Today I wanted to share with you 10 common assumptions about professional organizers and if they are true or false. Obviously this is from my experience and perspective, so other professional organizers may answer differently, but I thought it would be fun to share with you my thoughts!
{ONE} We want you to get rid of everything. FALSE. This is not at all true. We recognize that everyone needs and wants a different amount of items to bring satisfaction and fulfillment to life. We are all in different life stages, requiring different amounts of things. The most important thing is that you get rid of the items that are no longer useful to you, or no longer bring you joy.
{TWO} Every space in our homes is organized or perfect. FALSE. Most professional organizers likely have a “Monica’s Closet” (for you who are fans of the tv show Friends!) I have a few spaces in my home that seem to get disorganized easily or pile up with stuff. We have an attic crawl space, a storage closet in our garage, and the desk in our kitchen which all get out of control from time to time. Truthfully, organization is not something that is once and done. It is a constant process.
The next three assumptions are similar but separate assumptions…
{THREE} We judge you for your disorganization. FALSE. This is certainly not true! We understand that not everyone has the time or ability to easily organize a space. We recognize that you likely hired us because you want your space to be organized but don’t know where to start or how to efficiently do it. We don’t judge your disorganization, and think it’s amazing that you took the step to hire someone to help you get organized!
{FOUR} We judge you for how much you own. FALSE. Like I mentioned with number one, everyone has different needs and wants for how much they own. And everyone is in different life stages, requiring different things. I will certainly organize any amount of stuff, as long as it fits in the space! My only rule is that we do purge any items that you are no longer using or loving because it’s silly to organize things that you no longer want or need. My goal is that when I organize a space, everything has a home!
{FIVE} We judge our friends and family member’s homes. FALSE. This is also false! Most of the time when I go into someone’s home, I experience how THEY make me feel not how their home makes me feel. Everyone has a different comfort level when it comes to clutter and cleanliness. While I would not like clutter in my own home, I don’t judge other people for clutter in their home because I don’t have to live there!
{SIX} We are perfectionists with attention to detail. TRUE. I will have to say, this assumption is true. I like to call myself a “recovering perfectionist” because I feel like the word perfectionist has a negative connotation. I don’t want to be the type of person who has high or unreasonable expectations on others. I’m learning that sometimes good enough is good enough!
{SEVEN} Organizing comes naturally to us, so it’s really easy for us. TRUE + FALSE. This is true and false. I think there is a natural component to the ability to organize – whether it’s inborn or we are taught to keep our things tidy and to have a place for everything. However, I am not always motivated to organize, declutter, or clean. Also, some projects are challenging and take a lot of thought and time to complete, so while it might come naturally, it’s not always easy.
{EIGHT} Our homes are always tidy. FALSE. This is definitely not true. In my home, I have 5 people who are currently living here. There are constantly things that need to be cleaned up or tidied. Where people live, there will always be things to clean!
{NINE} We are minimalists. FALSE + can be TRUE. This can be true, but certainly not all professional organizers are minimalists. Everyone wants a different amount of things to feel fulfilled in life. Some people like an abundance and some people don’t. Being a minimalist makes it easier to keep things clean and organized with minimal effort, however that doesn’t mean all professional organizers are minimalists.
{TEN} Our kids are also organized. FALSE. Just because we are organized, does not necessarily mean our kids will be organized too. I have two kids who are more on the disorganized side, and one who is more on the organized side. I have taught all three of them techniques to keep their spaces neat and organized, but not all of them follow through. Which is perfectly fine since they are each their own individuals and need to learn to navigate life, and find what works for them!
Well, I hope you found this post interesting or entertaining! Let me know if there are other assumptions you have about professional organizers!
organized with joy 