping people get organized, however, I felt I could accomplish more for my clients if I wasn’t working alone as much.  I also realized, after several people hired me to help them get organized to move, or empty a family home they were selling, or help them get unpacked, that there was a need LET’S MAKE ROOM could fill, especially in the San Francisco/East Bay Community where I live.

I realized, we could take the stress out of moving for busy families and other homeowners because we could fully dedicate ourselves to the process allowing our clients the flexibility and time to work or simply enjoy their lives, even when they didn’t live here.

Thus the idea of becoming a complete residential organizing service, one that would help people Get Organized, Get Moved and Get More Done, was born.

At first I resisted the idea of growing. I felt unsure of what it would mean in terms of my ability to keep ‘tabs’ on my little business. Then a series of big jobs came my way and I realized that I could no longer limit myself. Life presented me with a choice. Some people would say it was “luck.” I’ve always believed that luck is nothing more than an opportunity meeting with persistence.

Opportunity is like a strong wind you can’t escape from. You just have to hold strong and at the same time let yourself be carried forward, or backwards, or sideways.

Sometimes opportunity comes in the form of an unexpected loss or change. It can even be an expected change, such as growing older and you find yourself suddenly having to make a choice.

Pulitzer Prize winning Poet Mary Oliver writes about this in her poem entitled, The Journey:

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice—
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world
determined to do
the only thing you could do—
determined to save
the only life you could save.

Her words have followed me from my old career through launching LET’S MAKE ROOM. I have it posted on the wall next to my desk in my office along with a collage of other inspiring words and images.

And in case you’re wondering, they are not neatly hung in frames but rather displayed, somewhat haphazardly.  Sometimes that’s the way life is, even for an organizer.

Organization in a house torn apart is not an easy task – but it is a necessary one.

If you plan to remain in your home during a remodel, you’ll save on relocation costs but you’ll also have to put up with the noise, dust and constant interruptions. Should you decide to stay-in-place, here’s a tip from the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) on how to keep the project organized and minimize the stress on you and your family.

Before you start, set aside one corner in a room unaffected by the turbulence of the remodeling process to store all of your files.  While you have already created your Dream Book or Idea Book for design ideas, this is only one aspect of the project you need to keep organized. You will be receiving various documents and pieces of information during the project. Keep all these documents together in a project file.

Here are examples of items you will want to hold on to during your remodel:

• Construction specifications
• Your contract
• Construction schedule
• Pre-construction agreement
• Change orders
• Cost estimates
• Your budget
• Lien releases
• Construction documents, drawings and plans
• A reduced copy of your plans to take with you when shopping for materials, products or appliances
• Correspondence between you and your contractor
• Other correspondence or agreements with third party participants
• Construction journal – a log detailing how the project is progressing
• Your idea book
• Paint chips, manufacturer samples, etc.
• A list of questions to ask your contractor
• Notes and reminders to yourself

Whether you choose to remain in your home during a remodel or decide to temporarily relocate, advance planning, organization and budgeting are critical to the success of your project and will make it easier for you to cope during the remodel.

Have something to share about your moving, remodeling or organizing experience? Post it to our Facebook page and while you’re there, don’t forget to “Like” us.

• You spent a lot of money on that sofa 5 years ago but it doesn’t work in your new home.
• You loved it when you bought that suit but it doesn’t fit your personality anymore.
• Your best friend talked you into buying that clock last year but it’s just not you.
• Your husband gave you a gift because he thought it was meaningful but it’s simply not your taste.

Sound familiar? What do you do?

First, forget how much you spent on it or how much it may have cost. That money is gone.

Second, it won’t serve you tucked away in some back cabinet or closet especially when you need that space for other items.

Once you’ve realized the cost of holding on to it exceeds the cost of letting it go, you have two options.

1. Donate it
2. Sell it

Keeping it is an option if you want to delay your decision even longer but that’s the very definition of clutter.

“Gifting” it to someone else is also an option but be careful that you are not simply transferring your clutter to someone else. In this case I consider “gifting” the same as donating.

The next thing you should do is decide on a dollar amount that would make it worth your time to sell it because selling an item takes a lot longer than donating. And donating takes time too.

Would you take the time to sell it if you made $10? $50? $100? More?

Let’s say for example you have an artsy, hand-painted table you bought fifteen years ago when you were living as a single person somewhere else.  Now you are married and working full-time.  It’s still in good shape but it no longer fits your more streamlined, contemporary style (or your spouse hates it).  Now there’s no place to put it so it’s just taking up space in your garage.

