What makes an organizing session successful? In the 20 plus years I’ve been working with clients, I’ve observed many things that have created positive organizing visits. Both organizer and client contribute to the success. If you desire a better organizing experience, consider adding some of these “ingredients” into the mix.

12 Ingredients For Successful Organizing Appointments

1. Self-Care – Organizing takes physical and emotional energy. Taking care of your basic needs are essential. It's important that you and your organizer are well rested, hydrated, and have eaten prior to organizing. When you’re exhausted and hungry, it’s more challenging to think clearly, be creative, and make decisions.

2. Distractions – Eliminate as many distractions as possible. Some common ones include phone calls, email, digital “dings,” visitors, pets or children. Think about what you can do in advance to minimize distractions so that you can receive full benefit from the organizing session that you’ve committed time and resources towards.

3. Trust – Establishing a trusting relationship is crucial. You might feel uncomfortable with someone seeing or touching your stuff. Just remember that your organizer needs to be someone you trust. They are there to support and help you and not to judge you.

4. Clarity – It’s important to understand some basic parameters at the start of each organizing session. Include these:

• What is the session’s focus?
• What are your goals for today?
• How many hours will we work?
• Are the goals realistic based on the time allotted?
• Are there any concerns or relevant information that might influence what we’ll do or how we’ll be working?

5. Preparation – In addition to thinking about what project you’ll be working on, collect the basic supplies you’ll need. Supplies might include sorting containers, markers, place to make notes, or receptacles like bins or trash bags for items being donated or removed.

6. Atmosphere – Organizing can be fun, especially if you lighten the mood with music, laughter, singing, and even dancing (and yes, I’ve done them all.)  There are also simple environmental enhancements that can boost the success of an organizing session. If the rooms are dark, turn on more lights or bring in additional lamps. If you respond well to aromas, burn a favorite candle with an uplifting or energizing scent. Consider the room temperature and make the necessary adjustments to be more comfortable.

7. Decisions – The client is the decision-maker and gets to establish the parameters for what stays, goes, gets touched or not. The organizer is the facilitator, supporter, question-asker, timekeeper, goals-reminder, and cheerleader. Successful sessions are client-centered.

8. Strengths – Notice what’s already working well. Pay attention to your strengths and what you’re good at. Collaborate with your organizer to design systems and strategies that play to your strengths and how you process. Some examples include activating visual, auditory, kinesthetic, verbal or emotional organizing strategies. Denslow Brown, organizer, coach and author, identifies nine of the modalities in her book, The Processing Modalities Guide.

9. Breaks – Include snacks, water, caffeine, or fresh air breaks when needed. It's time for a break when you notice waning energy levels, decision fatique, decreased focus, or agitation. Breaks might also include switching projects midstream. This could be driven by attention needs or a desire to shift to a less emotionally intense project.

10. Letting Go – Successful organizing sessions include letting go whether it’s physical objects, pre-conceived notions, negative thinking, or calendar clutter. While the challenge to let go can range from easy to ambivalent to impossible, clients often share with me how great they feel once they’ve done it. This is reflected in a positive shift in their mood, which is noticeable by their smiles, laughter, giddiness, and open, receptive body language.

11. Review – Know where you are at the beginning, middle and end of each session. Know where you’ve been, where you’re heading, where you are, and what you’ve accomplished. Discuss follow through items to be handled between appointments by organizer and client. Review the schedule for when you’ll connect and next meet.

12. Compassion – The most successful organizing sessions include full servings of compassion. Negative self-talk and disparaging remarks get left behind. Positive language like, “I’m becoming more organized,” or “I’m working on my organizing goals,” is substituted. We all struggle with something. We are all works in progress.

Have you experienced a successful organizing session? What ingredient was part of your mix? Come join the conversation and share.

Do you wish your kids were more organized? Do you get frustrated trying to help them? I was curious about how others taught and transferred organizing skills to their own children. So, I enlisted help from a wonderful group of colleagues (Stephanie Calahan, Leslie Josel, Helena Alkhas, Ellen Delap, Yota Schneider, Diana Quintana and Aby Garvey.) I asked them, “What organizing success strategy have you passed on to your children? How did you accomplish that?”  Their responses are motivating and inspiring. My gratitude goes to each of them for sharing their personal stories with us. If you want your children to become more organized, keep reading to discover some kid-tested organizing success tips that might work for you.

What organizing success strategy have you passed on to your children? How did you accomplish that? . . .

7 Kid-Tested Organizing Success Tips

1. Small Steps

“Ever since my son was small we have worked with him to understand how to take big projects and break them into simple doable steps. For example, cleaning his bathroom breaks down into gathering the supplies needed and then cleaning the mirror, counter, sink, tub/shower, toilet and floor. We did this by sitting with him and having him think through the steps and we'd fill in the blanks when he would get stuck. Now that he is twelve, we use the same strategy for his school and extra curricular activities. We found that by giving him the opportunity to think it through first, he is quite independent with most of his work and often gets it done ahead of schedule because he has thought through the variables.“

Stephanie LH Calahan– The Big Vision Catalyst, Business Strategist, Author and Producer

2. Prompts

“The organizing success strategy that I’ve taught my children is to use external prompts to remind them of tasks or responsibilities they need to get done. So if they need to do homework, call a friend, walk the dog, put dinner in the oven, etc. They’ve been taught to set timers, phones, alarms, or use visual and written prompts. I started teaching them this strategy by asking them the question, “How are you going to remember to…” and having them work out the strategy that would best fit the task. It’s not enough to ask them to do something but ask them how they are going to remember or prompt themselves to do it.”

Leslie Josel – ADHD Specialist & Author

3. Routines

“I am a believer in having routines to structure our time, know what comes next and to be more productive. We have a clear routine that "guides" us through the day and the kids grew up with that. From the moment they wake up, through going to school and back, all the way to going to bed at night we follow a "self-care/school" checklist that helps them cross the dots of daily life and lets them know when is work time, when is play time. This also teaches them to be independent and to self-guide. As a parent it is my hope that this will stay with them and help them when they have to leave and be on their own.”

Helena Alkhas– Professional Organizer & Virtual Assistant

4. Practice

“My kids are amazing, organized parents! They are list makers with a family calendar in their kitchens. They organize not only their closets, but also their children’s clothes.  Each has a file cabinet with easy access, simple filing. How did this happen?  It’s all about talking the talk and walking the walk.  Living in a home with organized parents created the expectation that organizing is an important life skill.  We focused on strengths, talked about organizing, and down played perfectionism.  They practiced as teens and young adults.  Now as parents of young children they have created organizing solutions in their own homes.”

Ellen Delap, CPO®  – Professional Organizer, Productivity Consultant & Family Manager Coach

5. Preparation

“August is traditionally Back to School month and there's tremendous marketing pressure to get out there and buy. The girls, high school juniors, know that I'm not going Back to School shopping unless they've inventoried their closets and desks, assessed their needs and wants, and de-cluttered their space.

Piles of paper, old homework and folders head to the recycling bin, used up school supplies are thrown away, and clothes they've outgrown and are usable head to the donation pile. Next, they create a prioritized list of their needs and wants. I assure them that they'll always get what they need and occasionally what they want. What they’ve learned is that, in order to make room for the new, we simply have to let go of the old and outdated!"

Yota Schneider, Seasons of Change Certified Master Coach – Life Transitions Coach, Workshops & Retreat Facilitator, Blogger, & Mindfulness Meditation Practitioner

6. Completion

“There is a saying that goes like this: Don’t put it down, put it away. I used this saying over and over with my two boys. When they were very young I asked them to put something away when they were finished with it. This translated to games they were playing with when they were very young. As they grew older this saying could also be applied to things like clothes (in a laundry basket or hung up), dishes in the dishwasher, homework in the correct binder, and taking things they belonged to them back to their rooms.”

Diane N. Quintana, CPO®, CPO-CD®– Professional Organizer & Author

7. Letting Go

“By organizing and decluttering with my kids since they were very young, I've taught them how to let go of things they no longer use or love. For one of my kids, letting go didn't come easy. It required a lot of patience and a long-term focus on my part, as we spent hours going through her stuffed animals, clothing, toys, and books. I always let my kids make the decisions, and never let go of anything behind their backs. In the process, I've taught them that letting go is a natural part of life and maintained their trust.”

Aby Garvey – Professional Organizer, Author, & Online Class Instructor

I love this collection of strategies from my colleagues! As a parent with two daughters in college and beyond, I have spent a lot of time teaching them organizing skills. The investment was worthwhile. I marvel at how they’ve integrated those skills regularly and naturally into their lives. Here are some more articles about transferring organizing skills to our children:

Failing Your Way to Success by Linda Samuels

Moms’ “To Do” Lists by Linda Samuels

Cutting the Organizing Umbilical Cord by Leslie Josel

11 Tips to Conquer Your Child’s Clutter by Aby Garvey

Which organizing success tips resonate with you? Do you have additional ones to share? Come join the conversation.

Something exciting is happening. While this spring seems to be off to a slow bloom, the letting go energy that often accompanies this season is blossoming big time. Between clients, friends, family, and acquaintances, the permeating mood is about releasing those things that no longer serve us and are weighing us down. I’ve joined the letting go ranks too, as I prepare for a tag sale this spring. It’s time to clear the space, the decks, the closets, and more. It’s time to create room and energy for what we want in our lives, and release the extraneous.

