Anonymous
03/27/2022 15:13
Subject: Whom to hire to help organize your house?
Anonymous wrote:OP, just want you to know you’re not alone. This is exactly where I am too. DH keeps trying to help by saying we can hire cleaners, but I keep pushing back that won’t solve the clutter issue and if I wasn’t fighting the uphill battle of everything landing wherever it was last used, the actual cleaning of the house wouldn’t be more than an hour or two a week.
This isn’t actually true. A housecleaner can whip through a tidy house in maybe 2-3 hours but that’s not all the cleaning. It’ll just be floors, bathrooms and dusting if you’re lucky.
What you need to do is solve the clutter issue.
Anonymous
03/27/2022 15:10
Subject: Whom to hire to help organize your house?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:my house is disorganized and full of clutter - something I can get under control with a weekend-long herculean effort, which I put in every so often, but that's unsustainable, and which leaves me drained and spent.
I really like the podcast "A Slob Comes Clean." The podcaster, Dana K. White, also has books if you prefer that format. (https://www.aslobcomesclean.com/podcasts/) She makes a point of NOT advising that people pull everything out of a closet and spend four hours organizing, knowing that half the time they'll end up with piles of stuff that never really gets where it needs to get, making things worse, not better. Here's an overview of her decluttering method: https://www.aslobcomesclean.com/2014/04/how-to-declutter-without-making-a-bigger-mess/
Honestly, I feel like anyone could come in and organize your house (like with like, and lots of pretty baskets), but if you have too much stuff, YOU have to be the one to deal with that. So either you can pay an organizer to sit with you and ask thing by thing whether to keep or toss, or you can get started on your own.
Anything can work because the dump the whole closet method (actually whole categories Kondo-style) is the best way for me to do it.
Anonymous
03/27/2022 15:02
Subject: Re:Whom to hire to help organize your house?
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Part of the issue is I need a lot of time, uninterrupted, to go through stuff. But if don't feel comfortable having a cleaner out babysitter on the house unless it's pretty clean and uncluttered, and I need their help too make me time to do those things! Catch 22, haha.
I understand this cycle and I empathize. I really do. But the honest truth is that if you feel you need a lot of interrupted time to go through stuff, it means you don’t have a healthy relationship to the stuff or a realistic understanding of how much of it you can/should have. You assess each item in terms of its condition, usefulness, etc. You’re not seeing the big picture. The big picture is if you have the right amount of stuff for your space, and if that space is organized, tidying it is really fast and easy and not draining even if there is a huge mess and everything is “out.”
I don’t have a recommendation for an organizer but I’ve been through this with a parent. Whoever you hire, you need to be realistic setting out that you have way too much stuff and you need to purge a lot of stuff that is useful, in good condition and that you like. If you don’t think you can let go of a lot of stuff that is useful, in good condition and that you like, it’s not going to work.
Anonymous
03/27/2022 14:50
Subject: Whom to hire to help organize your house?
Hire a babysitter, but you be the cleaner, organizer. Really you need a mother’s helper for the kids while you spend dedicated time organizing.
Anonymous
03/27/2022 14:09
Subject: Re:Whom to hire to help organize your house?
OP here. Part of the issue is I need a lot of time, uninterrupted, to go through stuff. But if don't feel comfortable having a cleaner out babysitter on the house unless it's pretty clean and uncluttered, and I need their help too make me time to do those things! Catch 22, haha.
Anonymous
03/27/2022 13:46
Subject: Whom to hire to help organize your house?
I came in to recommend Dana K. White too. PP at 13:18 is spot on. I got her book, Decluttering at the Speed of Life, as an audiobook and it is amazing. Following her methods will get you results and also never make you feel bad that you don’t have a perfectly Zen minimalist space.
Also once you have the amount of stuff in your house down to a reasonable level, Neatnik is a great local organizing company. But no organizer can help if the real problem is that you have too many things.
Also once you have the amount of stuff in your house down to a reasonable level, Neatnik is a great local organizing company. But no organizer can help if the real problem is that you have too many things.
Anonymous
03/27/2022 13:36
Subject: Whom to hire to help organize your house?
