When I offer a client virtual organizing, they usually ask, “Well, what is virtual organizing?”.
The Zoom explosion that happened during the pandemic has certainly normalized virtual services. But what’s it like to organize virtually? After all, isn’t the whole point of hiring an organizer that they’ll move your stuff around for you?
Not quite!
What Virtual Organizing Is
Physically rearranging objects is only part of the organizing equation. If I came over while you had a spa day and organized everything for you, your home would certainly be neat … until the clutter came back. And so, the other half of the equation: learning HOW to organize.
At Organize to Excel, our goal is to give you the knowledge and tools you need to get organized and stay organized. Virtual organizing is a distilled version of that! Whether we focus on your closet, your digital files, or your office, during virtual organizing, we work with you to:
- facilitate decision-making,
- offer expert opinions, and
- bust through stumbling blocks.
In the same way a virtual personal trainer doesn’t need to be with you to pass on their knowledge, virtual organizers help develop strategies and create accountability.
So what’s it like to work with a virtual organizer? I had a session with Kristin the other day–here’s how it went!
**All information shared was okayed by Kristin, including images!
Before Organizing
Kristin and I hopped on a Zoom call at the appointment time and said hello. She was excited to work on decluttering her computer desk. Before we started, though, I asked some questions to help define what “organized” meant for her desk. I also asked how she’d like to use the space going forward.
Kristin said her desk felt like it was too small to hold everything she needed for work. I normally advocate that it’s okay to not have everything at hand. It’s good to get up and move around the house! But Kristin shared that she has a disability that limits the amount of time she can spend on her feet. That’s what “organized” meant to her in that space: storing items efficiently so that she could stay seated while working.
During Organizing
I had her step back and stream a little video so I could see what we were working with. As we looked at the desk together, a pattern emerged. Going through the items on her desk, we realized that she had three of the same kind of stress toy! Here’s where the decision-making work started. By grouping items together, we were able to see where she had duplicates, and then decide if the duplicates were necessary. Kristin decided she only needed one stress toy at her desk, and that she could place the other two around the house in other areas where she might need them. More desk space!
We also discovered that she had a lot of personal care items at her desk, like chapstick, eye drops, and hair clips. This made sense for her, but they were all scattered loose on the desktop. We used a bowl that was already there to contain them and claim even more space back.
A number of items didn’t belong at the desk, so I had her make a “go-back bucket” to temporarily store them. After our session, she could pick it up and distribute things where they made more sense. Some things she decided didn’t belong in her home at all. Those that could be donated or recycled were set into separate piles, and the rest went into the trash.
Kristin’s desk was already looking better! Once we had decided what to keep, we strategized about the best way to store everything. I noticed that she wasn’t taking advantage of vertical space as well as she could, so I offered some ideas for how she might change things up.
Kristin’s desk had a scanner, printer, and milk-crate-turned-storage-box spread across it. After Kristin tried a few iterations, we found a great solution. “Never in my life did I think to put my printer inside that milk crate,” she said. But she did and it worked! Instead of taking up precious horizontal space, her scanner, printer, and storage container stacked vertically. As a bonus, she realized that by stacking the printer and scanner, she wouldn’t have to reach off to the side anymore when she wanted to print–a movement that, over time, was painful for her.
After Organizing
Kristin was so pleased at the end of our session! By finding out what being organized meant to her, and using my expert knowledge to coach (and cheerlead) her along, we transformed her work area for the better.
I hope this clarifies what virtual organizing is about! If you have any questions or would like to schedule a virtual session, click the banner below to discuss details!
