Whether you are organizationally challenged, highly organized or somewhere in between, there are times when we want to enlist help. That help can come in many forms like hiring organizational professionals, reading books about organizing, or finding the perfect storage container. Organizing resources are abundant. The sheer volume available can be overwhelming. To help you get started, I’ve narrowed down the options.

10 Best Sources for Organizing Help

1. Best Association for Finding Professional Organizers: National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professional (NAPO)

With over 4,000 professional organizers in NAPO’s easy to search database, you will surely be able to find an organizer. My post, 6 Tips for Hiring a PO can help you evaluate which one is the right fit for you.

2. Best Information on Chronic Disorganization: Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD)

This organization is the premier resource on chronic disorganization with top-notch education and strategies for the disorganized, professional organizers and related professionals. I’m looking forward to attending the annual conference this September, Overcoming Obstacles in Chicago.

3. Best How to Organize Book: Organizing Plain & Simple by Donna Smallin

This book is well organized, easy to use, and features multiple ways of approaching organizing challenges. Donna recognizes that there isn’t a one size fits all method of organizing. For each challenge, she includes multiple solutions supplied by various organizers. You can read the entire book or just the passages that apply to your particular organizing issues.

4. Best Book about Challenging Disorganization: The ICD Guide to Challenging Disorganization edited by Kate Varness, CPO-CD, MA

This newly released book is a fabulous guide for understanding some of the core issues surrounding disorganization. The collection of articles by 32 industry leaders includes topics such as learning styles, hoarding, ADHD, depression, and collaborative therapy. I’m honored to be one of the contributors.

5. Best Variety of Organizing Products:  The Container Store

This favorite store (online and in-store) is the best place to find consistently stocked, interesting, durable, and beautifully designed organizing products. The staff is well trained, knowledgeable, courteous, and helpful. It’s this organizer’s dream store.

6. Best Stylish Organizing Products:  See Jane Work

When I’m looking for unique organizing products, I love visiting this website to see what Holly Bohn, the Founder and Creative Director of See Jane Work has discovered. She has a great eye and finds wonderful new products to add fun and pizzazz to the organizing experience.

7. Best Virtual Organizing Help:  Clutter Diet

Lorie Marrero, author of The Clutter Diet and creator of ClutterDiet.com has developed an innovative program allowing anyone to get expert virtual organizing help and advice at an affordable price. Her website is filled with tips, videos, and organizing support. This past spring, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lorie about clutter for our “Ask the Expert” feature.

8. Best Organizing App:  2Do: Task Done in Style

There are hundreds of to do management apps, and new ones keep coming. I haven’t tried them all, but I do use this one on a daily basis and absolutely love it! Not only does it appeal to my visual sensibility, but also it allows me to organize projects, actions, grouped and sorted, as I like. It has reminders, alarms, and syncing capabilities. How did I live without it?

9. Best Organizing Tips Blog: Peace of Mind Organizing

My friend and colleague, Janine Adams is a wonderful writer and blogger with a fabulous sense of humor and style. Just visiting her blog leaves me feeling uplifted and calmer. She always has something interesting to say or share about organizing, products, and habit changing.

10. Best Organizing Blog Featuring Professional Organizers: Professional Organizers Blog Carnival

Janet Barclay, Founder of the Organized Assistant, has a blog with monthly themes like organizing closets, computers, email, and families. She invites professional organizer bloggers to submit posts on a particular topic. Her blog is a wonderful resource for learning about different strategies and getting to know lots of organizers. Later this month, I’m looking forward to sharing my interview with Janet about enlisting help for our “Ask the Expert” feature.

Everyone needs help now and then. If you’re ready to reach out, these “best” resources are a great place to begin. Do you have a favorite organizing resource? Do you have any thoughts about a resource mentioned above? Come join in our conversation.

Do you prefer to do everything yourself? Do you get overwhelmed because you do too much? I’ve been guilty of not asking for help because it seems like it’s faster, easier, or less complicated if I just do it myself. I’ve learned that this isn’t always beneficial. If you find it difficult to enlist help, the pros and cons lists might help you shift your perspective.

Enlisting Help:  The “Pros”

• Benefit by another person’s expertise, wisdom, and creativity
• Focus on using the best of self by delegating tasks that are less interesting
• More time to spend on what’s most important
• Learn new skills
• Move past being stuck and overwhelmed
• Accomplish more because of delegating and accountability

Enlisting Help: The “Cons”

• Have to clarify and explain needs 
• Help might not be the right fit (person or profession) 
• Work might not get done exactly as you would do it 
• Have to let go of some control 
• Need to manage, set boundaries, and expectations 
• Might feel embarrassed to ask for help 

Learning how to ask for help, knowing when you need it, and finding the right type of help can be tremendously useful skills to hone. All of the “cons” listed have a positive side. For example, enlisting help can be disappointing and ineffectual if it’s not the right fit. Let’s say you are looking to hire a professional organizer to help organize your home office. It’s worth getting referrals from friends or resources like NAPO or ICD. Contact more than one professional so that you can select the one best suits your personality, budget, and needs. Doing research will give you a better chance of finding that right fit.

Think about areas you are struggling with. Would you benefit by enlisting help from a family member, friend, or professional that you trust? What’s your next step? Come join the conversation and share a pro, con, or next step.

You are moving forward on your organizing challenges. You’re at the point where you want to enlist the help of a professional organizer. There are thousands of organizers in the world and each is as unique as the clients they serve. With so many choices, how do you find an organizer that’s right for you? By considering some of these questions, you can find a good fit.

6 Tips for Hiring a PO . . .

1. Assessment – Clarifying your needs will help you find which organizer is right for you.

• What kind of organizing help do you need? There is a wide-range of organizing specialties. Some organizers specialize in residential or business organizing. Some organize papers while others orchestrate moves. Some organizers are generalists while others specialize in working with the organizationally challenged.

• Do you need assistance with a single, short-term project such as organizing a closet or do you need help with a more complex long-term project including ongoing support such as organizing an entire household?

• Has organizing always been a challenge for you? If so, consider hiring an organizer that specializes in working with chronically disorganized clients.

• Do you have the time and financial resources to invest in your organizing goals?

2. Contact – Initial conversations can be indicators for the future success of your relationship.

• Did you find the organizer through a referral, ad, professional association, article or Internet search?

• When you first communicated with the organizer, were they responsive?

• Did they answer all your questions?

• Did they understand your unique challenges and organizing goals?

• Would you enjoy working with them?

3. Availability – Even though organizing is a service industry geared towards our clients, individual organizing companies are structured differently.

• Are your schedules compatible?

• Can the organizer accommodate your needs?

• Do you want to work with the organizer evenings or weekends? If so, is the organizer available then or do they only work during the weekdays?

4. Research – Exploring further will enable you to make a more informed decision.

• Did you interview more than one organizer? Organizers have different personalities, business practices and methodologies, so it might be beneficial to contact several organizers to compare differences.

• Did you ask the organizer for references? If so, consider the type of work the organizer did with those clients (was it similar to your needs) and the longevity of the relationship. What insights did the client share?

• Does the organizer have a website? If so, did you review it to learn more about them and their business? What impressions did you have?

5. Intuition – Let your insights help guide you.

• What does your inner voice tell you about the organizer?

• Were you able to easily communicate with them?

• Did you feel hopeful or hopeless after talking with them?

6. Education & Experience – The level of the organizer’s education and experience can have an effect on your organizing success.

• What type of special education or training does the organizer have?

• How long have they been in business as an organizer?

• Do they continue to educate themselves on organizing issues and trends?

• Do they have resources such as other professionals, publications or products that they will share with you?

• Do they belong to any professional organizing associations such as ICD, NAPO, POC, JALO, or NBPO? The more involved the organizer is with their industry, the more value they can offer to the client.

Like you, organizers want the relationship to be successful. If they are not well suited for you, they should be able to refer you to another organizer that can better meet your needs.

Are there any other questions that are important to consider? How did you find your organizer?

The past few weeks I’ve been writing and thinking about reasons and ways to enlist help from others. A few days ago, I was asked a question by business coach, Dr. Shannon Reece, which made me think about this from another perspective. For her upcoming blog, she asked entrepreneurs, “What is your single best personal and creative example of ‘ME time’ that you use regularly, which allows you to completely step away from your business and recharge?”

While it’s important to understand and identify when we should and need to ask for help, it’s just as essential to know how to be our own source of help. Here are some ideas to consider:

7 Ways to Help Self

1. Re-Sync.  There are times when we feel like we’ve gotten off track. Our electronic devices might be in sync, but we aren’t. We may feel sad, agitated or anxious. How do you bring yourself back to center? Perhaps watching a comedy, writing in your journal, cooking a new recipe or riding your bike will work. Some like to keep a “Feel Good” file where they add encouraging letters, notes and inspirational quotes they’ve collected. When they need a lift, they pull out the file to shift their perspective.

2. Balance. A funny coincidence was that as I sat down to write this post with my cup of Yogi Tea, the hangtag on the tea bag was this quote, “Work, but don’t’ forget to live.” This is a great reminder that while each of us has our “work,” it’s important to develop other parts of our self for a better life balance.

3. Organize.  Creating perfect order is not necessarily what organizing is about.  Organizing means creating just enough organization to support your daily needs. Small changes can make a big difference. It might mean organizing your make-up drawer, folding and putting away the clean laundry, reviewing and prioritizing your “to do” list the night before or unloading the dishwasher. Reigning in some of that daily chaos and stress can have positive affects.

4. Review the Basics. This may seem obvious, but simple things like drinking enough water, eating a well-balanced diet, exercising and getting enough sleep are important ways to take care of you.  It’s essential to listen to your body. Getting the basics in balance is key. We all have challenges. Exercising regularly is one of mine, which I continue working on.

5. Declutter. Letting go can be difficult, but releasing clutter can be helpful. The clutter might be physical such as overflowing clothes closets, piles of magazines and catalogs or cabinets full of rarely used kitchen gadgets and appliances. The clutter could also appear in over scheduled calendars or too many thoughts running around our heads. Focus on simplifying your spaces, time and minds by allowing the unessential to be released. This is one of the most significant ways you can help yourself.

6. Reframe. There is a standard term used in the coaching industry, NCRW, which means Naturally Creative Resourceful and Whole. This concept encourages coaches to view their clients in this positive, proactive way. While the coach is there to help guide and ask questions, it’s the client and not the coach that is capable of discovering all the answers. Adopting this perspective shifts us away from trying to “fix” someone. If we start thinking about ourselves in this way, we become empowered to find our own solutions.

7. Rejuvenate. Going back to the where I began, let’s take another look at Dr. Shannon Reece’s idea of “ME time.” None of us have an unlimited supply of energy. We have to restore it or we’ll have nothing left for our family, friends, business, activities or self. There are many ways to help refresh. Maybe sleeping late, spending all day in your pajamas, walking in the woods, sitting by the river, enjoying a leisurely cup of coffee or tea helps you to get your energy back. Finding ways to restore your reserves is the best type of help you can give your self.

Please join in the conversation. Do any of these ideas resonate with you? What are your best ways to help yourself? I’d love to hear from you.