Professional organizers increase productivity and minimize frustration by creating customized systems of organization. They work in residential and business settings to save us from the clutch of clutter! Professional organizers reclaim time and create comfort in environments that appear to be unmanageable. Organizers are able to envision calm, efficient homes despite the anxiety and discouragement of disorganized homeowners.

The need for professional organizers is suggested by research.A market research firm, Harris Interactive, reports that almost 1 in 4 Americans pay late fees because they’ve misplaced their bills. A national soap and detergent association estimates that clutter causes a 40% increase in household work. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that almost 1 in 4 people don’t have sufficient space to park a single car in their two car garage.

It is important to interview an organizer in order to sense if there is a good “fit”. It is essential for an organizer to be sensitive to their client’s feelings and to express a respectful, supportive attitude.  Organizers must also be good teachers who can communicate the principles that underlie their time-management and task-management strategies. Professional organizers are supposed to do more than create an immediate transformation. Professional organizers help clients to understand and internalize the organizational principles that are necessary for the client to achieve independent function. Many small steps may be required on the long journey toward organization.

Basic principles of organization include :

• prioritizing
• categorizing
• sorting
• storage
• work-flow systems
• record-keeping
• space utilization
• disposal

Professional organizers can be self-employed or work for a business.  There is no standardized process of training, but professional organizations set standards and offer education. They come from many different professional backgrounds, but share gifts for visual perception and organization as common strengths. A professional organizer’s visual gifts can help him/her to identify with the perspective of the person with disability.

 Some professional organizers come to the field from mental health backgrounds and their experience is helpful to people who are chronically disorganized. People with Attention Deficit Disorder are an example of such a group. Over-stimulation is distracting for people with Attention Deficit Disorder and other mental illnesses. For this group, professional organizers can contribute to the creation of functional and attractive homes that do not incorporate many distracting decorative objects. 

Consistent routine that reinforces memory is an important component of organizational strategies, and can be particularly helpful to people with vision loss.  A person with macular degeneration, for example, will be better able to manage their home if objects are placed in brightly colored storage containers that are returned to the same location each time they are used.   Medication errors can be reduced or eliminated through the use of equipment that facilitates routine. An alarm watch with multiple alarms can remind you of the time to take your medications, and empty spaces in pill organizers can confirm whether or not you have taken your medication.

Organizers are helpful to people with physical disabilities. The homes of people with physical disabilities frequently contain a lot of “stuff”---i.e. medical equipment. Accessibility is the basis for storage solutions for people who use wheelchairs. This goal can be accomplished in closets through the use of rolling racks and rolling carts that can be easily moved forward. Lazy-Susans make it possible to reach items that are placed on back shelves.  Weight is an important issue. People who use wheelchairs, and have control of their arms, should be able to lift their possessions as well as reach them. Open storage containers with handles can be useful. Heavier containers should be placed on lower storage shelves. Doors can be removed and, if practical, replaced by decorative beads or attractive fabric to make cabinets and rooms more accessible. Professional organizers can suggest technological solutions as well as aesthetic solutions to the organizational problems that confront people with physical disabilities.

In a home, professional organizers can create order from disorder and comfort from confusion. They can teach principles of organization to homeowners, and help them to grasp the rhythms of a new way of life. People with physical disabilities may live in disorganized homes because they are burdened by demands upon their bodies, time and storage space.  Professional organizers can help people with disabilities to recognize these demands and to effectively adapt. Organization can increase available time and energy, and contribute to the achievement of personal goals and satisfactions.