FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
I’m really overwhelmed and I don’t know where to start. Can you help me figure it out?
Are there any situations that you don’t deal with?
Do you charge for consultations?
Do you charge by project or by the hour?
Do you have any minimum purchase requirements?
Can you tell me how many hours it will require to complete my project?
How often must we work together?
I don’t know where to begin; how will we decide on the best place to start?
Can you work by yourself or do I have to be there with you?
Will you tell me where to put all my stuff?
What if I really don’t want to get rid of something...will you make me?
Do you provide housecleaning services during the project?
Who provides/pays for organizing supplies such as containers and shelving?
Should I buy containers prior to us organizing?
What should I do with all the stuff I want to get rid of?
Can you do for me what they do on shows like “Cleansweep” with the redecorating and all?
Once the project is finished, will you help me maintain it?
I’m really overwhelmed and I don’t know where to start. Can you help me figure it out?
Yes! This is the most common thing I hear people say…that they are overwhelmed. An objective eye can put everything into perspective.
I’m embarrassed to let you see the mess in my place. I’m afraid you'll run away or think I’m a bad housekeeper.
Most people feel that their situation is extreme and are ashamed to let anyone see it, even a professional. While I acknowledge that you feel embarrassed, I can assure you that 99.9% of the time I’ve seen much worse than whatever you have! Even situations that are “extreme” in nature do not come to be because someone is a "bad housekeeper". Usually there are other factors involved - physical injuries, divorce, depression, chronic illness, an over-burdened schedule and more can all contribute towards a clutter buildup. Whatever the cause of your situation, there is no judgment placed on you as a person, just a journey to find the solution that works best for you.
Are there any situations that you don’t deal with?
Yes. At this time, I am not trained to work with people who have any kind of compulsive or “keeping” disorders, or people with diagnosed conditions such as ADD/ADHD. If you are involved with any of these situations, and would like to work with an Organizer, I can help you find one who is qualified with special training and/or certification in this area.
Do you charge for consultations?
I do not charge for local consultations. I prefer to come to your location so we can meet and I can see your situation. Also, engaging in face-to-face conversation is the best way to see if we will work well together. For locations out of my local area, I can either charge for a consultation which will be applied toward the first session, or we can conduct a free consultation via photographs or web cam.
Do you charge by project or by the hour?
I charge by the hour for all sessions. My hourly rate for on-site sessions depends on location and increases with distance.
Do you have any minimum purchase requirements?
Yes. I have a three-hour minimum per session for areas local to me, and a four-hour minimum for areas further away. Phone and Web cam session lengths are customizable and can be as short as one-half hour.
Can you tell me how many hours it will require to complete my project?
The motivation for this question is usually to figure out how much it will cost to complete a project. The short answer is "no". The long answer is: There are so many variables that go into a project it is not possible to pinpoint the number of hours a project will need. The first factor is the type and amount of stuff to go through, which is not completely apparent until actually going through it.
Also, each person is different: How quickly does a person move and make decisions? Is a person willing and motivated to do “homework” in between sessions? Can a person learn the system and complete it on his/her own, or do they need me to be with them through the finish? All these things and more determine the number of hours I would need to be there and therefore the amount of money it will cost.
Since it is impossible to know all these factors in advance, I prefer to not make promises that that are not within my control to keep. I can, however, give an approximation of how many sessions it could take to complete an area given average conditions and based on all my previous experiences.
How often must we work together?
I don’t require a customer to meet with me with any particular frequency. Once my hourly rate/session fee is set, I encourage the customer to determine on their own how frequently they can afford to see me based on their own financial situation. In this way, the organizing project does not pose a financial strain.
For long term projects, my only recommendation is that the client try to keep the frequency at once every three weeks or more often. The reason is because, in my experience, when sessions occur more than three weeks apart, I have noticed significant backsliding on the part of the client. We end up cleaning up accumulated clutter before beginning to move forward and therefore the customer is not getting the full value for their money. I have found sessions set once per week or once every two weeks to be the most effective in keeping the momentum consistently moving forward.
I don’t know where to begin; how will we decide on the best place to start?
I generally get an idea of how to start during the consultation. During the walk-through and conversation I learn about what your goals are and ask enough questions about the space and the items to understand how we should proceed. Then we will agree on a starting point and an overall plan for how to move through the project.
Can you work by yourself or do I have to be there with you?
