The holiday pandemonium is finally over and we’re settling back into another fantastic year. I’m sure many people woke up on Jan 1st regretting having welcomed in the New Year so ummm… enthusiastically. My New Year’s Eve was spent sleeping. Yep. I was in bed by 8pm and asleep by about 8:02pm (I have 2 kids and run a successful business… don’t judge me).
I didn’t feel the need to welcome in the New Year in a traditional way. I didn’t feel the need to set New Year’s Resolutions. It’s not that I’m boring or not willing to try new things. I just didn’t need to. I had previously looked myself in the eye (using a mirror) and promised myself that things would be changing for the better. And this is why.
I had come to the realisation that everything in my life was interconnected in some way. My emotions affected my attitude. My attitude affected my self-esteem. My self-esteem affected my work. My work affected my environment. My environment affected my relationships. My relationships finally affected my emotions. It was a real light-bulb moment!
Realising just how interconnected all the aspects of my life and individuality really were was such a pivotal moment. I knew I was serious about being the best bookkeeper in my industry. I recognized I was serious about having a successful business. I want to be influential, inspiring, and make a difference in the lives of those around me. I want to have a strong and happy marriage. I want to be the best mother to my kids that I can be. I deserve to have a lovely home. I am committed to waking up and feel calm, serene and excited to start my day. These imaginings are and always have been so clear in my mind…yet somewhere along the way…life’s little chaos monkey just kept being, well, chaotic!
I had to break the chain! I began with looking at the single true and valuable limited resource I had. Time. I spent several months looking into 4 ways I could buy more time. In case you missed it you can find my . I came up with 4 solutions:
• Hire an Employee
• Hire a professional organiser
• Hire a cleaner
• Buy groceries online and get them delivered to the house
A lot of people commented to me that they weren’t sure about what a professional organiser is or what they do. On the back of that I’ve decided to share my stellar experience with Professional Organiser Karina Gleave from Your Kaos Organised.
HOW THE PROCESS WORKS
Initial Contact
Katrina spoke with me on the phone and let me explain how my life looked at that point in time, the usual basics. I’m married, with 2 kids, run my own business. The house has turned into a complete shamble. It’s disorganised, I can never find anything, constantly tripping over everything and feel like I’m going to drown in the clutter. We’re always stressed and don’t get along as well as we would like.
Pre-meeting homework
Katrina then gave us an exercise to do. Each member of the household was to write down what they wanted to be able to do as an individual and as a family. Here’s what ours looked like:
• My daughter (Aged 6) – wants to have a mummy/daughter day every 2 weeks and wants everyone to go to the park or the beach.
• My Husband – wants to be able to chill out on the Xbox for at least an hour a day and for us to all have a family day together where my wife doesn’t answer business calls
• Me – I want to be able to read a book for at least an hour a day undisturbed and make time to visit our family members who don’t live nearby.
• My Son (Aged 1) – we are assuming his was along the lines of feed me chocolate and let me play with the shiny things you keep saying no to. Sorry Kiddo.
We were very astonished at just how similar we all were! Around this we developed a plan. Sunday is family day. The work phone gets switched off. The emails are shut down. The home office door is locked. We get up and go and do something together. Once the kids are in bed, after 9pm – 10pm is what we’ve declared as “me” time. My husband and I leave each other alone and we each do the things we want.
The home evaluation
Next in the progression came the first home visit by Katrina. We were told NOT to clean up. Leave everything as it is and as it would be on a normal day. I struggled with this. A LOT. I was embarrassed, and felt quite vulnerable. 5 minutes after meeting Katrina and that all transformed. This woman had the keys of knowledge to help us get control back over our lives. Katrina was gentle, compassionate, informative and fun!
As we ambled around the house together, I finally got to see the potential home behind the mess. Katrina recognized us mainly lacking storage space and being “out of sight” hoarders. Meaning that instead of dealing with items (throw, give away or sell) we would shove them in cupboards…and now we had run out of cupboard space.
The big day
Katrina had given us the option of either breaking up the de-cluttering day into two days or just getting it all done in one. My husband and I are both very much “all or nothing” types so we opted for the latter. We were primed for it to be a long, tiring and emotional day. I had prepped myself in the week leading up to it that this “stuff” does not fit my vision. Anything that I don’t use was going.
What I didn’t expect was the emotional aspect to the process. I quickly realised that this was linked back to my previous lightbulb moment of interconnectivity. I had long buried thoughts, emotions, memories and energy tied up in all this junk I didn’t use. Going through every item in the house and making rapid decisions to keep or donate was harder than I expected in some areas of the house. There were some tender emotions to deal with.
The result
For the first time in a long time…I felt light as a feather. All those undesirable emotions, thoughts, memories that I had refused to face and deal with had manifested itself into physical junk. And I had just tossed it out. Bye-Bye. Gone. Never to be seen again! At the risk of sounding thoroughly bonkers I can honestly say that I felt like my soul had been wiped clean.
I now have a mental clarity and energy level that I’ve not known for years! My family dynamic has perfectly changed. I’m much more present with my husband and children when I’m spending time with them. I’m also much more productive and creative in my business. My responsibilities are no longer a crushing weight of burden but something to get enthusiastic out! Hiring a professional organiser has turned my personal life around for the better and enhanced my quality of living.
You NEED to do this!
If you would like to contact Katrina at Your Kaos Organised to learn more about embracing the life you know you deserve, you can contact her via , or her .
Have you had any experiences with professional organisers? Please leave a comment to share your thoughts!
