Peace of Mind Organizing

Why training and credentials matter

9 October 2009

I just earned a credential I’m really proud of. I’m now a Certified Professional Organizer in Chronic Disorganization®, a certification conferred by the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganizaton.

The CPO-CD® program requires an investment on the part of the organizer of over $2500 and 150 hours of coursework, reading and service. I started the program in January 2008 and finished it by passing my peer review (an hour-long interview with panel of four people who have been through the program) on October 1, 2009. That’s 20 months of learning and thinking about the chronically disorganized.

During those 20 months I had 18 mentoring sessions with my assigned coach, the wonderful Margaret Pearson-Pinkham. The information, coaching and guidance she provided—all under a carefully constructed program of learning—was invaluable. It’s hard to imagine how I could have gotten training of that caliber elsewhere.

According to the NSGCD’s website, “The purpose of the NSGCD CPO-CD® program is to develop a Professional Organizer’s skills and knowledge by utilizing a coaching style relationship. This program allows the intermediate and advanced Professional Organizer an environment and forum to discuss client issues, problems and challenges. Participation in the CPO-CD® program develops honesty, trust and improves an organizer’s communication skills. The CPO-CD® program is specifically geared to improve the quality of service, techniques and knowledge a Professional Organizer provides to their chronically disorganized clients.”

Can you see why I’m so proud of the credential?

I’m also a Certified Professional Organizer®, a credential conferred by the Board of Certification of Professional Organizers. In order to attain this certification, I had to qualify to sit for the written exam by having completed either 1500 hours of paid work experience in the last three years, or, alternatively, 1250 hours plus 250 hours of training. Then I had to take and pass the exam. I’m thrilled to have earned this credential as well.

Why do I bother taking training and sitting for exams? Because I think they matter. I’ve learned so much through my NSGCD training. I also learned a great deal studying for the CPO® exam. That knowledge helps me help my clients.

Becoming a professional organizer doesn’t require a degree or any training. Many organizers serve their clients well using their natural abilities unsupplemented by training or education. But when you hire a professional who has made the commitment to her profession and her clients by investing in training and certification programs — particularly if you’re chronically disorganized — you can be more confident that you’ll be working with someone who is equipped to provide the individualized help you need.

I’m one of only 60 CPO-CDs. I’m the only one in the St. Louis area. There are about 300 CPOs, two of whom live in the St. Louis area. I don’t know how many have both credentials. Those of us who have made the commitment of time and money to get certified (which is purely voluntary in our industry), may charge more than others. I believe that paying more for more qualified organizers can be a smart decision.

Certainly, there is plenty of training available beyond that offered by NSGCD. I’ve taken some, as have many other organizers. I think it’s important for my own professional development to keep learning. And, in fact, I’m required to in order to stay certified — both CPOs and CPO-CDs must be recertified every three years.

Incidentally, Geralin Thomas, CPO-CD® (one of the expert organizers on A&E TV’s Hoarders television series) has an excellent blog post that explains the differences between the two PO certifications, particularly as it applies to working with hoarders. If you’re looking for more information, I urge you to check it out.

Thank goodness for houseguests

8 October 2009

I have a friend visiting this weekend and I’m very excited. I met Patti back in 1983, when I was a college intern at her office. She was in her early 30s, a real grown up. After graduation, I went to work for that organization (the Population Reference Bureau) and our friendship grew. Though we haven’t worked together in over 20 years, we’ve remained friends.

I’m looking forward to seeing her and doing some serious hanging out. And I’m also looking forward to having an excuse to clean. Our guest room is on the first floor of our house, but we live on the second floor. My offices are on the first floor, so I spend a good amount of time there. But most of my cleaning time is spent on the second floor, where the benefits can be enjoyed by both my husband and me.

So Patti’s visit is an excuse to really clean. Why do I need an excuse to clean? Probably because I hate cleaning and I’m fairly immune to the sight of dust. But I know it will feel great to have it done. I’ll be really motivated while doing it, and I’ll have a reward at the end—a fun visit!

I’ve blogged in the past about how I had it together enough to invite a client to stop by my home. A weekend guest takes it to another level, particularly since the guest room is also our cat’s primary hang out.

There have been times in my life where the prospect of an overnight guest induced a little panic. But now, while our house isn’t perfectly orderly, almost everything has a home, so it’ll be an easy matter to put everything way prior to cleaning. I won’t have to do the frantic stash and dash where I put everything into bags and I hide them. (Lots of my clients have done this, and I’ve done it in the past.) I can actually put stuff away. That’s huge.

That’s what I call organized enough. My home isn’t perfectly organized at all times. But I can find what I need and make it company ready quite easily. I really am looking forward to rolling up my sleeves, cleaning, and enjoying the benefits. Thanks, Patti!

