Working with a professional organizer requires being coachable–the ability to receive instruction and guidance from another. When we aren’t coachable, our minds shut out any support or help. We remain solidified in our position and can’t hear what another has to teach us. This can happen in school between a student and teacher, at the gym between a client and his trainer, or with a business owner refusing to listen to the coach she hired to help get the results she wants.
Working with an organizer is no different. An organizer is like a coach, in that he can help you have the office and home space that you have desired and weren’t able to achieve on your own. If you are open to taking instruction and to following through on the necessary steps to restore your space, you will have the intended outcomes.
When I work with clients, they are often overwhelmed and a bit traumatized from their situation. They don’t know how to get where they want to go and are open to direction. I include and invite their suggestions. They can often come up with ideas I hadn’t thought about and I incorporate them into the process.
Sometimes clients get inspired once we’ve worked together and want to continue on their own between sessions. This is a good sign they are enthused and inspired to reclaim their space. The down side to this is they are not usually adept at creating the systems they need to maintain the order they’ve started and these areas can revert back to their original state. It’s helpful when I can see what they’ve done and how they’ve done it, so long term success is guaranteed.
My job when I work with a client is to make suggestions. The space is theirs and belongs to them. I have to set my preferences and demands aside and offer them choices so they can have the bedroom, desk or closet they desire. If they have no idea of how to proceed, then I will lead them and often in that journey, their own ideas rise to the surface and they will see how they’d like their things to live. It’s exciting when they add this input because they are regaining a sense of control and command over their environment.
Organizing is a process and as such, it requires continual attention to work with what’s in a space, especially if it’s a busy area like an office, kitchen or other well-used living area. An organizer can assess a space and help the client succeed by implementing specific systems and learning to use them. Being coachable requires the client listen to the instructions of the organizer and put them into practice. As she does, she starts to get the results she has long awaited. Just like going to the gym or starting a new eating regime, we have to follow the guidance provided or else we exhibit the same behavior and get the same results. When we follow the plan from an organizer, we have the tools to create lasting outcomes that restore order, flow and balance to our work, home and personal lives.
Make the choice today to establish the order you need and want in key areas of your home and work lives so you increase productivity, creativity and have greater peace of mind and clarity.