I've hired a high school girl to come about twice a year and organize the kids books, pull out what she thinks they're too old for, organize the toys and make a pile of broken or ones with missing pieces, organize the games the same way, organize the kids clothes and put aside anything under a certain size and put the upcoming seasonal clothes in the front.
I hire different kids as they lose interest or are busy. They do a great job, I don't have to pay as much as you'd pay an adult, and it leaves me free to do other things.
I hire different kids as they lose interest or are busy. They do a great job, I don't have to pay as much as you'd pay an adult, and it leaves me free to do other things.
Anonymous
03/27/2022 13:25
Subject: Whom to hire to help organize your house?
Anonymous wrote:I would like to hire a house-organizer. Where would I find such a person/service?
What I actually would like is to hire a part-time cleaner and babysitter. However, my house is disorganized and full of clutter - something I can get under control with a weekend-long herculean effort, which I put in every so often, but that's unsustainable, and which leaves me drained and spent. I have two small children and am always one lazy/sick/trip away/having-people-over weekend away from chaos, which it takes me another week to recover from (in terms of cleaning up, washing sheets from visitors, unpacking from trip). My husband works a flexible but time-consuming job (think academia), and between us we just don't have enough time or energy resources for all the things we need to do and also watch the kids for each other.
And in terms of organizing and de-cluttering: I just don't know where to begin. I seldom have 4 hours in a row of total concentration, much less during the DAY when I'm not really tired, much less a WHOLE DAY. And when I undertake a big project, I often don't have time to finish it in a day and then it's even worse than when I started.
So, to summarize: what kind of service can I hire that can help me get my stuff/organization under control, maybe for a reasonable price? I am located in southern Baltimore.
Thank you!
Might be helpful for you to think about what exactly you want. In the first two sentences you mention three different service providers -- baby sitter, house cleaner, organizer. Each of these service provide will help you with something different.
Other than that, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. How do you organize and declutter -- spend an hour or two then move back to the rest of your life. Reminds me, I should get off of DCUM and follow my advice.
Anonymous
03/27/2022 13:18
Subject: Whom to hire to help organize your house?
Anonymous wrote:my house is disorganized and full of clutter - something I can get under control with a weekend-long herculean effort, which I put in every so often, but that's unsustainable, and which leaves me drained and spent.
I really like the podcast "A Slob Comes Clean." The podcaster, Dana K. White, also has books if you prefer that format. (https://www.aslobcomesclean.com/podcasts/) She makes a point of NOT advising that people pull everything out of a closet and spend four hours organizing, knowing that half the time they'll end up with piles of stuff that never really gets where it needs to get, making things worse, not better. Here's an overview of her decluttering method: https://www.aslobcomesclean.com/2014/04/how-to-declutter-without-making-a-bigger-mess/
Honestly, I feel like anyone could come in and organize your house (like with like, and lots of pretty baskets), but if you have too much stuff, YOU have to be the one to deal with that. So either you can pay an organizer to sit with you and ask thing by thing whether to keep or toss, or you can get started on your own.
Anonymous
03/27/2022 13:11
Subject: Re:Whom to hire to help organize your house?
I work part-time on weekends folding laundry, light cleaning, organizing. The problem with hiring someone like me to organize is that I don't know what you want to keep until you are there with me or tell me to do it and not care if I get rid of stuff you actually want. If you say "Get rid of all clothes 3T and below" or "Get rid of all toys in the closet" I could help you.
Anonymous
03/27/2022 13:05
Subject: Whom to hire to help organize your house?
C Lee Cawley
Anonymous
03/27/2022 13:01
Subject: Whom to hire to help organize your house?
OP, just want you to know you’re not alone. This is exactly where I am too. DH keeps trying to help by saying we can hire cleaners, but I keep pushing back that won’t solve the clutter issue and if I wasn’t fighting the uphill battle of everything landing wherever it was last used, the actual cleaning of the house wouldn’t be more than an hour or two a week.
Anonymous
03/27/2022 12:41
Subject: Whom to hire to help organize your house?
