 Getting it all together: Pros make easy work of organization—By Julia Cooper Published: August, 2008 Does this sound familiar? Your office and desktop are filled with piles of files, the reading pile, the bill pile, the must-do-today pile, and the pile of papers that never seem to go anywhere (but simply can’t be thrown away) . . . all hastily jumbled onto the desktop, in the cubby holes, on top of file cabinets, and covering all nearby surfaces. Then you spend an hour mining the mess for that one page you’re certain is in this pile, but it’s not. And to top it off, you have a jam-packed calendar that leaves no time for organizing the chaos. If this sounds like you (or someone you know), you’re not alone. Fortunately help is just a phone call away. Back in the real estate glory days of 2001, business was booming for San Rafael mortgage broker Mary Singler. But spending 12-hour workdays fielding calls from clients, realtors, appraisers and bank personnel left Singler no time to sort through the mountain of paperwork amassing in her office. “I’d have 28 active files sitting on my desk,” Singler says. She decided to confront the mess head-on and called Cheryl Spater, a Marin County-based professional organizer. “We set up an amazing system to keep track of all the data,” Singler says. These days stressed-out, over-worked professionals are turning to the services of organizational consultants across the Bay Area who are at the ready to whip their offices into shape. Organizers do what it takes to resuscitate work environments back to productivity, whether it’s creating new filing systems, sharing space- or time-saving strategies, or simply giving the okay to dump that never-needed stack of e-mail printouts squirreled away for a rainy day. Considering facts from the National Association of Professional Organizers that the average U.S. executive spends six weeks a year searching for documents, and more than 80 percent of items kept around are never used, it would seem organizers are more needed than ever. The nonprofit association, which certifies organizational specialists and tracks industry data, counts 4,000 members across the nation who served 135,000 clients last year. This growing form of consultation has drawn women clients in particular, who may be more open to getting help or to consider orderly surroundings as more of a priority, says Spater, who launched her Simply Organized company in 2001. “Three quarters of my clientele are women,” she says. And with an even larger percentage of women transforming their talents into entrepreneurial ventures — a 2006 article in the Christian Science Monitor estimates that as many as 95 percent of professional organizers are women — it would seem a profession particularly weighted toward females. After all, juggling an endless array of tasks while running a household is all in a day’s work for many women — why not lend those multi-tasking skills to a career? Although inviting a stranger to rearrange one’s idiosyncratic tangle of turmoil may appear counterintuitive, it can actually make sense to solicit aid from a new set of eyes —especially an outsider with organizing experience, a fresh perspective and detachment from one’s possessions. “So many people are stuck in their ways and don’t realize they are taking extra steps,” says Colette Becker, owner of Walnut-Creek-based About Space Organizing. Sometimes all it takes to break through the tunnel vision many develop for their belongings is the go-ahead from a professional. “It helps to have someone come in to get you started,” Singler says, “to give you permission to throw away that magazine that you haven’t picked up in 12 months.” Finding a home for that ever-growing mountain of paper, poses another challenge, and it can help to start by tossing the easy stuff first. “Make the challenging pile smaller and smaller to make it manageable,” Becker says. “Automating processes and transferring files to the computer may also help.” And just as personal trainers inspire fitness beginners to new health goals, organizers act as cleanliness coaches who encourage clients to jumpstart their surroundings back to shipshape. Organizers can apply hands-on methods to reconfigure work environments or play the role of cheerleader to bounce questions off of while directing the process. “People say they should be able to do it themselves, but ultimately they never get to it,” Becker says. “It’s just not enough of a priority.” Carving out time in a hectic schedule often constitutes the biggest setback to organizing, says Susanne Otteman, owner of Sonoma-based Organize This! Sometimes months or even years can pass before resolving to tackle disorder, but by then it may have already taken its toll. “People who have a lot of piles of stuff spend a lot of time looking for something,” Otteman says. “Time is money.” For women like Singler, who says her blood pressure dropped down to healthy levels after hiring an organizer, the investment can alleviate unnecessary stress and frustration. “There’s a feeling of overwhelm around you, feeling blocked, feeling paralyzed of where to begin,” Otteman says of disorganization. And incorporating structure into work environments can also free up more personal time, Spater adds. “I create easy systems so clients can move forward with their business, with their lives,” Spater says. “It’s all intertwined.” And even the most dedicated hoarders who stockpile stashes of odds and ends can develop new habits, Otteman says. Sometimes all it takes is guidance from a knowledgeable advisor. “We’re not born being organized, but you can learn it.” Julia Cooper is a Bay Area freelance writer. She can be reached at juliacooper3000@yahoo.com. | ||
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