Why Should You Hire A Professional Home Organizer?
When I was first starting to accept my first organizing clients, I had a real battle with myself about whether or not my services would be helpful for anyone. Why in the world would anyone pay for someone to help them to declutter and organize their home? I quickly discovered after helping a few people that the service is not only helpful to people that hire me, it's beneficial and enriching to people and the smiles that I see at the ends of our sessions pretty much wipes out any doubts I had in the first place. But what if you're not sure whether or not you need to hire a professional organizer to help you with your home or not? Could you do it on your home or are you overwhelmed? Well, here are 5 reasons why it's sometimes a good idea to hire someone like me to come and help you deal with the clutter and dysfunction in your home.
1. You’re not motivated - There is something I need to do, I know is good for my health and should do it but don't because I'm not motivated and that is...exercise at the gym. I know in my mind that working out will help me live longer, relieve stress and basically help my milkshake bring all the boys to the yard. But...my sneakers and my gym bag will sit in the closet because..."I'll do it tomorrow" (which always means never). Tomorrow never really comes for my gym bag and my sneakers because I'm just not motivated without someone or something to hold me accountable. One of my biggest complaints about the Nike Workout App, which I actually think is pretty good is that the notifications are not shaming enough. They're like "Hey...there's a new workout. You might want to do it...maybe. No pressure though..". I need the app to be like: YOU NEED TO WORK OUT YOU LAZY SLOOOBBBBBBB!!!!" So, I have hired a professional trainer to help me stay motivated because we have appointments and she holds me accountable...as well as trying to kill me every week.
The same feeling I have about working out is the same feeling a lot of people have about home organizing. Maybe you want your home to be organized...sure you could probably find some time and get it done yourself, but you're not motivated and you need someone to hold you accountable. That's where a professional organizer will step in and help motivate you, hold you accountable and keep you on target so that you can stop waiting until tomorrow.
2. You’re overwhelmed and stressed - There are times when organizing your home or decluttering your home is incredibly difficult such as when you are moving suddenly or when a loved one is ill or has passed away. These are times when things like dealing with belongings is necessary, but not exactly the easiest thing to do during hectic or emotionally trying times. That is when someone who knows what they are doing can be very helpful for you and often times, the organizer will have great connections to Home Stagers, Moving Companies, Junk Haulers, Contractors and Interior Designers as well.
3. You don’t know how to organize - Organizing and decluttering spaces is something I love to do! I love organizing projects and I always have since I was a kid even though I was not incredibly organized. When I think about my childhood room, one of my favorite things to do when I was bored with the way that it looked was to actually organize and move the furniture around from time to time. I continued to do this into my adulthood and that's when I actually developed the ability to maintain systems and keep my space from getting too cluttered too often. I spend a lot of my time thinking about home stuff, I happen to love it. I love Home Decor Magazines and I LOVE HGTV. I spend a lot of time looking at Home Organization Products online and I'm even so obsessed with Homes that I spend a lot more time building and decorating homes in the Sims 4 than I do actually playing in live mode (BTW, if you play the Sims, follow me on the gallery as I've started to upload my builds). So that's me and my story which is why I think, I have an ability to make spaces function better. Not everyone has this ability or actually cares about it.
4. You don’t have time - Sometimes people would like to get their home organized and decluttered, but they just lead such a busy lifestyle they just don't have the bandwidth to give to these projects. This is when hiring a professional organizer can be very helpful for you. I find that if clients can give me an hour or two of their time so that she can sit with me and decide which things can go and which things can stay, I can take care of the donating, trashing and reorganization of the space while my client goes back to her job or taking care of her children. I often go and visit busy households who are overwhelmed with stuff but they just don't have time to deal with it because organizing homes is a process which requires a lot of time and effort. If you are a stay-at-home parent or someone with a demanding career, someone who is going to come into your house and set up systems can be a big help, especially if you have really young children.
5. Clutter affects your mental health - This is not just some theory, scientific studies have determined that what you perceive as clutter has a significant impact on your mental and physical health. Research reveals that the average American home has roughly 300K items inside and 1 in 10 have to rent offsite storage to store items that they can't fit in their homes. It is mentally exhausting to have to mentally account for all of these items and the idea of dealing with them or even getting rid of them can sometimes be too much to handle. Your environment affects your mood and your daily function.
Closing Thoughts: Hiring a professional organizer does not mean you're a slob or can't get it done, it means you're taking some of the power back in your home. Costs to hire a professional can vary from organizer to organizer and typically, you'll pay more for the service in an urban area than you will in a more rural area. If you cannot afford someone to come and help you with hands-on service which can get pretty expensive, some organizers have a virtual organizing service as well which tends to be a little less expensive. I offer this service as well for people looking to get organized, but maybe they can't afford to have me there for hours and hours or they just need a complete plan so that they can tackle it themselves. I usually speak with my clients for a 30 minutes over video chat and we discuss the issues and I draw up a complete personalized organizing plan in 48 hours.
I'd also like to add, that hiring an organizer for someone else is a great gift idea! However, do not keep this a surprise for recipient. If the recipient has been saying they'd like to hire someone to organize and you gift them with a few sessions with an organizer, that's great! However, if you hire an organizer for someone who either doesn't want or is not ready to receive the service, it puts the organizer in a very awkward position. I will not accept payment for gifted services without speaking with the recipient first. If your loved one has hoarding issues, you may want to begin by getting them the appropriate psychological assistance and I've had some therapists refer me then for their patient then after they've started to deal with those issues. Again, no surprises...better experience.
If you're considering hiring an organizer or you know of someone who is thinking about hiring an organizer but is not quite sure if it's what they need, share this post with them!