Today in the Wall Street Journal (Personal Journal section) there was a great article on how some retailers are adopting therapy speak when selling file cabinets. Retailers are training their staff to offer more advice and make emotional connections to help customers buy shelves or sort sweaters. And some companies are even increasing their marketing products from folders to closets as items that can improve everything from your exercise habits to relationships.
It also touches on how the demand for professional organizers who usually come into people's home and can spend weeks sorting through junk and giving organizational advice is also booming. The National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) has grown to 4,000 members (I am a proud one!) from 2,000 in 2003.
The article quotes NAPO's president: "A professional organizer looks at the situation with a fresh set of eyes and we take their lifestyle and habits into account. They bring in an element of emotional support as well, listening to people who feel overwhelmed by disorganization or advising on time management."
I thought I just had to share some main points of this article. It really spoke to so many issues that we as professional organizers are facing. Professional organizing and working with people and their personal belongings really lends itself to instant intimacy with clients because questions and answers can quickly get personal. For example, you find out about a person's eating habits and talk about other personal things. Of course, professional organizers should and do keep all this information confidential!
Some of the tips the article offered for getting organized were:
- Discard any clothing not worn in TWO YEARS
- Keep a recycling bin near your mail so you can discard junk mail IMMEDIATELY
- Create a NOTEBOOK for articles and recipes so magazines don't accumulate
- Put bins and boxes on lower shelves to encourage children to PUT AWAY TOYS
- To get started organizing, put on your favorite must and tackle ONE MINI-TASK a day
For the article visit: http://users2.wsj.com/lmda/do/checkLogin?mg=evo-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB117512669991252586.html%3Fmod%3Dtodays_us_nonsub_pj
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