When Should You Call a Professional Organizer?

Did you know there is a right and a wrong time to hire your professional organizer? Well, maybe not wrong but there is definitely a more ideal time! Any guesses when it might be?

So you may have thought about hiring a Professional Organizer. Thoughts start to creep in like "I need help", "This is too overwhelming", "I should get this place cleaned up" or "There is so much stuff here! How did I get so much junk?!"

Yup! That has been the way we had traditionally viewed life. It's how our parents did it and their parents. The bigger the house, the more things we can accumulate and stuff into that house, the happier we will be. It's the American way!

Or so it used to be. In recent years a shift has started to take place. People are waking up to the fact that stuff doesn't equal happiness. It might even...make us unhappy! *gasp!*

So you turn to hire an Organizer to help coach you into removing this stuff and find your way to more happiness. It's a big step and one that shouldn't be taken lightly. I applaud you!

If nobody has told you this, let me be the Organizer who will say that there is a right time to contact us. The obvious is the sooner the better, generally.

1) When You Are Moving.

Depending on when you are reading this, you might notice the housing market is insane right now! Homes are flying off the shelf. It's not uncommon for me to get a call from a client who says that they are seeing the benefit in listing their home and want to rightsize (downsize).

The sooner you call an Organizer, the better off you will be. I can't stress this enough. Even if you are looking to sell in the next 6 months, years, or few years. You can't start this too early! A Professional Organizer is going to be able to help you start packing, decluttering, purging, donating, or selling items.

Think about it like this. When was the last time you moved? Have you lived in your home for 20 or 30 years or more? That's a lifetime of stuff that's been accumulated in the home that will need to be decluttered. And it won't happen overnight. The reality is, it won't happen in a few weeks either.

If you are moving into a smaller square footage home, that is even more reason to make the call. You won't be able to take everything. Selecting your treasures will be all the more important. Call the Organizer, take it in bite-sized chunks, and start knocking it out. If you need help finding a Professional Organizer I've written up how to find us HERE.

2) When You Have Moved into Your New Home.

Okay, I am going to be controversial here and tell you something many Organizers won't. Calling a Professional Organizer right when you move in, is not the best time.

Why? Because when you move into your new home you don't know yet how it needs to be organized for you and your family's needs. When you lived in your last home, you KNEW those "sticking points". The spots in your home that just didn't work. It could have been a closet or a drawer that never made sense and you didn't how to use the space. In the new home, you haven't lived in it long enough to what works and what doesn't work.

Can you hire an Organizer to help you unpack? Yes, absolutely! Even better if you can get the same Professional Organizer who helped you pack and knows how you like your things. (Hint! Many organizers will travel if you move out of state so ask.)

Some items have industry standard locations. like the silverware is adjacent to the dishwasher and the towels go in the linen closet closest to the bathroom. Your Organizer will be able to set the home up to the industry standard but remember that unless you live in the space, you won't know if the cookie-cutter approach works for you and your needs.

What's my recommendation? Wait. At least 3 months before hiring a Professional Organizer to come and organize your home. Live in the space, try things out, move things around and make notes about what works and what doesn't. Then call in your Organizer to help problem solve.

3) Going Through Life Transitions.

I speak about life transitions a lot and how these affect our ability to the organization. A life transition is such a broad term. It can mean: marriage, divorce, blending families, a new baby, a job, move, adoption, death, and so much more that happens in our lives.

If you are facing a life transition or expecting a life transition again, the sooner you call an Organizer, the better you will be able to navigate the transition. A Professional Organizer can help you prepare for the transition, walk you through it and organize you after you come out of it.

4) Generally Disorganized.

Sometimes a client just needs help with organizing. It is not an inherent skill but it is a skill that can be learned and developed over time. So if you are someone who has always been a little (or a lot) disorganized (missing appointments, can't find your things, always late) then calling a Professional Organizer will help you find out why that is and how to stop it from continuing to happen.

If you can see yourself in any of these examples, give an Organizer a call. It doesn't hurt to take a look at your options and the first step is always the hardest. Once you get started, you get some momentum and the process gets so much easier.

I'd love to know what your thoughts are on this. Do you have other times you think it's a good time to hire a Professional Organizer? Let me know!

If you want to schedule a call and start the journey to living a more organized life (and a less stressful one!) you can book your call with me HERE.