One of the things my organizing clients frequently say to me is, “Linda, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”  They say that because I’m there for them 100% to help them move past overwhelm and reach their goals in the organizing areas they find challenging. While our organizing sessions are often filled with fun and humor, I take my role as helper and support person seriously. I’m grateful for the trust my clients place in me.

Being in a supportive role means suspending my own agenda so that I can help my clients focus on their needs. This is integral to the organizing work that I do. While I love helping others, it’s essential that I rejuvenate and help myself too. Otherwise I’m no good to anyone else.

These days are particularly full with running Oh, So Organized!, working with my clients, being President of ICD, writing, presenting, traveling, managing family responsibilities and more. Recharging is essential. Being outside helps me.

On a recent walk, my racing thoughts of to dos slowed down as I breathed in and shifted the focus to my senses. I noticed the bright sun and green around me, felt the warm summer air, heard the birds conversing and leaves rustling, and smelled the earthy scent of the path below my feet. My walk through the woods led me to one of my favorite spots by the river.

Once there, I planted myself on a rock in the middle of the river. I was surrounded by water. I felt centered and calm as the sun warmed me, the river flowed around me, and I breathed in and out deeply. The river helped me, so that I could continue helping others.

I’d love to hear from you. Come join the conversation and share with us. What are your thoughts? What helps you rejuvenate?

Quotes are one of the many things that I collect. I culled my collection to share with you my favorite ones about enlisting help. Everyone needs help at some point in life. Help comes from internal or external sources. What have you noticed?

Enlisting help from . . . beginning:

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

Lao-tzu

Enlisting help from . . . our attitude: 

“It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.”

William James

Enlisting help from . . . a new day: 

"I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning." 

J.B. Priestley

Enlisting help from . . . others 

“Remember, we all stumble, every one of us.  That’s why it’s a comfort to go hand in hand.”

Emily Kimbrough

Enlisting help from . . . ourselves:

“You are the solution to every challenge you have.”

A. Drayton Boylston

Do you have any favorite quotes to add to the mix? Join us!

Organizers and coaches are in helping profession industries. Our clients reach out for our help in a variety of ways from navigating challenges to organizing space, thoughts, and time to discovering new perspectives. We are passionate about helping our clients succeed and grow. I was curious about what early influences encouraged my colleagues to enter their profession. To understand more I reached out to this generous, compassionate group of organizers and coaches – Andrea Sharb, Aby Garvey, Ellen Delap, Yota Schneider, and Seana Turner. I asked them, “What childhood influences led you to enter a helping profession?” Their responses are inspiring. My deepest gratitude goes to each of them for sharing their personal stories with us.

I asked my colleagues . . .

What childhood influences led you to enter a helping profession? . . .

Watching Others

“My parents were definitely the biggest influence.  As a child my mom volunteered in my school and for various non-profits.  As I grew, I watched both mom & dad volunteer at church and for organizations like the United Way.  Now in their seventies, they still value volunteering and still give countless hours in support of organizations and causes important to them.  I watched and learned.  When I left my previous career to become a full-time mom I began a regular practice of volunteering myself and the volunteering provided for a very natural progression into a helping profession eight years ago.”

Andrea Sharb, CPO-CD®, ACC®, COC®, CPO® – Professional Organizer & Productivity/ADHD Coach

Cultivating Interests

“I don't recall any particular person or outside influence that led me to enter a helping profession. Instead, I remember being innately interested in two particular helping careers, teaching and nursing. As I child I also loved organizing my closet and rearranging my room. Today I have combined two of those early interests, teaching and organizing, into a career that allows me to help people learn new skills and make meaningful changes in their lives.” 

Aby Garvey – Professional Organizer, Author & Online Class Instructor 

Modeling Values

“From as early as I can remember, serving and helping others has been a focus of my family.  As a child and teen, my parents always suggested ways for us to be involved, including Girl Scouts and Candy Stripers.  In college there were many ways to ‘give back’ including Gold Key Guides giving tours to perspective students.  My parents were committed community members, modeling involvement.  Giving back and philanthropy are a family trait.”

Ellen Delap, CPO® – Certified Professional Organizer, Productivity Consultant & Blogger

Overcoming Adversity

“Where do I begin? Maybe with the heartache of growing up with a twin sister who was handicapped. I spent my childhood trying to somehow set things right for everyone. That turned out to be quite an impossible goal and a heavy burden that I had to contend with my entire life. Eventually, and after many years of inner work, I realized that helping isn't about setting things right for others. Instead I could use my skills, creativity, and personal experience to help my clients own who they are and blossom.”

