Questions & Réponses

The official definition is this:

A professional organizer provides information, products and assistance to help individuals and businesses achieve their specific organizing needs.

But what this translates to in reality is that these organizing professionals guide, encourage and educate people on how to overcome their organizing challenges by offering support, focus and direction. Professional organizers are excellent listeners, non-judgmental and extremely dedicated to their clients. They help people do more in less time, with more energy. A professional organizer offers both consulting as well as hands-on organizing services, giving you the skills and tools you need to reduce stress and banish that awful feeling of being overwhelmed.

Like other professionals, many organizers have an area of specialization, and bring different areas of expertise, certifications and skills to the table.

The three broad service areas of professional organizing comprise:

• Home
• Small and home office
• Corporate organizing

Within those broader areas professional organizers may assist with time management, paper management, clutter control, chronic disorganization, coaching, behavior modification, space planning, filing, wardrobes, closet systems, event planning, errands, personal shopping, financial management, downsizing, packing/moving, records management, and so much more.

Some professional organizers work with specific populations such as, seniors, children, students, and people with ADD, hoarding issues or who are chronically disorganized. Some organizers specialize in specific niche professions such as healthcare/medical or legal offices. Others offer products, seminars and workshops on organizing or targeting a specific organizing subject.

People hire personal trainers, life coaches, and image consultants to help them achieve their goals.

Hiring a Professional Organizer is very similar. We help you achieve more productivity, reduce stress, and create a new-found freedom and sense of being in control.

Here are a few key signs you may benefit from hiring a professional organizer:

• You feel like there are not enough hours in the day to complete tasks
• Whenever you organize on your own, you get distracted and end up with piles all over the place
• Your garage is so full of “stuff”, you can’t park your car
• You have boxes you haven’t opened since two moves ago

You want to save money by becoming more productive

Lots of reasons! As a member of NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers), we have access to formal training, resources and a network of over 4000 professionals around the world. We are continuously updated on our industry’s latest trends and benefit from each other’s support and experience through chat boards and support groups.

Furthermore, you will have the peace of mind of knowing that your organizer is committed to professional excellence and adheres to a strict code of ethics.

It is natural to feel nervous and vulnerable when inviting a stranger into your personal space. Organizers are aware of the high level of trust placed in them by their clients; and this is why integrity, honesty and confidentiality are guiding principles in our industry. For more information, visit NAPO’s code of ethics.

That depends on a number of things: the size and scope of the job, how long the clutter has been accumulating, how motivated you are, how quickly you make decisions, how much time you allow between sessions, how much progress you can make on your own between sessions and whether we’re working one-on-one or with a team.

Our initial on-site consultation is always free of charge and without obligations on your part. We offer digressive hourly rates ranging between 60 CHF to 100 CHF per hour. Hands-on organizing sessions are typically booked for a minimum of 3 consecutive hours; while coaching sessions can be shorter. Our hourly hand-on rate includes research and follow-up. For coaching sessions, research and follow-ups will be charged in addition. Travel fee will only apply when traveling over 30 kilometers from Bursinel. In that case, the following will apply: CHF 0.70/km and CHF 60/hour.

Contact us today to inquire about our rates or to schedule your free on-site consultation.

Anything you discard will be your decision alone. We wilI never throw anything away without your permission (not even an empty box of cereals). If clutter is a problem in your home, you’ll almost certainly need to part with unneeded or unwanted items in order to attain your goals. We will help you identify those items, guide you in your decision-making, and cheer you on as you decide to give up things that no longer have meaning or value for you; but we won’t make you get rid of ANYTHING.

En dehors de sac de poubelles, nous vous encourageons de rassembler toutes boîtes, cartons ou paniers dont vous disposez déjà.

Il est préférable de ne RIEN acheter jusqu’à ce que l’on détermine ensemble la solution la plus adaptée une fois un premier tri effectué.

Please don’t! To allow us to understand and solution the scope and nature of the situation, it is crucial for us to see the piles of clutter as they habitually appear in your environment. Each pocket of clutter will provide us with valuable clues.

We understand that inviting a stranger into your personal space can be extremely stressful and embarrassing at times. But remember that we are professionals working with passion, compassion, confidentiality and without judgment.

Being organized is not an innate ability; it’s a set of learned skills!

With knowledge, experience and techniques, a professional organizer can help you perfect your skills by creating organizing systems and solutions that are individually tailored to your specific goals, space and unique processing style.

Everyone at some point in their life is faced with some hard times and finds themselves overwhelmed by their circumstances. Happy or sad, some events in life can cause even the most organized people to loose themselves in clutter or be buried by responsibilities. These are the moments when asking for help is appropriate.

Professional organizers are here to help you take control of your time and surrounding in order to bring back peace to your daily life efficiently and in a timely manner.

Only you can make the decision to change. Changing ‘for’ someone else usually doesn’t last very long.

However, it is crucial to realize that our most priced and precious possessions in life are our relationships. When bad habits put in jeopardy these very relationships, the risks to pay can be disastrous. In our line of work, it is unfortunately not unusual to come across someone who has lost a contract, a job, a marriage or even a child due to their struggle with chronic disorganization. With this in mind, it is important not to underestimate the impact our ‘mess’ or bad habits can have on our relationships.

Chronic disorganization is having a past history of disorganization in which self-help efforts to change have failed, an undermining of current quality of life due to disorganization, and the expectation of future disorganization.

Here are 4 questions you can ask yourself to help you determine whether you might or might not be:

• Have you struggled with disorganization most of your life?
• Have you tried in vain to get organized by yourself?
• Does your level of disorganization interfere with the quality of your life? Or negatively affects your relationships with others?
• Is it difficult for you to part with things even though they have outlived their usefulness?

If you have answered « yes » to all 4 questions, there is a chance you might be struggling with chronic disorganization. If you’ve answered « yes » to one or two of these questions, there might be other situational explanations to your struggle with disorganization.

For more information: The Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD)