Six Benefits:
Working with a virtual organizing consultant/coach is convenient! All you need is a phone or Internet connection. Most people are already comfortable with phone or video calls and digital communications such as emails and text messages.
- Working virtually is a great option if you’re short on time and are motivated to do some work independently over the course of a few months. Virtual sessions are typically one hour long and are scheduled weekly over 3-4 months.
- You can make steady and consistent progress by investing small chunks of time between virtual consultation appointments. The client and consultant work together to co-create the structures, systems and processes to help you be more productive. Before each call ends, you’ll be clear about tasks for you to complete before the next call, and you’ll know how to do it. Doing some of the work independently makes it much more affordable than the traditional way of paying a professional to be with you throughout the entire reorganizing process.
- Daily accountability check-ins are done by email or text between calls. Having this additional support can make a huge difference when you’re working to change a behavior or form a new habit.
- Once you’ve built a relationship of trust, working together can continue for years. There’s great peace-of-mind knowing you won’t have to hire another professional if you move to a different geographic area and need a “tune-up” session later, since location is irrelevant when working virtually.
It works to your advantage that the consultant cannot actually see the space you plan to organize. How so? When you describe what needs attention, the consultant can hear the emotion behind your description of the space or the item you’re dealing with. As a result, the consultant can help you work through your frustration, anger, anxiety, ambivalence, discouragement, or whatever you’re feeling. This is an important part of getting to the core cause of your challenges, so you can disrupt unhelpful patterns of behavior in the future. A good example of this would be learning how to make quick decisions about what to do with everything that comes into your life, so you no longer have a need to create piles of postponed decisions. I’ve learned that organizing your physical environment — without first clarifying priorities and identifying the core cause of the disorganization — is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic!
Do you need hands-on in-person assistance?
Some people really need in-person assistance, especially if they lack the discipline to do the work independently between phone appointments.
In this case, I recommend one of two things:
- Find a local professional to assist you. I may be able to help with recommendations, or you can visit the National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals website to search for a consultant in your area.
- Find a reliable, teachable, and non-judgmental person whom you can hire to help with the physical work of getting your space organized. I can work with both the client and their assistant to teach the methodology needed to get the work done properly. This option enables the client to tap into my professional expertise without having to pay for many hours of on-site support.
If you’d like tips about how to select the right virtual organizing consultant/coach to hire, click here.