When our spaces are cluttered with things that no longer serve a purpose, those possessions drain our mental and physical energy. Too much of our resources go to thinking about and maintaining them. When objects clutter our spaces, it becomes difficult to easily move through our day. We feel heavy and encumbered. We might even feel hopeless and depressed.

“When our spaces are cluttered with things that no longer serve a purpose, those possessions drain our mental and physical energy.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO

When we let go, what happens? We often experience a sense of lightness, freedom, happiness, clarity, or growth. Positivity envelops us; perhaps a sense of giddiness enters our being. I experience this wonderful shift regularly with my clients. There is a huge sigh of relief when the weight of those paper piles, or crowded closets, or floors covered with overflowing shopping bags are released. The smiles return, as the letting go increases. The things, which once cluttered our rooms and thoughts, are no longer obstacles.

Are you ready to exercise your letting go muscles? Which questions will be most helpful with your releasing journey? Create your mix of prompts and let me know what you discover.

21 Letting Go Prompts

Do you love it?

Do you need it?

Does it need you?

Do you want it?

Does it fit?

Does it look good on you?

Do you have space for it?

What can easily be released?

Has it overstayed its welcome?

If you released it, would you miss it?

If you saw it now, would you buy it again?

Is it taking up too much mental or physical space?

Is it worth the real estate, energy, and maintenance?

Does it support your current needs?

Could someone else use it?

When was the last time you referred to, needed, or wore it?

Do you have other similar items that you like better?

How many is enough?

Are your things preventing growth?

Are your things taking you away from what’s most important to you?

What will become possible for you when you let go?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation. What are your letting go challenges or successes? What helps you release those things that are holding you back?

Are you ready for next? What will you need? At the end of last year, I started preparing for next. An exciting volunteer opportunity presented itself and I knew that if it were to happen mid-year, I’d need to be ready. Part of getting ready had to do with comedy and knobs. Are you curious? I’ll explain and also share some preparing for next strategies.

The opportunity I mentioned, has come to fruition. The exciting news is starting July first, I’ll be joining the ICD board as President-Elect. This amazing association is the premier resource on chronic disorganization.

ICD provides education, research, and strategies to benefit people challenged by chronic disorganization. Adding this volunteer position to my current commitments required that I get ready both physically and emotionally.

4 Tips to Prepare for Next

1. Bring on the Comedy – Doing something we’ve never done requires some bravery and creativity. As I’ve never been president of an association before, I wanted to exercise my bravery muscles to prepare myself. I did this by signing up for a Comedy Improv class. I’ve never done Improv. This new experience has been incredibly liberating. I’ve discovered that it’s all about letting go, trusting others, and allowing the filter to be silent. There’s been immense joy in facing the fear, turning up the bravery dial, unleashing creativity, and delighting in pure fun.

2. Bring on the Knobs – The knobs I’m referring to are for my office space. For a gift several years back, my husband promised to design and build a beautifully organized office area in my colors. For a variety of reasons, we hadn’t moved forward on the project. However, I recognized now was the time to get it done. Preparing my physical space so that I could be fully ready for next, became a top priority. Selecting the knobs indicates readiness. The knobs symbolize those finishing touches that will allow me to open the doors to next.

3. Bring on the Blog – Writing a weekly blog post is one of my regular commitments, which takes time. To get ready for the additional responsibilities as President-Elect, I thought that it would be useful to plan out and work on a years worth of posts. This included creating a blog calendar, selecting monthly topics, preparing all of the “Ask the Expert” interviews, and finalizing the details for the Giveaways and collaborative posts. Doing the advance planning and writing has helped me clarify the bigger picture, and pave the way for next.

4. Bring on the “It” – Today is my Dad’s birthday. He passed away a little over a year ago and I miss him so much. He was an amazing person, a wonderful role model, and one of my biggest encouragers. I always went to him for advice. When I was deciding if I should accept this leadership role for ICD, I spoke with many people. My Dad wasn’t there this time to weigh in. When my husband and I talked, he said that he knew what my Dad would have said if he were here. I knew too. He would have said to me, “Go for it!” He knew the importance of stretching, growing, and stepping outside of your comfort zone. His words of confidence and exuberance accompany me in the pursuit of next.

Whether you decide to try something new to practice stretching, organize your environment to allow the physical space to support your needs, do some planning and project completion, or determine your call to action, I wish you all the best as you prepare and move forward. Come join the conversation and share your thoughts. How will you prepare for next?