Frequently Ask Questions

 

What is a Professional Organizer?

Answer:  A Professional Organizer is a person who “enhances the lives of clients by designing a system and process using organizing principles and through transferring organizing skills. A Professional Organizer also educates you on organizing solutions and the resulting benefits”.

 

“A professional organizer can provide ideas, information, structure, solution and systems which increase productivity reduce stress and lead to more control over time, space and activities”.

• National Association of Professional Organizers.

 

How can a Professional Organizer help you?

Answer: If you crave order and can’t seem to create it in your own home a Professional Organizer can help you achieve and maintain that order and the peace of mind that comes with it. Our Professional Organizers at Tranquil Dwellings will bring expertise and an objective eye to your situation. We will help you to discard unwanted objects that are cluttering your life. By hiring a Professional Organizer, you’re making a commitment to work towards creating the environment you yearn to live in.

 

What is the process before and during your organizing session?

Answer: We first provide a phone consultation with our clients. This helps us determine whether our Professional Organizer and the client is a good match for each other.  Once we know more about you, your goals and expectation you may have out of the session. We then schedule a home assessment from there we evaluate your space and develop a system that fits your needs.

 

What are the advantages of hiring a Professional Organizer from Tranquil Dwellings?

Answer:  We are detailed oriented and meticulous Professional Organizers. Our Organizers understand the needs and the goals of all of our clients. We make sure that our team members at Tranquil Dwellings bring experience and compassion to all our jobs. To top it off, we have empathy towards all our clients. Personally I am not a naturally neat and organized person. I’ve spent time coming up with organizing solutions that work for me and I love sharing them with my clients.

 

How will you know hiring a Professional Organizer from Tranquil Dwellings is right for you?

Answer: Organizers are hardly one size fits all. Just like you have to pick whom you’ve chosen to be your primary care doctor, your babysitter, your hairdresser, and your gardener or dog sitter. Chances are you’ve sought service providers who make you feel comfortable and whose attitude, values and even philosophies are in alignment with your own. Choosing an organizer to work with you is no different.

 

What will a Professional Organizer do that a housecleaning service won’t?

Answer: If you simply want a messy house cleaned up then by all means hire a house cleaning service. But understand that being tidy is not the same as being organized. Nor is being messy the same as being disorganized.

 

Who are our Clients?

Answer: Our clients come from all walks and strolls of life. They are people who are ready and willing to step into the changes before them and who are eager to create a new path by making change happen. They are Professionals, students, medical practitioners, small business owners, and homemakers, parents-to-be…etc.

 

Our clients range from those with ADD to OCD as well as those with Chronic Disorganization challenges to incredibly organized. Yes, that’s right, even the most organized individuals want and need to refine, revise their spaces and systems.

 

Should you clean before a session?

Answer: You are more than welcome to clean if you feel uncomfortable with us entering your home when you think it is messy. Our Professional Organizers prefer that you don’t clean your space prior to our organizing session. We want to see your life and space in its element so we can get to know you and determine how we can create an organizing system that will work for you.

 

Please do not be embarrassed about your messy or disorganized home.

We all have spaces which are not as organized as we would like them to be. Our Professional Organizers sees these types of situations often and look at them with non-judgmental eyes.

 

If you feel your home is the worst home we’ve have ever seen and you find yourself wondering “Am I hopeless”?

Answer: No one is hopeless. Individual’s access and store things differently from one another. What may work for one person may not necessarily work for another? Working with a Professional Organizers help you begin defining your style and developing user-friendly system that work well for you.

 

Do your Professional Organizers work with or without the client?

Answer: Our Professional Organizers at Tranquil Dwellings work side-by-side with all of our clients to create systems that are structured to fit the individual’s unique personality and needs. However once the clients specific goals and personal style are understood, our Professional Organizer can work alone on some pieces of the project. Each situation is different must be discussed early on in the process.

 

Will you work with clients are not ‘Green”

Answer: The most simple and honest we can give is, Yes.

If you would prefer we use organizing solutions you already have in your home we will accommodate to your budget.

Our collaboration is about focusing on your needs, goals, and agenda, Period.

 

Is being organized just a matter of common sense? What will a Professional Organizer do that I can’t do myself?

Answer: Organizing is a mix of logic, common, sense and creativity. All of which tend to disappear when we are stressed and overwhelmed. The right Professional Organizer will use objective eyes and ears- as well as a creative mind to help you step back, regain clarity and view a situation in new ways.

 

Every time I think I’ve gotten myself organized, it works for a couple of weeks and then falls apart. What is wrong with me?

Answer:  What’s “wrong” are the approaches you try to adopt. Realistic strategies in synch with your style and needs will work better over the long term. The mistake a lot of our clients face while trying to organize their own home is not having realistic goals set. They are determined to organize their entire house in one day. Resulting in confusion, frustration and becoming less efficient as the day progresses. It is why it is easier to hire a Professional Organizer to help you come up with a more sensible and efficient solution to organizing the cluttered areas in your home. Creating a tranquil and relaxing space you love.