Yota Schneider – Life Coach, & Mentor & Blogger

Practicing Joy

“I was lucky enough to have adults in my young life who gave me the opportunity to bless others: by bringing a meal, holding a door open, sharing clothes, or simply visiting a homebound person. What I observed is that few things lift our spirits like getting our focus off of ourselves and onto someone else! Discovering that the very thing I LOVE doing brings pleasure and relief to others is frosting on the cake.  It is the unwritten law of the universe – in doing what we do best, and sharing it, we find our deepest joy.”

Seana Turner – Professional Organizer, Blogger & Life Coach

It’s fascinating how deep the desire to help runs and the obvious joy we derive from helping others. What have your experiences been? Are you more comfortable giving or receiving help? Are you equally comfortable in both roles? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation!

From the perspective of being a professional organizer for more than twenty years, I consider my field to be one of the helping professions.  There are many ways I assist my clients, which involve helping them with their “stuff.” I use that term loosely because it isn’t always the traditional physical things of life that are part of the work. The “stuff” extends to emotions, time, transitions and more. While the list is extensive and ever changing, I’d like to share a recent sampling of how I’ve helped. While my clients have a wide range of needs, I specialize in working with individuals who are chronically disorganized. I have extensive training and certification in chronic disorganization through the Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD.)

What are some of the ways organizers help their clients? Depending upon your perspective, as you read ahead you might identify ways that you might benefit from hiring an organizer. Or perhaps, you’ll discover new options to provide organizing help to others. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

10 Ways Organizers Help Clients With “Stuff”

1. Assessment Stuff -Organizing involves doing but also thinking. Assessing is done at various stages in the organizing process. It’s always done before work begins so we can understand the organizational areas that need attention. Assessments don’t end there. They continue once the work begins. Each organizing visit includes an assessment before, during, and at the end to help clients stay focused, adjust the scope as needed, and acknowledge their progress.

2. Physical Stuff -No matter how much the digital era has infiltrated our lives, we still have an abundance of physical things to manage, maintain, evaluate, and organize. From papers to clothing to toys and gadgets, helping to organize the physical possessions of life and the space we live and work in is a major part of the work I do.

3. System Stuff -With all of this stuff, we need systems to manage everything from paper flow to recycling, donation, or return centers. Those are some of the ways I help my clients organize.

4. Emotional Stuff -There are distinct boundaries between organizers, coaches and therapists. You might more readily equate “emotional stuff” with a therapist’s work than you would with an organizer’s. I’m not a therapist and respect the professional boundaries. However, organizing and going through “our stuff” can bring up an array of emotions. So while I don’t counsel, I am there to support my clients during the organizing and letting go process, which can be highly emotional.

“Organizing involves doing but also thinking.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO™

5. Maintenance Stuff -Even after all “things” are organized and in place, there is often a need for periodic maintenance, especially with the chronically disorganized population. This can involve clearing spaces, closets, or surfaces that were previously organized. It can include processing and filing papers, updating financial records, or switching seasonal clothing. Scheduling maintenance builds in time to reroute and restore things to their designated homes and evaluate changes that might be beneficial.

6. Project Stuff -Instead of ongoing, overall organizing help, some clients enlist help for specific projects. This can include everything from organizing a closet to house linens, clothing or gifts to setting up a unique paper management system for college applications, committee work, or writing projects to making lists and packing for a trip. The help needed is often short-term, clearly definable, and has a distinct beginning and end.

7. Routine Stuff -There are times that clients need help for managing routine items like making calls for research, setting up, reviewing, or canceling accounts, making appointments, logging receipts, updating check registers, processing mail, making lists, or writing correspondence.

8. Resource Stuff -More often than not, I’m asked about specific resources for my clients. Their requests range widely for help finding best places to purchase organizing products to sources for donating furniture to companies that remove junk to therapists that specialize in compulsive buying. I’m constantly collecting new resources, generously shared from other professionals, friends, and family.

9. Time Stuff -Many clients are overwhelmed by their overflowing calendars. Their schedules can feel as cluttered as their spaces. The busyness also affects their thoughts, which can create mind clutter. For many clients, I help them evaluate their time commitments, establish their priorities, work on planning, and design a more comfortable version of the 24 hours they have each day.

10. Transition Stuff -A favorite aspect of my work is the long-term relationships that develop. Especially because of this longevity, I have the privilege of helping clients navigate the organizational parts that life’s transitions bring such as marriage, birth, graduation, job change, children leaving, children returning home, moves, divorce, loss, death. Transitions are dramatic periods of change. Being able to help clients organize during the tumult gives them some sense of control, normalcy and comfort. 

I’d love to hear from you. Are you thinking about enlisting help from an organizer? Are you an organizer that helps others? Perhaps you’re in another helping profession. Which ways to get help with “stuff” resonate with you? Introduce yourself and come join the conversation!