You paid almost a thousand dollars for it so you can’t imagine donating it.  Your kids don’t want it and you don’t have the time to refinish it.

You’ve already taken the time to find out similar used tables sell for about $200-$300.

If you decide to sell it you will need to be prepared to spend at least a couple more hours selling it. You can do this on sites like Craigslist, Amazon or Ebay, including the time to reply to emails,  be available to meet with prospective buyers and sell it in person, assuming you don’t plan on shipping it.

If you’re lucky it will sell for the price you want. If not, it’s still taking up valuable real-estate in your garage, not to mention space in your brain.

You can also donate it to a charitable organization such as Goodwill. Alternately you can donate it to a specific local charity or non-profit organization you are connected with for a fund-raising auction. Again, this will take time, more time depending upon which type of donation you choose. You can also consign but keep in mind consignment shops have the last word on whether or not they will take an item. You could end up going from store to store and still not get anyone to take it. Be sure you know and understand a consignment store’s policy before you go there.

Most people tend to overvalue the worth of their possessions. Not everyone will have a seemingly worthless vase that really is a priceless collector’s item like the ones on TV’s Antiques Roadshow.

When deciding whether or not to donate or sell, you’ll want to obtain the true estimate value of an item or items to help you decide.

Donation is not the same as disposing. When you donate an item it does continue to have worth, both tangible (the tax benefit, re-sale value) and intangible (the ‘feel good’ effect).  Incidentally,  the IRS allows for up to $500 of non-cash donations to be claimed on your taxes without having to provide proof of value for each individual item.

Does this mean you should donate the table? Not necessarily but it does depend on other factors:

• Do you have the time and willingness to sell it?
• Do you need the income right now?
• Is the item worth your time to sell given it’s actual estimated market value?
• Will donating now versus waiting to sell it help with other goals you have such as gaining more storage or more room for another hobby or interest?

If you consider all of these factors together, chances are you will know what to do. If you’re still stuck, consider asking the advice of a professional organizer or call LET’S MAKE ROOM.

We can help you make a decision you can live with.

How many times have you moved in your adult life? Five times? Ten times? More?

Since moving into my first apartment at age 20,  I’ve moved eight times including three times across the country, and each of those three with a cat. I’ve also helped many clients move; across town, across country and even across the ocean.
Each time I moved, I learned the hard way about how to better plan for the next move.  I whittled this knowledge down to a list of 12 things you should know before you move and hopefully these tips will save you from learning the hard way too.

1. Create a move timetable or check list:  Brainstorm a list of everything you need to do. Work backwards from your move date to the present breaking down tasks from week to week. If you are moving with others ask them what you may have forgotten in your moving schedule and add it to the list.
2. Pay to move what you want; not what you don’t: Sort and purge what you no longer want. Remember most long distance moving companies charge by the pound. Do you really want to pay to move your college text books… again?!
3. Get a minimum of two in-home estimates: Not all movers are created equal. Although fees for long distance moves are based on weight, other fees for things like supplies, packing, extra stops and insurance vary from company to company. Look carefully at the estimate and always request a “not to exceed price.”  For local moves, ask the company to do an onsite estimate based on whether you are packing yourself or paying them to pack. Don’t just go with the quoted hourly rate.
4. Have professionals pack high value, fragile items: If you pack them yourself – you take the risk. If your movers pack it – they do.  To save money, have them pack just your most fragile items such as heirloom China, vases, antiques and chandeliers.
5. Insure your items at the highest rate you can afford: Long distance moving companies are required to charge a minimum insurance rate of .60 per pound. This means your heavy files are valued at the same rate as your fine crystal. Don’t take a chance! Insure for the full replacement value of your most valuable items (or check with your homeowner’s insurance provider to see what they cover).
6. Move in the morning: Summertime is peak moving season. For this reason most moving companies book two, three and even four moves in a day. Don’t be sitting waiting for the movers at midnight. Request a first appointment or if possible delay your move until after the Summer ends.
7. Invest in gently used boxes: Scrounging around for moving boxes at the supermarket is fine if you are moving a few items but inconvenient and time-consuming if you are moving an entire home. Search the web for used moving boxes and save a bundle on your supplies.
8. Ask your real estate agent’s advice: If you are working with a real estate agent who is helping you sell your home or buy a new one, ask them for tips about moving. They are very often a wealth of knowledge and resources.
9. Make a plan for your pets: Are you driving? Flying? Transporting your pets to another country?  Consult with your vet first. Call the airline to inquire about restrictions for carrying pets on-board and find out about quarantine requirements for your pets traveling overseas.
10. Get a floor plan of your new home if possible: Think ahead about where you want to place your furniture. Take pictures of the furniture in your old house so you can plan for where you want it in your new house. This will help save you time and money when you move into your new home. It may also keep you from over-stuffing your garage with all those pieces of furniture that won’t fit.
11. Do a walk-through before you leave your old home: This is one of those tips I learned the hard way. Before moving, I forgot to remove a box of favorite books from my old home and was never able to get them back. Walk through your empty house and check all your storage areas before you leave to make sure you don’t leave anything you want behind.
12. Take a little time every day to prepare, sort and pack: Moving is on the list of life’s top 10 stresses. Don’t add to your stress by leaving the planning, sorting and packing to the last minute. As a general rule and depending upon how much stuff you have, for each room in your home – excluding bathrooms – allow a week’s preparation time. Add another week for each year you’ve lived there over 10 years if you live in a house (half that if you live in an apartment). For example if your home has 8 rooms and you’ve lived there for 12 years, allow for 10 weeks or about two months to get ready for your move, more time if you have a lot of stuff.
13. Get help from a professional move manager if it all feels too overwhelming, need help planning or unpacking or if you simply don’t have the time or the availability to do it yourself.