Some great resources on hoarding

7 October 2009

I’m back from Los Angeles, where I earned my Certified Professional Organizer in Chronic Disorganization® credential from the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization — more on the significance of that in a post later this week. As usual after a trip, I’m struggling to get back into the swing of my routines. (I’m happy to report that I have managed to clear my desk each evening.)

Today I just want to share with a you a tremendous list of resources to help hoarders, compiled by my friend Geralin Thomas, CPO-CD® of Metropolitan Organizing in Cary, N.C. Geralin is one of the expert organizers on A&E’s Hoarders documentary TV show. She collaborated with professional organizer Yvonne Trostli, M.S., M.A. of Whole Life Organizing Pittsboro, N.C., to create the list.

If you have hoarding tendencies, or you’re just interested in the topic, this is a great place to find resources that might interest you.

Off to Los Angeles

30 September 2009

I leave in an hour or so to fly to Los Angeles to attend the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization’s annual conference. I love this conference and have gone every year since I became an organizer.

The NSGCD provides an unparalleled learning opportunity for organizers who are keenly interested in working with chronically disorganized clients. Its conference always rocks (this is my sixth one). While I also love the NAPO conference, the NSGCD conference is more intimate and more focused.

I’ve long said that NSGCD members are the healers of the organizing community. You’d be hard-pressed to meet a more compassionate, patient group of people. And they’re fun too! I’m really looking forward to spending time with them.

In addition to learning a lot, I’ll be sitting for my peer review to receive my CPO-CD® (Certified Professional Organizer in Chronic Disorganization) credential. This hour-long interview with a panel of peers is the culmination of 21 months of study and training in NSGCD’s Level III certification program. I’ve learned so much in the process and, assuming I pass my peer review, will be very proud of this credential.

Mountain Day!

29 September 2009

Today is Mountain Day at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. I’m a proud member of the class of 1984 of Mount Holyoke, an august institution steeped in tradition. One of my favorite MHC traditions is Mountain Day, which first began in 1838. Once a year, on a beautiful fall day the early-morning pealing of the clock tower’s bells for five minutes let students know they are freed of academic obligations for the day. They’re encouraged to climb Mount Holyoke (which is really more of a hill than a mountain, says a person who never bothered to climb it).

It’s an exhilarating thing to be given the day off and told to go have fun. Part of the joy of it is not knowing in advance what day will be selected.

Here’s a photo of the Mount Holyoke campus on a beautiful fall day. You gotta love autumn in New England.

For the last 25 years, I’ve meant to give myself my own personal Mountain Day. I rarely have the ability to spontaneously take off the school’s Mountain Day. (The college is kind enough to email alumnae to let them know when it’s Mountain Day.) Today, for example, I have stuff I have to do because I’m leaving town in the morning. But most of those things are fun errands like shopping and a haircut. I do have a phone meeting with my Declutter Happy Hour partner Shannon Wilkinson, but that will be fun—conversations with Shannon always are.

So here’s what I’m going to do. I can’t free myself of all obligations for the day. But I can imbue the day with a happy spirit of enjoying life, which is really the essence of Mountain Day. I’ll think of all my tasks as happy opportunities, rather than obligations (which they really are).

Now here’s the question I have to ask myself: if I can do that today, why can’t I do it every day?

I think I’ll make an “Every Day Is Mountain Day!” sign for my inspiration board and see what it does for my spirits (and my day).

How about you: can you treat today (or any day) like Mountain Day?

Beauty vs. function

28 September 2009

I live near a heavily trafficked thoroughfare in St. Louis that has a big median down the middle. A couple of years ago, volunteers from the neighborhood decided to beautify the street by planting large decorative plants in the median. It looks lovely.

Unfortunately, it’s unsafe. I regularly turn left from that street onto another. When I’m waiting to make that turn, the large plants on the median block my view of oncoming traffic. It’s dangerous. Really dangerous. I curse it on a regular basis.

It got me to thinking about beauty versus function, something that I encounter in organizing all the time. People want their spaces to look nice. To many people, looking nice is a big part of being organized. But in their pursuit of aesthetics, people sometimes ignore functionality.

Case in point: say you have a series of pretty binders. You decide to store a certain category of papers in one of the binders which rests on a high shelf with other pretty binders. They look lovely. But in order to file into these binders (or get anything out of them), you have to reach up, remove it from the shelf, open it, find the appropriate section, open the rings, and add (or remove) the papers. (Oh and let’s not get into the hassle of either punching holes in the paper or using a sheet protector…can you tell I’m not a big fan of filing into binders?)

Because it takes so many steps to put something away in that lovely binder, stored attractively with its mates, you don’t do it. You set the papers down into a pile of papers to be filed later. Later never comes. The pile grows, starts feeling overwhelming, and you have an unsightly pile of papers. And a filing chore ahead of you that you dread.

Those binders might look pretty, but if you’re not filing into them they’re not functional.

So what would I recommend instead? For papers, an easy-to-use filing system (I love the Freedom Filer) in an accessible filing cabinet or box.

