The Joyful Sort Top 5: Reasons To Hire A Professional Organizer
Thanks so much for checking out my very first blog post over here at The Joyful Sort! I'm excited to kick things off with a monthly series called The Joyful Sort Top 5, where I'll be sharing lists of tips and tricks, favorite organizational products, or just something fun to hopefully brighten your day. Today's topic: how to know when it's time to hire a professional organizer.
Organization has always been in my wheelhouse, so to speak, and is up there with beach days and any of The Real Housewives franchises (except Dallas) and Funfetti cake on the list of Things That Make Me Happy. So when I made the decision to turn my personal passion/occasional hobby into a business, I was surprised at how many people had no idea that professional organizing was actually a thing. The organizing industry has grown tremendously in the last decade or so, thanks in part to things like Marie Kondo's "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" and the minimalist movement, but mostly because a majority of people just have too much stuff and not enough time to deal with it. Which is precisely where a professional organizer (like myself - hey!) can step in and make all of the difference in the world.
So, why should you hire a professional organizer?
1. You feel like you don't know where to start.
I'd be willing to bet that right this minute you can think of at least one area of your home where you'd love to create more order, but can never find the time or energy to address. When a task seems too big, it usually ends up getting put off. A professional organizer can come in with a fresh perspective and a focused, realistic approach to help make your project feel less monumental. I promise that we've seen it all, no matter how bad you think things have gotten in your own space, and we are thrilled to be the ones to help you take that first step forward.
2. Your home has become a storage space, not a living space.
When my family and I moved to Columbus last year, we spent a few months in a short-term apartment while we waited to take posession of our new home. We packed up what we considered to be the basics and then promptly filled not one, but two decent-sized storage units with the rest. I'm not a minimalist, but I do try and keep a good handle on the amount of stuff we have (despite my husband being the type of person that will gladly hang on to a tie that still has tags on it three years later "just in case") and had done a lot of purging while we prepped to put our house on the market - how had we still managed to accumulate so much? Seeing it all packed up and crammed together, in addition to the costs ultimately incurred to store and transport everything, ended up being a great eye-opener to help us make like Elsa and let it go once we were able to unload later on. We ended up getting rid of a lot of things that we'd ultimately functioned just fine for months at the apartment without. The good news is that you don't have to move to get that clean slate feeling. A professional organizer can help you objectively sort through your belongings and filter out all of those items that seem to have just magically accumulated over the years. Studies show that 80% of the clutter in your home is a result of disorganization, not a lack of space.
3. Your life has recently changed, big time.
Downsizing, a new baby, starting a home-based business, putting your house on the market and moving into a new one - cue me humming the theme song from "The Facts of Life". Sometimes the most exciting changes are still some of the most stressful, no matter how ahead of the game we think we are (ehm, see #2). A professional organizer can not only help manage some of the chaos (decluttering your home to get it in tip-top shape for a quick sale), but also provide long-term solutions (setting up a nursery so that even the most exhausted new parents know exactly where to find the extra pacifiers in the middle of the night) that will be easy to maintain in your new normal.
4. You're tired of feeling like you don't have your sh*t together.
Excuse the mild profanity, but - right?! There will always be mornings where one of your kids refuses to put on shoes because "they're tighter than they were yesterday", the washing machine starts leaking for the third time in as many days, and the dog will only go out for a bathroom break in the front yard in full view of all of your relatively new neighbors (this may or may not be a firsthand account of my Wednesday). But wouldn't it be great if on those mornings you also didn't have to hunt for your car keys or dig through what feels like a hundred water bottles just to find the one that you actually have a matching lid for? You know what they say: when life hands you lemons, be thankful that you pulled the trigger on hiring a professional organizer so that at least you know the precise location of all of your important household documents. Or something like that.
5. You would rather choose joy.
This one may sound like a bit of a shameless plug, but there's a good reason why this is one of the core components of what The Joyful Sort is all about. A wonderful thing happens when people don't have to spend time dealing with their stuff: they get to go and do the things that bring them joy instead! The average American spends one year of their life looking for lost or misplaced items. Think about what you would do with an extra year's worth of free time! Would you finally start practicing yoga or pick up tennis? Spend more time with your kids or grandkids? Sit down and actually read a book from cover to cover? The possibilities are endless. And beautiful.
Have I convinced you yet? I'd love to hear your thoughts on hiring a professional organizer. Better yet, if you're in the Columbus area, let's schedule a complimentary consultation and get started on your organizing project today!
- Kelly