Till next time!

My friend and Yogini extraordinaire, Deborah Saliby, called me on Sunday asking for my advice.

Deborah Saliby, Yoga for Health

Deborah has been teaching Yoga for more than thirty years.  There are a lot of Yoga teachers out there but relatively few hold the special certification that she does in Iyengar training. The certification signifies that she has undergone extensive training as an instructor in a particular method of Hatha Yoga called Iyengar, named for B.K.S. Iyengar, one of the foremost Yoga teachers in the world.

Whenever I have a question about Yoga, I call Deborah.  The moment I feel like my body, mind and spirit are crying out for a little restoration, Deborah is the first person I think of.  On Sunday, however, after her class, Deborah’s mind and spirit were crying out for a different kind of restoration, in her home.  I am grateful she called me.

“I want to organize three closets in my house,” she told me,
“but I’m not sure where to start.” She asked if I would mind sharing some of my professional organizing tips.  “Of course,” I told her. I enjoy it when anyone calls me with a specific organizing question. To me if you are willing to ask the question, you are definitely in the mindset to get organized.

As a professional organizer,  the most common questions I get involve the how and where of organizing, as in “how do I do this?” or “where do I start?”  Typically this follows an extended period of gradual awareness which eventually transforms into “I really wish my (fill in the blank) was more organized. But it’s not until the defining moment when the thought, “today is the day I’m going to do something about it,” that change can occur.

For my friend Deborah that moment came after she got home from teaching one of the many Yoga classes she leads in Berkeley, California.

“So where do you want to start?” I asked. “I don’t know, she said. So I probed a little more. “Which of your closets bugs you the most, that is, which has the most impact on your daily life? “My bedroom closet where I keep all my clothes,” she said, with a little giggle, “you know how much I love to shop?”

“Okay,” I said. “So why do you want to do this at all?” She explained to me that she wanted to hold a sidewalk sale. “Yes,” I said, “that’s good, but why do you want to get organized?” I asked again. “Because I can’t stand looking at the mess in my closet anymore. I know I have a lot of nice things in there that I don’t want anymore and half the time I can’t find what I’m looking for. I’m wasting time and I want to be able to wear what I love.”

Deborah understood what was bothering her about her closet but even more she knew what organizing it would mean to her (not to anyone else) and she was motivated. Plus she had the added incentive of making a little extra money. I told her, “Yeah, you could sell all the clothes you don’t want anymore and with the money you make go out and buy new ones.”  We both laughed.

I offered Deborah a step-by-step plan to get all three of her closets organized.  I shared some strategies for how to overcome some predictable obstacles such as what to do with items that had more “emotional value” than “wear-value.”  I took her through exactly what I would do with her if I were physically doing the work with her and then I asked her if she had any questions. “Nope, I’ve got it.”

Before we hung up I told her to feel free to call me when she was done with the first closet.  Even though Deborah was doing this for herself, I wanted her to know that I was interested in hearing about her progress.

The next day, Deborah did call. She sounded really happy.  She told me how she had followed my plan including emptying the entire closet first, sorting items by category, parting with what she no longer used, wore, or loved and got rid of things that brought in bad “mojo.”  She reorganized the items she kept by type and color and put aside those things she plans to include in her sidewalk sale.  In total it took her two hours. I was impressed.