Functional doesn’t have to be ugly, by any means. But when you’re designing a storage or organizing system, I urge you to pay as much, if not more, attention to how it works as you to do how it looks. That’s a key factor in creating a successful system.

Edited to add: A couple of months after I wrote this, the city of St. Louis repainted the lane lines at this intersection so that the left turn lane is farther left than it used to be. This allows people waiting to make a left turn to see oncoming traffic. They figured out a solution to have both beauty and function at that intersection. Bravo!

Baby Steps: The Best-Kept Secret to Accomplishing Anything

24 September 2009

The true secret to getting anything done — particularly something that can feel overwhelming like decluttering — is to break it down into small bites and to keep working on it. When I received this article from performer, songwriter, and creativity consultant Christine Kane in my email yesterday, I knew I had to share it with you. It comes from her newsletter, Live Creative, and I’m reprinting it with permission.

—Janine

by Christine Kane

Let’s say you had a baby.

Congratulations! Your baby is the best human ever!

You love your baby. You celebrate as it starts to crawl. You and your partner delight in this baby’s every new adventure.

Then, one day, the baby stands up on her own. “Yaaaaay!” you cheer. You clap your hands. The baby smiles and laughs. You think, “Wow. She’s gonna learn how to walk. Isn’t that great?”

One evening, you and your partner are on the carpet playing with your baby. Suddenly, your perfect child stands up again. She braces herself on the coffee table. Your partner grabs the movie camera. You call your parents in Idaho so they can listen to the play-by-play.

Your child lurches forward. You all gasp and hold your collective breath.

Then, CLUNK. She falls onto her butt on the carpet.

“Awwwww,” you say.

“Dang,” your partner says.

“Well, I guess that’s it. This one just wasn’t cut out for walking,” your parents say from their home in Boise.

“Oh well,” you say. “It just wasn’t meant to be. Bummer.”

You hang up the phone. You turn off the camera. You take the baby up to bed. Tomorrow you’ll begin the search for a bigger stroller because your kid’s obviously gonna have to get through life on wheels.

Get the idea?

And yet, how many of us are already acting like this with our plans for the coming year or with our own new beginnings?

Your project, your dream, or your goal is your baby. If we all gave up on our kids as much as we give up on ourselves, then we’d have a race of humans with big calluses on their knees!

The Best Way to Take Action: Baby Steps

Every big project or goal can be broken down into baby steps. Little lurches forward. Sometimes they’re clumsy. Sometimes they don’t even seem to make an impact. But this is how anything gets done.

~ Years and years of built up clutter get sorted and thrown away one drawer at a time. (Plan for 30-minutes a day in one zone of the house – not “Get rid of clutter.”)

~ Years and years of reckless eating and unhealthy habits get shifted one work-out at a time. (Plan a 45-minute work-out 5 days a week, and a once a month visit to an acupuncturist for a year – not “Lose 50 pounds by June.”)

~ A song gets written in fits and starts. Hour by hour. Moment by moment. A flash of an idea. Then an edit. (Schedule in an hour of songwriting time in the morning. Start with scales to warm up. Not “Write Lots of Songs.”)

~ A coach builds her practice one client at a time. (Schedule a daily system for authentic marketing. Not “Get 50 new clients by March.”)

That’s how it works.

Stinks, doesn’t it?

Actually, no.

This is the good news that no one ever tells you.

When you get this concept, you’ll never be afraid of failure again. When you learn how to break a goal down into baby steps, and how to complete something fantastic using this method, then you have the key to doing anything. When you understand that everyone falls down and gets back up again (some of us on an hourly basis!), then you need only to trust in your strength to get back up again.

The only block is your ego.

Your ego wants it to be done now. Your ego wants to move through life risk-free, foolish-free, discouragement-free, mistake-free, tired-free. And the best way to trick your ego (and yourself) into letting go a little bit is to take baby steps.

This week, I’ve been doing one-on-one coaching calls with the people in my Uplevel Your Business Program & Blueprint. These people are the most courageous clients I can imagine having. That’s because they are taking the biggest risk of all. They are taking Baby Steps!

Baby steps take courage. Baby steps are a huge risk to your ego because they are so easy. SO easy! The ego wants big deals, major accomplishments, huge weight-loss, and fast results. In other words, the ego likes adjectives, not nouns. Those adjectives guarantee that you’ll stay stuck and never try anything new. Over time you’ll get that deals, accomplishments, weight-loss, and results feel pretty good — even without adjectives.

Now, try this:

Take a goal you want to accomplish by the end of this year, and ask yourself, “What one baby step could I take every day to complete this goal?” And then (and this is the big challenge) get out your calendar and schedule it in there daily for the rest of 2009.

Performer, songwriter, and creativity consultant Christine Kane publishes her ‘LiveCreative’ weekly ezine with more than 4,000 subscribers. If you want to be the artist of your life and create authentic and lasting success, you can sign up for a free subscription to LiveCreative at www.christinekane.com.