Peace of Mind Organizing

My adventure with a professional organizer

12 June 2009

As I blogged about the other day, I hired professional organizer Karel Worley of Clearing Your Path, to come to my house and help my husband, Barry, and me declutter our basement.

We had four hours to spend on it yesterday. Barry was sure that wouldn’t be enough. In that time, we finished the decluttering, though Karel’s going to come back and help me put up some shelving and organize what’s left.

It was tremendous! First, a little background: we have a scary, yucky basement (as you’ll see in the photos below) and lots of room down there. We had a tendency to just dump stuff in the basement, rather than making a decision to get rid of it or store it properly. We also had stuff in the basement that was there when we bought the house in 1992. And, I think, some stuff that tenants put there when we were living in New York from 1997 to 2001.

So there was a lot to get rid of. And a lot of stuff that I feel Barry had resisted letting go of in the past. Okay, me too.

I’m here to tell you, there’s something about working with a professional organizer that shifts the way you think about stuff. Barry was letting things go with abandon. It was wonderful. I let go of some big stuff, like the two file boxes full of files containing background material for each of the articles and books I’d written in the past when I was a freelance writer. It was absolutely liberating.

Here are a few of the benefits that I observed of working this with Karel versus trying to clean out the basment without her help:

• She kept the momentum going. Karel wasn’t still for a moment. When she wasn’t assisting us specifically, she’d work on her own to declutter obvious trash and organize what was left behind.

• She kept us focused. Knowing she was there for a set period of time, for example, stopped me from spending much time going through the box of photos I found from college and my 20s. I look forward to going through them later, though!

• She offered advice on what was appropriate for donation or sale (and what wasn’t), which was so helpful. I kept second guessing myself on that, though I usually have no trouble advising clients about that.

• She asked some powerful questions to guide my decisions about keeping or letting go of some more difficult items.

In addition, I noticed some things about myself, which really helped put me in my clients’ shoes. There were a few items, not sentimental items, but more like office supplies that I’d used in the past or might want to use again (or perhaps give to clients), that I’m sure I would have rooted for a client to get rid of. But when Karel asked me the same questions I’d ask a client, I resisted letting the stuff go. And mostly I kept it. But I kept so little, I’ll be able to organize and store it sensibly.

Also, I experienced something that I’d seen in clients, but never really understood. I had a couple of items that I didn’t want, but I didn’t want to donate them. Instead, I wanted to give them to someone I know. (I don’t have anyone in mind at the moment.) In other words, I wanted to be able to offer them to someone specific, not just give them to an anonymous person who could use them. In the past, when clients would express this, I didn’t really get it. Now I do.

I’m absolutely amazed we got as much done as we did in just four hours. and I know you’re dying to see before-and-after pictures. So here you go:

We had a tendency to keep computer and appliance boxes.

Boxes gone!

This was primarily my dumping ground.

We got rid of much of it and stored the rest on shelves elsewhere.

The stuff that’s not being recycled, donated, or shredded is being hauled away. (I’m planning to use NAPO St. Louis associate member, Junkman4Hire.com.)

Thank you, Karel, for your help. It was a wonderful experience!!

Tagged with: decluttering, emotions, encouragement, karel worley, professional organizer

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