What is Virtual Organizing?

Virtual Organizing is a collaborative process between a Professional Organizer and a client.  Working together via phone and online rather than face-to-face, they create a customized plan.  The Professional Organizer provides non-judgmental, expert strategizing, support, and guidance through all phases of the work.  During and between calls, the client is doing the actual physical work, executing small doable steps of the plan that they have created together.

Very often clients are overwhelmed by the disorganization.  They don’t know what to do, where to start or how to begin the process.  Clients can feel very anxious about having someone physically come into their space.  They may not be able to financially afford the cost of a multi-hour organizing session.  As compared with traditional onsite organizing, Virtual Organizing not only alleviates the overwhelm and reduces the anxiety, but also is more financially viable.

Working virtually can be a viable option whether the issue is paper, clutter, downsizing, productivity, time management, or project planning.

Benefits of Virtual Organizing

Emotional

Clients are often overwhelmed by the volume of stuff they have. The thought of having someone come into their space can produce considerable anxiety. Clients are often embarrassed about their living conditions.  Working virtually allows the client to only show limited areas of their space, thus greatly reducing or eliminating the anxiety.

Financial

Four-hour onsite sessions may put a strain on a client’s budget.  For many clients one-hour virtual sessions spread over a period of time are much more financially manageable than the expense of a 4-hour onsite session.  Since travel expenses are reduced, the hourly rate is often lower for virtual work.

Energy Levels

Sorting, purging, and organizing can be physically demanding and many clients do not have the stamina for a four-hour onsite session.  They can, however, work remotely with a Professional Organizer to develop an executable plan consisting of specific chores to be done on a regular basis.  As the client progress through the plan, there is visible improvement of the situation.  Thus, the client avoids burnout and is motivated to continue working the plan.

Paper

Processing paper is very time intensive and therefore can be very expensive to deal with during onsite sessions especially if there is a large backlog of paper.  During a paper focused virtual session, the Professional Organizer can help the client develop a personalized process for dealing with the paper.  Once learned, this process can be applied by the client working alone in smaller available blocks of time.  In addition to being more financially doable, this process avoids the client getting burned out and giving up.  The client’s expectations are more realistic and therefore more likely to get accomplished.  If the client becomes ‘stuck’ in any way, they can set the issue aside until the next virtual appointment and discuss the issue with the Professional Organizer at that time.  This allows the client to work the process in small blocks of time and not get burned out and give up.