Hugs. This is hard. My sincere advice is to make a cup.of tea and read "the life changing magic of tidying up" first, before you do anything.else.
Anonymous
03/27/2022 12:34
Subject: Whom to hire to help organize your house?
Anonymous wrote:I would like to hire a house-organizer. Where would I find such a person/service?
What I actually would like is to hire a part-time cleaner and babysitter. However, my house is disorganized and full of clutter - something I can get under control with a weekend-long herculean effort, which I put in every so often, but that's unsustainable, and which leaves me drained and spent. I have two small children and am always one lazy/sick/trip away/having-people-over weekend away from chaos, which it takes me another week to recover from (in terms of cleaning up, washing sheets from visitors, unpacking from trip). My husband works a flexible but time-consuming job (think academia), and between us we just don't have enough time or energy resources for all the things we need to do and also watch the kids for each other.
And in terms of organizing and de-cluttering: I just don't know where to begin. I seldom have 4 hours in a row of total concentration, much less during the DAY when I'm not really tired, much less a WHOLE DAY. And when I undertake a big project, I often don't have time to finish it in a day and then it's even worse than when I started.
So, to summarize: what kind of service can I hire that can help me get my stuff/organization under control, maybe for a reasonable price? I am located in southern Baltimore.
Thank you!
You begin in one corner of the room and have a good size trash can. Make three piles;. Keep. Throw away. Give away. Anything you haven't used or worn in a year give or toss. I once went through all the recipes that I had cut out and realized that if I cooked 24 hours a day and lived to be 100, I would never
Cook all of these things and I tossed all. That was ten years ago and I have never missed a single one of them. Finish that corner and move to next and so on. Also, take it in half-hour increments two or three times a day. I have gone paperless as much as possible and pay bills on line as well as EFT when possible. My DH would keep newspapers forever so I told him all go in recycle bin in one week. It is amazing the things you will find --instructions for appliances that were replaced ten years ago! I think most of us are reluctant to throw away something we might need someday and chances are good that you never will or if you do, you won't be able to find or remember where you put it. Good luck.
Anonymous
03/27/2022 12:13
Subject: Whom to hire to help organize your house?
I would like to hire a house-organizer. Where would I find such a person/service?
What I actually would like is to hire a part-time cleaner and babysitter. However, my house is disorganized and full of clutter - something I can get under control with a weekend-long herculean effort, which I put in every so often, but that's unsustainable, and which leaves me drained and spent. I have two small children and am always one lazy/sick/trip away/having-people-over weekend away from chaos, which it takes me another week to recover from (in terms of cleaning up, washing sheets from visitors, unpacking from trip). My husband works a flexible but time-consuming job (think academia), and between us we just don't have enough time or energy resources for all the things we need to do and also watch the kids for each other.
And in terms of organizing and de-cluttering: I just don't know where to begin. I seldom have 4 hours in a row of total concentration, much less during the DAY when I'm not really tired, much less a WHOLE DAY. And when I undertake a big project, I often don't have time to finish it in a day and then it's even worse than when I started.
So, to summarize: what kind of service can I hire that can help me get my stuff/organization under control, maybe for a reasonable price? I am located in southern Baltimore.
Thank you!
What I actually would like is to hire a part-time cleaner and babysitter. However, my house is disorganized and full of clutter - something I can get under control with a weekend-long herculean effort, which I put in every so often, but that's unsustainable, and which leaves me drained and spent. I have two small children and am always one lazy/sick/trip away/having-people-over weekend away from chaos, which it takes me another week to recover from (in terms of cleaning up, washing sheets from visitors, unpacking from trip). My husband works a flexible but time-consuming job (think academia), and between us we just don't have enough time or energy resources for all the things we need to do and also watch the kids for each other.
And in terms of organizing and de-cluttering: I just don't know where to begin. I seldom have 4 hours in a row of total concentration, much less during the DAY when I'm not really tired, much less a WHOLE DAY. And when I undertake a big project, I often don't have time to finish it in a day and then it's even worse than when I started.
So, to summarize: what kind of service can I hire that can help me get my stuff/organization under control, maybe for a reasonable price? I am located in southern Baltimore.
Thank you!