The first step is usually the hardest one to take...
This week its National Organising Week (NOW), which means you’ll find I’m doing lots of blogging on here, and lots of retweeting on Twitter for the next 7 days! There will be a few tips thrown in to help you too! I’m going to try and do a different blog post each day so you get to find out a bit more about me, my business and how I declutter and organise. Today I want to go through the type of clients I have, and what happens in a session.
As I’ve been handing out my business cards lately I’ve found there have been two distinct reactions. One is “Do people really pay for you to throw their stuff away? Surely they can do that themselves!” and the other has been “Oooh, I could do with you sorting my house out” before they run off.
Now with regard to at the first comment, it’s not exactly accurate. I don’t throw anything away, I just give my clients the tools to help THEM decide what’s important to keep. I have no particular type of client, all are very different. From workaholic University lecturers needing help sorting their papers, teenagers wanting a clearer bedroom without hassle from their parents, through to exhausted Mums wanting help sorting their kids toys. Every single client is different and every single session is tailored to what they want to achieve, not what I think they should. Of course they could do it themselves, but I am in no doubt that having someone with them to give support and guidance makes it all happen much quicker, easier, emotionally less painful and less daunting, and in the long run saves you money too…. It also means that you can’t procrastinate and keep putting it off. You will feel the benefits from our first session immediately, which will keep you motivated to keep going, either with or without me!
The second comment is almost met with relief that the realisation that others are in the same boat. You’re no longer alone! Then the doubts creep in…. “I couldn’t afford it”, “I’d be too embarrassed to let you in my home”, “It’d be too hard, I can’t get rid of all my stuff”. Well let me put you at ease… My costs are fully explained on my website, I charge an hourly rate and also have special one off offers too. You are in charge of how frequently you book a session with me, if it means you need time to save up for my services. Most clients find that by selling some discarded things that pays for the session in itself. Your shopping habits will also change as a consequence saving you money, plus what price can you put in living the life you dreamed off no-longer battling your house and its stuff? No client should EVER be embarrassed to let me into their home. Everyone’s journey has to start somewhere, it’s not where you start but where you end up that’s important. I always ask clients to not do a special tidy before I come over as I need to know how you genuinely live, so I can see where your sticking points and clutter collections are. I lived in chaos and clutter for 37 years of my life, so I know how easy it is to be surrounded by, and extremely embarrassed by your clutter (more on this tomorrow!). As I know how it feels, that’s why I’m so passionate about my job now, as I know how simple it can be to transform your life by decluttering and organising things differently, people just need the right knowledge and help to do it.
So how do I do it? First of all we have a no obligation hour long consultation. This helps me understand what problems you face, what your priorities are and what you want to achieve. I can then come up with a plan for your first session and give you a realistic decision as to what can be achieved. If you then decide to book in, we will then book you into my diary and payment will be taken.
On your first session we will start on the plan that we made at your consultation. You will need to make sure there are no distractions, so children are already at the babysitters or school etc and your phone turned off so we will get straight to looking at what needs to be decluttered. If you agree I will take before photos. We will look at the space you have and how you’d like it to be. We will look at the storage you have in your home and if anything can be repurposed. It is rare that extra storage needs to be bought. We will then sort through the clutter and I will guide you into deciding what needs to be kept, what needs action, what needs to be binned, and what can be rehomed, recycled or donated.
At the end of the session we will look at what has been achieved and whether your goals have been met, we will look back on your before photo and take an ‘after’ shot which sometimes makes seeing the changes more obvious. I will take away items to be given to charity or will organise a collection from a charity if that is more appropriate. If you would like to be getting on with something in between sessions I will leave you ‘homework’ to complete. If you wish to book in for another session this is then arranged. I will leave you feeling like it IS all do-able, the change has begun!
If you’d like to transform your life and get away from a life of battling your home, the first step is to contact me and have a chat. The first step is the smallest, and also the hardest, but also leads to the biggest change you could imagine. Do it today!!
Love, Heather x
