Can I really do this job?

      

Getting clients to actually ask for help in organizing their space is hard. First they have to realize that disorganization is not a character defect. Out of every 50 people I know who needs help and actually tells me they need my help only about 5 will actually ask for help. That got me wondering if it was me they did not like or just the thought of actually doing it that scared them silent.

I set about critiquing my rapport with my clients to see if it was me or them. After every initial meeting I would ask myself why did they hired me or why not.  That adventure did not last long since I realized that my original math was correct:  Out of every 50 people I know who needs help and actually tells me they need my help only about 5 will actually ask for help.  It’s not me. Hurry! Now I can move on the more important things.   I did learn one thing however; I was giving away too much information.  If organization is not intuitive, even though they may be highly intelligent and much smarter they me,  bombarding them with the how and when and why of cleaning out a desk or organizing their pantry is just too overwhelming and all they wanted to do is just go back to their nuclear lab and continue to save the world.

It is this type of client that makes me feel the best about what I do.  My fear of “can I really do this job?” disappeared when I entered the upscale home of a family of three. Mom was a nutritionist and insurance agent, Dad was a physician, and the daughter was 4 years old. It became clear to me that organization was not top on their list of things to do. She has two major spaces that need help immediately and since we only had a three hour session we pick her home office first.  As I entered the office I saw plastic bags full of what organization pros call just “paper”. These bags contained unopened mail, junk mail, torn address labels, old magazines, publications, and kid’s drawings. These bags where on the floor in front of the desk, next to the sofa, behind the desk and hidden in corners that she hoped I would not find.  Too late. While she was out of the room I started sorting through the bags of paper.  I did not through anything away.  Everything in the bag that I picked up was sorted into piles; unopened, junk, artwork, etc.  I came back to the torn address labels. What I found out is her fear of throwing away anything with her address on it. She told me as she gets the mail she tears off the address section and puts everything back in the bag to be dealt with later.   

 “What?  Your addresses are not what criminals want.  If you have the mail your address is already public knowledge.”  The corner stone of my business is the fact that I coach people on what, how and when to throw stuff away.  I don’t think that sunk in at the time but as we finished the session I do hope she had time to process it as she continued to go through the other bags on the floor.  At the end of the session, there was one large garbage bag of thrash that included envelopes minus their address section, a shred box that contained the torn address pieces and an action pile that need to be taken care off immediately.  She also had a cleaned out bookcase so she can collect brochures for her business that were also cluttering the floor.  I gave her advice on how to arrange the office for better work flow and gave her an action plan for tackling the garage.

As I left her home I realized that I did accomplish something. At least she can start a habit of going through the mail as it comes in and acting on it in a timely manner.  Concurring her fear of the tiny address pieces will take more time.

I may not be the smartest knife on the magnet, but yes, I can do this job.