Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Are You as a Professional Organizer Working with the Right Client?

Please do not kick me off my own blog for blogging so infrequently in 2010. My excuse is that I have entered this New Year with a booming business. My business has fortunately grown steadily over the past 9+ years, and I have counted myself very fortunate that all of my hard work with and for my clients continues to keep my business "rockin & rollin." With the fact that our country is still experiencing such difficult economic times, some of my colleagues have had to change professions and get out of the organizing business.

That has been an unfortunate loss for our industry in some cases. Some of those P.O.'s were really talented, but came into the business at such a difficult time.
Anyone that knows the type of organizing I do, knows that my wonderful, challenged clients have more issues than simple space management problems, or what kind of container to purchase to match their family room furnishings. Their organizing issues are sometimes life threatening. Do not interpret my last comment to mean anything negative against the many different types of client needs and our diverse organizing profession. The beauty of our organizing industry is that there are countless client needs and really well-trained organizers to fill those needs. Those P.O.'s, like me are well-trained by our professional associations such as NAPO (Nat'l Assoc. of Professional Organizers, napo.net) and NSGCD (Nat'l Study Group on Chronic Disorganization, nsgcd.org)

It's when professional organizers step out of their field of knowledge and think that because they watched a program or two about hoarding, that they too can get in on working with hoarders. It has all of a sudden become "vogue" to work with hoarders, as if this is a new phenomenon.
That is a dangerous way to think. Do you, the person that has never done any study or research on hoarding have the knowledge base to work with this very wonderful and challenging population? We as organizers that abide by the code of ethic of our industry know that we do not want to cause our clients any type of harm for any reason. I have heard too many horror stories from my hoarding clients that worked with a professional organizer that had no specialized training, or a clue as to how to work with them. The organizer was hell bent on purging the clients possessions with the zeal of a 19th Century missionary, with no regard for the long-term detrimental effects that this action would have on their hoarding client.

Let's work with the clients that are best suited for our skill set. We as professional organizers have a huge responsibility to all of our clients to protect their best interests above all else.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Four Gadgets for Keeping Track of Things

Here are four new gadgets to help ADD'er (and anyone else) keep track of their stuff. Which one will work for you?


The Find One, Find All

($24.95; FindOneFindAll.com)
This Finding Essential is a battery-powered, radio-controlled homing device that you attach to the two items you never want to lose — your keys and wallet.

Put the fob on your keys and the credit-card-sized device in your wallet. When you press a button on the locator, the devices ring like a cell phone (as long as they’re within a 10-foot radius).

The EZ-Find! 25 Item Wireless Locator

($66.50; at amazon.com)
Have lots of items you tend to misplace? This consists of 25 colored fobs and a remote. Hook the fobs to things you need to take with you — or have trouble finding around the house (you can even hook up your pets or a small child).

The Dane Elec 4 GB Capless USB Drive

($19.99; at buy.com and target.com)
Want to keep track of valuable computer data? This allows you to keep your files with you at all times, and the sliding-top design means there’s never a cap to lose.

No larger than a fingernail clipper, the flash-memory device can carry up to four gigabytes of data/files, and it comes in a variety of colors, for those who like to make a fashion statement. Bonus: It doubles as a key chain.

Remote Play’s TagAlert 200

($59.95; remoteplay.com)
If you lose things outside your house, you may be the answer. Attach the "monitor" fob to your belt loop or key ring (or keep it tucked into your pocket) and attach the "alert" tags to two valuables (such as your wallet and cell phone)

Monday, January 4, 2010

Happy New Year!

I can hardly believe that another year has flown by. On this New Year, I had the pleasure of celebrating with my darling husband and my two brothers here in New Jersey. We enjoyed a fabulous party at my youngest brother Peter's really good friend Brian's gala New Years Eve party.

I am not a believer in New Year resolutions. I am more comfortable making resolutions throughout the year that are more realistic ones that I will stick to. So far, I have not made any new resolutions to date. One that I feel compelled to write about now is that I will write more blogs in 2010 that will be useful to my readers.

I look forward to working with many of my regular clients and working with new clients and their organizing challenges. This year will hold many new and exciting challenges for all of us.

If there is an organizing challenge that you have, please post it here and we will discuss it. If it is private, please email me at: rlyman@ahelpinghandforyou.com.