There are some Organizers who may be willing to work by themselves, but I prefer to work side-by-side with my clients. My philosophy is one of teaching. If the client is not involved they will not learn how to create and properly maintain the system. I also work by getting to know my clients. Especially in the beginning, I need to be able to ask the client questions about the objects we encounter as we find them.
Once I’ve worked for a long enough time with a client to know all about their items and where they need to go, I can work alone, however I prefer this to be only in situations where the client and I can split up and work on two different areas simultaneously. In certain specialized situations I may be able to work by myself for a limited period of time if there has been discussion and pre-planning, as in the case of packing or unpacking during a move.
Will you tell me where to put all my stuff?
No, I will not tell you to do anything. I will ask you questions about what you use and how you use it to determine how to begin constructing a system tailor-made to your personality and needs and then make suggestions or give ideas. I may ask you to consider changing some habits or behaviors that I see contributing to the clutter problem but it is up to you to do so. Nobody knows you better than you and if I try to make decisions or assumptions about how you operate, it is more likely the system will fail. That is why it is so important for us to work together.
What if I really don’t want to get rid of something...will you make me?
I cannot make you do anything. If you call me because you have reached a crisis point in your disorganization, then you must also make sure you are committed to the process. Sometimes people want to have their area neat, clean and organized without having to let go of things. Often this is just not possible because living beyond your spatial means is the root of the problem. You must be prepared to accept that purging (getting rid of things) is a necessary first step of the process.
For people who have reached a state of crisis, this is not just a housecleaning project but a lifestyle change and you must approach it as such. In the meantime, for items presenting particular difficulty in the decision-making process, I offer methods to help make the decision. Understand also that I am a sentimental person myself. I will always want to find ways to help someone keep things that are of great sentimental value, as long as they are properly stored/displayed/protected.
Do you provide housecleaning services during the project?
I consider cleaning an important part of the organizing process. While I help you engage in cleaning activities during the organizing process, I do not provide ongoing housecleaning services. For example, I may help you vacuum a cleared area of floor space or clean a cupboard prior to moving new items in, but I will not clean your entire kitchen for you. For large cleaning projects or general housecleaning services I would recommend any regular housecleaning service that you feel comfortable with.
Who provides/pays for organizing supplies such as containers and shelving?
The client does. If you don’t have the time to go shopping, I charge a fee for shopping time and I can do it for you. I don’t charge any mark-ups on the products. I give the original receipt to you and require only a direct reimbursement for the materials purchased.
Should I buy containers prior to us organizing?
No. One of the biggest mistakes people make in trying to get organized is to buy all kinds of containers that end up not working. If you already have containers then we will certainly find uses for them. But if you haven’t gotten any yet, I ask that you wait until after at least the first session so we can talk about what you need. In the meantime, regular cardboard boxes will do just fine for the basic sorting/purging process.
What should I do with all the stuff I want to get rid of?
It depends on what it is. Trash is trash. I always encourage people to donate anything that functions. (See my list of donatable items and local charities that will accept them.) I encourage people to remove the items they want to get rid of as soon as possible after each session. I will take your items away for you whenever possible.
Some people want to have yard sales with the stuff they have sorted out. Keep in mind if you want to do this that you need to have a place to store it until the sale. This will inhibit the organizing process if you are short on space. If you have items that can be sold on an auction site like Ebay, but don’t have the time, I always suggest using a service that will sell it for you.
Can you do for me what they do on shows like “Cleansweep” with the redecorating and all?
I cannot do that by myself. If you have large amounts of money to spend I can certainly arrange a team project that would include an interior designer, a crew, and myself, who could do everything at once. Otherwise, do not expect me to provide what the television shows portray, in effect, a complete makeover in two days! If you are interested in other services complementary to organizing, such as remodeling, redecorating, feng shui, installation of closet systems etc., I can provide references to those services and help you lay out a plan for scheduling each stage of the project.
Once the project is finished, will you help me maintain it?
The system we set up should be personalized enough for you that you are able to keep it maintained with a minimum of effort. If a good system falls back into chaos it is usually because either the client has time restrictions (which would suggest some work on scheduling & time management) or the client's situation has changed somehow, which means the system is no longer a good match for them and must be reworked.
Often times, a person is going through a temporary period of heightened activity where they are simply too busy to take care of everything. In that case I will recommend that they hire help of some kind. Most people like to think they can do everything themselves but often this is just not possible. This is often the case with people who run a business.
If the kind of maintenance you were thinking about is more along the lines of regular filing, data entry, etc., what you are thinking of is a personal assistant or an office assistant. I do not provide those services but can help you find someone who can.