4 Truths I’ve Learned as a Pro Organizer

When I tell people I’m a pro organizer, I typically get one of two responses:

“I need you to come to my house!” or “I would love to do that job!”

I feel pretty lucky to do this work; it’s immensely satisfying and I feel like I’m contributing positively to people’s lives. It’s also taught me a lot about how we live and what our “stuff” really means to us.

Today I’m sharing four truths I’ve learned as a professional organizer who has worked with all kinds of clients in all kinds of spaces!

Look, we all need certain things to survive, to function in our daily lives, and to live comfortably. There’s nothing inherently wrong with owning things! But when our belongings overwhelm us, cause stress, create chaos, or even pose a safety hazard, our stuff stops being great and starts becoming a burden.

That’s why it’s so important to cultivate power over your stuff, not the other way around. You can do this through mindful purchasing, setting up and maintaining organizational systems, and regular decluttering (working with a professional can help if you’re stuck!).

Despite what you might see on social media, there is no “right” or “perfect” way to organize, well, anything. What’s important is setting up systems and solutions that work for your home and your life.

An example: we worked with a client who needed to take certain medications right before bedtime. She was keeping her medicine in her bathroom because she believed “that’s where it belongs.” But this setup was causing her to forget to take her meds, or have to get up after getting into bed and retrieve her meds from the bathroom. After learning about her needs, we set up a system for storing her meds in her nightstand. This was so simple and so much more effective for her life, but she never considered doing it because it wasn’t the “right” way.

The lesson? Ignore what you think you should do and do what actually works for you!

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.” Well, it’s also true that one person’s idea of too much clutter is another person’s paradise!

This was actually a tough lesson for me. I have a very low clutter threshold, and so when I’m working in a cluttered space, my natural tendency is to remove as much as possible. But, that’s not always what’s best for my client! They may have a higher threshold than I do, and they just need some help getting clear about what’s really important to them.

Some of us are minimalists, some are maximalists, and most of us fall somewhere in between. Much like there’s no “right” way to be organized (see truth #2), there is not a singular standard for what is clutter. Your comfort level with stuff is individual to you.

I think we all learn this truth at some point in our lives!

There are a lot of reasons why people hold on to their stuff, even when the stuff is no longer serving them or adding value to their lives. One of the biggest reasons: how much something cost.

Many of our clients express regret over how much they spent on an item but they never really used it, or they realized they didn’t actually like or need it but kept it because it was pricey. An expensive mistake is tough to swallow for sure! It’s hard to feel like you wasted money, but that money has already been spent. You are not gaining any value (financial or otherwise) from keeping something you don’t use or want in your home. Releasing an item and the guilt or psychic weight it created can be so freeing!

Being a pro organizer has given me so much insight into how people live and all the different ways we feel connected to (or disconnected from) our stuff. I’m so honored to do this work, to be allowed into people’s lives and personal spaces, and to help people feel more at peace in their homes.

If you’re ready to get organized, book your free phone consultation with Moxie Space today! We truly love what we do, and we can’t wait to work with you.