“How do you feel now?” I asked her, “Great! Just walking past my closet makes me happy.”

I offered Deborah some final tips about items she was still undecided about and suggested some ways to contain items on the shelves using what she already had around her house, before saying goodbye.

After we hung up I went in to my living room and took a big breath and stretched.  Thank you for that, Deborah.

Have a question about organizing? Getting ready to move or start a home renovation project and need to get things packed, donated and organized? Call or email me. I promise you’ll come away with something you can use.

As I told Deborah, I love to be a catalyst for change.

At 8:00 this morning, I had my own private celebration. It took place in my head.

An hour earlier I was driving and thinking about how terrifying it must be for some of my clients to do the one thing that scares them the most; To finally confront what’s kept them from moving forward in their lives because they feel overwhelmed and stuck and it’s showing up as piles of papers, boxes and who knows what else, on their desks, on the floor, in their drawers, everywhere.

I was thinking about what it means to do the one thing that scares you the most and to have the courage to do it anyway because you know you have to. Because you know not doing so will have far greater consequences.

For people who are chronically disorganized, the consequence of not facing their fears can be enormous.  For some it’s a loss of control over their lives. For others, it’s isolation. I know people who have lost their children, their spouses and their very security because of their inability to face their fears head on.  I also know people who have shown great courage and have discovered the meaning of making room in their lives.

My fears are about public speaking. And yet, as a small business person I know the value it brings to others in the form of information and sometimes even inspiration. But I do it quite frankly because I have to. Working with people in their homes and in their offices or helping them move is tactical but it’s also very personal. I know that if people see me and feel I am someone they can trust, and recognize I  have the expertise to help them, then they often will remember me when it comes time to organize their offices, or their bedrooms or help them plan and oversee their move to a new home.

This is what I was thinking at seven o’clock this morning, on my way to speak to a group of fifty small business owners and entrepreneurs about how to face their fears, specifically about how to confront their own Paper Monsters.  I did this presentation a few weeks earlier and it had not lived up to my expectations  – perfectionism, my monster, rearing it’s ugly head, yet again –  and now I was getting ready to face him again.  Was I scared? Petrified, which is why at that moment I started thinking about my clients.

“If  they can have the courage to hire me, then I can damn well find the courage to face my fears as well, ” I thought.  And so I did. And it went fine. It wasn’t perfect but it was good enough. And that’s good enough. But to be honest, I’m glad it’s over. At least for today I can celebrate.

Tomorrow, I do it again.

Laurie (not her real name), hired me recently to help her organize her overstuffed, clothes closet. It took two days. One day to sort and then edit what she no longer wanted and one day to contain, label and return what was left to her closet, organized, folded, hung right side in, and accessible.

Laurie is an active, super-mom of two school-aged kids, with a full time sales job. She told me she wanted to feel less stressed in the morning which often meant time spent looking for a matched pair of shoes or a clean outfit so she could get herself dressed in time to feed her kids and get them to  school before heading to work herself. She confessed her husband was neater than she was and her disorganization was creating friction between them.

This is the type of organizing job that most people think of when I tell them I do residential organizing.  In fact, organizing a closet is one of those “dream” assignments that most professional organizers knows comes once in a blue moon.

In general, the people who hire organizing professionals to work in their homes are those who have much bigger challenges.

This is why I silently cringe when I come across people who refer to themselves  as a “professional organizer” but have no significant experience working with clients, let alone credentials or training.

In May of next year,  the official manual of mental health diagnosis and criteria, otherwise known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (5th edition) or more commonly known in the mental health world as the DSM-V, will be published by the American Psychiatric Association.

The DSM-V contains a listing of diagnostic criteria for every psychiatric disorder recognized by the U.S. healthcare system.  Among those conditions expected to be included is “Compulsive Hoarding Disorder” which up till now has been listed as a sub-set of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), a serious anxiety disorder involving intrusive thoughts and ritualized behaviors aimed at reducing an individual’s anxiety.

Including Compulsive Hoarding as it’s own condition came out of research that found that people who suffer from this condition, which basically involves the excessive acquisition of items that  frequently are perceived by others as having little or no value but lack the ability to discard them, have not responded to treatments used for OCD. In addition, other studies have found that people who compulsively hoard don’t always show other symptoms of OCD.

Even if someone is not disorganized at the level of a “Hoarder” but may be what is termed “Chronically Disorganized,” this doesn’t mean their disorganization can be easily understood or fixed by just having the right containers.     There are many factors —  situational, emotional or physical– that impact a person’s ability to manage their lives in a reasonably organized way.  Disorganization is a symptom but it is also a behavior disorder that can impact a person’s well being, health and safety in very real ways.

For example, I recently worked with a middle-aged woman who was suffering from depression brought on by the death of her father with whom she was very close. Her depression lead her to neglect her home for so long that when I met her she couldn’t access her sink to get fresh water.  Her floor was covered with so much clutter that she would have difficulty leaving her home in an emergency.  Her bed was piled so high with clothing she slept on her couch.

The Institute for Challenging Disorganization, known in the industry as ICD,  is a subscriber organization that provides education and resources to those challenged by disorganization as well professionals working with this population. People with Chronic Disorganization, according to ICD, have a history of disorganization in which “self-help efforts to change have failed, undermining their current quality of life and the expectation of future disorganization.”

People with Chronic Disorganization are often great at keeping their conditions a secret. Such was the case with a client I had who was the picture of professionalism – a 45 year-old sales manager who was the top sales producer at her office but had not invited anyone to her condo in five years because she told me she was “too exhausted to clean up” and hadn’t unpacked since she moved in.

At a time when we have twice as much information coming at us, both digitally and in print, even the most competent person can find themselves challenged to stay on top of it all. Such was the case of an entrepreneur I worked with who could do anything involving technology but when it came to organizing his bills,  documents and other paper, he felt like a “lost cause.”

Even people whose lives are relatively stable can be challenged by the enormity of organizing challenges such as the retired widow who hired me to help her fit the contents of her 2,400 square-foot family home she just sold into a 1,600 square-foot city apartment she had rented.

Unfortunately, anyone can call themselves a  “professional organizer.” Doing so does not require any type of specialized training, certification or license.

The National Association of Professional Organizers otherwise known as NAPO is the leading professional association for the industry.  While their role is not to regulate,  they do require that members adhere to an ethical code, and are in the process of developing a basic curriculum that will be required of all members in the coming years.

Professional organizing is a relatively new industry, and NAPO, formed in 1985 and which now includes more than 4,200 members in 12 countries, including the U.S., was formed when people were discovering there was a growing need for help on ways to be more organized and productive at a time when consumerism was at its highest and the information age was just starting to explode.

Fortunately, there is a certification track available through an organization called the Board of Certified Professional Organizers® or BCPO®  The BCPO® requires certain experiential standards be met and applicants must pass an exam before they can receive their BCPO® certification. (I am getting ready to sit for my exam in February.)

Although NAPO and the BCPO® are working hard to establish standards for the profession, most consumers are not aware of these standards, nor does the general public necessarily understand the differences between someone who calls themselves a “professional organizer” and one who actually has the credentials, training, experience and education to perform the work at the highest level.

Consumers, whether they be businesses or individuals must rely on the recommendations of others, and their ability to size up the skills and qualifications of the organizer. This means they often have to make an important decision about the kind of help they need from their gut feelings.  This wouldn’t be a big problem if what you are looking for is someone to organize your clothes closet but what if, like many people, your disorganization is impacting your well being,  health or safety in bigger ways?

As a consumer, I would implore you to consider an organizing specialist the same way you would consider any other professional such as an attorney, dentist, doctor or accountant. Would you feel comfortable hiring a dentist who advertised on a free bulletin board?  Would you work with an accountant who you discovered on a flyer tacked to a phone pole? Would you send your parents to seek medical care from someone who had four other jobs?

All I’m saying is, you get what you pay for. In other words, Buyer beware.

I came across these 10 Simple Steps to Staying Organized in Getting Organized Magazine.

Try to commit one or two to memory and start implementing them in your own life.

You can receive a digital version of Getting Organized Magazine, including these great tips by going to this link or copy and paste this URL into your browser:

http://www.gettingorganizedmagazine.com/2012/07/13/2012-summer/

1. If you get it out, put it back.

2.  If you open it, shut it.  

3.  If you try it on, hang it up.

4.  If you get it dirty, wash it. 

5.  If you don’t use it, get rid of it.

6.  If it doesn’t fit, donate it.  (my add in….or consign it or sell on ebay if it is a great piece)

7.  If it’s expired, dump it. 

8.  If it’s junk, throw it out.

9.  If it’s a bill, pay it.

10.  If you schedule it, write it down.