Neatnik Amanda vs. a Professional Organizer: Organized Help
Amanda keeps harping about getting one of those hideous dumpsters. She says the two of you can get the whole place cleaned up in a weekend. The thought of working on organizing for an entire weekend makes you kind of woozy. You keep thinking, “I can’t do things that fast. I need time to make important decisions.” You’re wondering if a weekend blitz would end up with Amanda determining what gets thrown away. What if your treasures end up in that dumpster Amanda’s in love with?
A PO has the patience to help you make decisions at your pace. She’s ready to ask you questions and help you prioritize what you want to keep. A PO can help you look at your life and your vision for the future and determine which items will support you in pursuing your goals. She knows methods that can speed up organizing, but she will never be the one who decides what stays and what goes. A PO knows that it’s your stuff and will never do anything without your permission.
What if having help from Amanda means listening to her endlessly tell you what to do? It would be just like when you worked together on the centerpieces for the banquet. If she had only stopped talking and shown you how to do them, written it down, or drawn a sketch, you could have easily done it. Instead, she just kept talking and talking and telling you what to do, and, they had to be done her way. She never listened to your ideas.
Working with a PO is not being told what to do. A PO listens to your ideas and helps you refine them so things work the way you want them to. A well-trained PO will also listen to figure out the best way to teach you. Some people are auditory and prefer verbal instruction. You are probably visual, kinesthetic and tactile. You learn things more easily when someone shows it to you, and then you do the actions yourself—you learn with your eyes and your body.
How would you rather work on organizing, with endless talking or someone showing you how and helping you adapt things to your style?
Copyright© 2019 Elizabeth Tawney Gross, Organizing For Everyday, LLC