If you struggle on organizing your home we will guide you on how to make your organizing challenges different

Answer: Trying to an organizing system that doesn’t mesh with the way you think is like trying to shove a square peg into a round hole. We’ll start by establishing our client’s goals and vision of their space. If you book a session with Tranquil Dwellings your Professional Organizer will ask you questions and make suggestions based on what your organizer will think works for you. And she will work with you to change the habits that have made it difficult for to stay organized in the past. We can also provide support until the new system is firmly in place.

 

Is it worth the money?

Answer: When you hire a Professional Organizer you make an investment in your future. Being disorganized is expensive; it hampers your productivity and costs you time when you can’t find what you’re looking for. If you’re disorganized in paying you bills you might be paying charges and higher than necessary interest rate on credit cards. Just think of what you could do with the time you now spend dealing with your stuff. Freeing your time and your mind by overcoming your barriers to getting and staying organized can pay dividends you can’t participate now. Tranquil Dwellings Professional Organizers can help you reach your goals on a stress-free functional space.

 

How long will it take to get organized?

Answer: The duration of a professional organizing project will depend on how involved, committed and motivated you are to the process. It also depends on how quickly you can make decisions. Professional organizers will help you make these necessary decisions by asking questions and offering advice. Additionally getting organized is a process….a dynamic one. None of us become organized once and consider the job finished. It is an ongoing process that changes as your specific needs change.

 

Will I stay organized?

Answer: We will work with you to establish an organizing system customized to the way you think and live. We will also teach you the skills needed to maintain order. We can also teach you the skills needed to maintain order. We can also work with you to create new habits to set you up for success.

Tip: If you’re having trouble staying organized after the hands-on work is completed and you need help staying motivated, just give us a call and one of our Professional Organizers will help you. We will figure out how to get you back on track. If you need more support to stay on top of your organizational challenge, you can hire one of our Professional Organizers to do maintenance work.

 

Will our Professional Organizer make you get rid of things?

Answer: We will request that you purge the things that you can live without.

 

Gandhi sums up my response better than anyone. “As long as you derive inner help and comfort from anything, you should keep it.  If you were up in a mood of self-sacrifice or would continue to want it back and that unsatisfied want would make trouble for you. Only give up a thing when you want some other condition so much that the thing no longer has any attraction to you”.

 

How to determine if you are “Chronically Disorganized”?

Answer: The chronically disorganized have a history of constant and persistent disorganization. The condition affects their quality of life and resists all of self-help attempts. For more information visit the institute for Challenging Disorganization you can find the website at challengingdisorganization.org

 

You can also get more information by purchasing the book “Conquering Chronic Disorganization”. Written by Judith Kolberg.

 

Our approach to working with seniors.

Answer: Personally, I love working with seniors. Maybe because I’ve spent so much time with a dear friend of mine (Mrs. Peacock) who was 87 years old. I use to visit her at her home she had hired me to clean and organize her house for several years. She would intrigue me with stories she would tell of her past. I respect the wisdom and beauty our elders bring into our lives. As much as anyone else seniors need to feel good about their surroundings. Some time’s it’s just a little thing like honoring someone’s need to hold on to an item because of the memory associated with it.

My Organizers and I make it point to be sensitive when suggesting changes that take into account the physical aspects of aging, like diminished eye sight, memory and mobility. I and my team make sure to treat our elderly clients as if they were our parents or grandparents. With the respect and dignity they deserve.

 

Do you find yourself wondering if you suffer from ADD or ADHD?

Answer: ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is a clinical term for ADD. It needs to be diagnosed by a qualified therapist or psychologist. ADHD behaviors are excessive, persistent and handicapping. They include distractibility, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity.  In turn this disorder creates a much unorganized lifestyle resulting in a very clutter and disorganized home.

 

How do our Professional Organizers approach clients with ADD or ADHD?

Answer: Our Professional Organizer will give support and guidance. We help our clients figure out the goals that are most important for them and then create an action-oriented plan to achieve those goals. Our Professional Organizers practicable, collaborative approach helps our clients learn how to take advantage of their strengths and stay on track. We help our clients and their families gain greater awareness of effective behavior and the education and tools they need to enhance problem-solving, communication, confidence, resilience and productivity.

 

Clients that suffer from Hoarding Disorder. Do we work with them?

Answer: Yes we do, with understanding, respect and compassion.

Our Professionals Organizers understand that to work with those with hoarding tendencies the most crucial factors are to show concern but be supportive and non-judgmental. With that being said, we realize an important element with working with someone with hoarding behaviors is to have empathy but still be stern in the organizing process.