Our Organizing Philosophy & Method
>
reclaim the room. reclaim your life.
Our Organizing Philosophy
Organization inside out.
Getting organized is a psychological process, as well as a physical one. Although we all have our things that are precious to us, sometimes we need to work through emotional attachments to declutter our lives. We need to ask what is truly important to us. Is it an object, or is it a memory?
We can often preserve memories without retaining things that burden us. As we remove things we don’t need, we create the space physically and psychologically for what really matters to us.
Organization is a team effort.
Of course, letting go of things is often easier said than done. Helping our clients to move through this process is part of what we do; though we aim to never be pushy. We’re here to help you succeed in freeing yourself from clutter, not simply to throw away your stuff.
Our clients often express how much better they feel after they have freed themselves from things that they do not need. One said “I didn’t realize the burden I was carrying around. Now I feel like I lost 100 lbs!” In a way, you could even view our organizers as often being like counselors and trainers. We’re here to help the individual—the whole person because that is how you will be able to retain an organized life.
Rachel's 4-step Method
Rachel's 4-Step Method
-
Plan
-
Prioritize
-
Purge
-
Personalize
1. Plan
Too many people, even some professional organizers, go into a cluttered room and start tackling a project, without a plan. Tearing into a project may seem more productive, but it often isn’t. It reflects a tendency to put out fires instead of preventing them. This is what gets many people into their messes in the first place. In my research and experience, those who make a plan and take the time to assess their spaces will get much greater results! Additionally, they find it much easier to persevere when they have concrete goals and a detailed plan of action. Trust me; you will save time, money and so much stress by making a plan first!
2. Prioritize
In your assessment of your project, and in all your organizing of the space, focus on the positive! What do you love; what is really important to you? What things do you need in this space so you can focus on that? Once you have given priority to what really matters to you and what improves your well-being while using the space, it will be easier to get rid of the things that don’t.
3. Purge
Putting stuff that you don’t need into neatly labeled boxes is NOT organizing, nor does it simplify your life; in fact, doing this usually makes things harder for you. In order to really focus on what’s important to you and making an organized, sustainable space, you need to purge the stuff weighing you down, getting in the way, and taking away from what you value. This can be extremely difficult for things with emotional attachment or nostalgia. We often hear things like: “It reminds me of something”; “It cost a lot of money!”; “My aunt gave it to me.”; What if I need it later?”; and “I want to become the kind of person who uses that!”; etc. Our organizers will help you through hurdles like these, to decide what to keep, and what to get rid of. We like to donate as much as possible so that you can bless the lives of other people who truly need the items. If you have items that are worth selling, we can help you do that too.
4. Personalize
Now comes the fun part! First, our team will clean the spaces that we have cleared with your input. Then, with your input, the senior organizer will create a functional design for the space, including organizational systems, to maximize appeal and efficiency for you and your family or associates. The design may include labeling, or not, according to your preference and needs.
We don’t just create a space that is functional and nice to look at, we work to have the design make sense to all who use the space—a system easy to teach, easy to learn, and easy to maintain.
