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FAQs What kind of organizing do you do? How do I know if I need a Professional Organizer? I’m a hopeless case; can I ever learn to be organized? Aren’t you going to make me throw away a lot of my things? What is a typical side-by-side organizing session like? How do you charge for services? What kind of training did you receive to be a Professional Organizer and Productivity Coach? What should I expect from a Certified Professional OrganizerŽ? How do I know if I'm "chronically disorganized"? How do I know if I have ADD or AD/HD? What does YOUR office look like?
I have worked with many different clients and now specialize in helping small business owners and professionals who are ready to "work above the line" (reference Steven Covey, First Things First). Click here to see the types of organizing provided.
Absolutely! Organization is a learned behavior. Some people just didn’t grow up learning how, or didn’t have a chance to learn from someone later in life. It will take effort, but if you’re willing to learn (yes, it is possible to teach an old dog a new trick!) and develop some new behaviors and routines, the results will make it all worthwhile.
Becoming organized isn’t just about throwing things away. It’s about identifying your goals and priorities, determining what’s important to you and what you really need to have vs. what you want to have, and then making decisions about how to live your life and do your work in order to meet those goals and priorities.
After the initial phone consultation and determining the priorities for organizing, we implement the plan. Appointments are usually scheduled in blocks of 4 hours in order to get some momentum going and for the client to be able to see progress by the end of the session. Time is money, so I keep the process going by working quickly and maintaining focus on achieving results for each session. We talk by phone 2-4 times a month. We work on whatever the client wants to work on to help them improve their efficiency and performance in order to reach their goals.
I specialize in practical and affordable organizing—looking for creative ways to use what the client already has and recommending cost effective solutions. The value of the service should be measured in results, so increased productivity and efficiency means increased focus on business results and developing systems for achieving them.
Former business colleagues, family and friends have always described me as being a very organized person. So they weren’t surprised to hear that I pursued a profession in the service of organizing people and their things. However, there’s more to being a Professional Organizer than being organized. An effective Organizer is also a Coach; someone who can put their own preferences aside and help the client find ways to set up their filing and other management systems in a way that works for them. My coaching experience comes from 25+ years in business with experience as a Sales Rep, seeking to understand the needs of the customer to make sure the product or service they were buying would solve their problems; as an Operations Manager, managing complex and high profile projects involving cross functional teams and developing the skills of direct reports; as a Trainer, facilitating learning for employees and managers; as an Employee Relations Consultant, coaching managers on how to manage difficult employee situations, ensuring employees’ behavior was consistent with good corporate citizenship and in compliance with the law; and as an adjunct Career Transition Consultant, coaching people on their job search when they are suddenly unemployed due to company restructuring. I am a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), a member of NAPO’s Oregon Chapter, and a member of the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization (NSGCD). Monthly chapter meetings, annual conferences and teleconferences all contribute to my continuing education in the field. Also, see the question about Certified Professional Organizers.
A Certified Professional OrganizerŽ is held accountable to Code of Ethics of the Board of Certification for Professional Organizers (BCPO). I am proud to be one of the first Professional Organizers in the country to receive the CPOŽ distinction because it recognizes that I have met specific qualifications and proved through examination and client interaction to possess a required body of knowledge and experiences. Certification is a formal acknowledgement of my dedication to the industry and the importance and value of standards in our industry.
People who are chronically disorganized have a history of constant and persistent disorganization. The condition affects their quality of life and resists all self-help attempts. For more information, visit the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization.
AD/HD (Attention Deficit Disorder with or without Hyperactivity) must be diagnosed by a qualified medical care provider. Typical behaviors are distractibility, impulsiveness, and the inability to complete tasks, and negatively impact one’s quality of life. For more information, visit the Attention Deficit Disorder Association or Answers to Your Questions about ADD(ADHD)
What does YOUR office look like? I’m asked that question a lot! I do tend to be a minimalist, and I like to keep things simple. But like everyone, my desk needs to be neatened up at the end of the day because it's full of stacks and piles when I’m working on a project. Because I know what I have, and have identified a place for everything, it’s easier to find things when I need them. I follow the advice of William Morris, one of the founders of the Arts and Crafts design movement: “Clutter is an obstacle to simplicity. Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”
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© 2005-2008 Organize & Simplify, LLC A. J. Pfander | Certified Professional Organizer® | 503-650-2223 | aj@organize-simplify.com |
