What to expect when working with a Professional Organizer when you have ADHD

Starting in the early 2000, I noticed my clients having similar challenges. It was usually a love hate relationship with time, paper and stuff.   That’s when I learned about ADHD.  Since that time, I have been working with clients with ADHD and helping make the changes they want in their lives.   Because of our work together, these clients have started living the life they have imagined.  What is it like for us to work together?

What to expect before we meet

My clients reach out through email or phone, bravely taking a first step.  It’s courageous because they have finally recognized how asking for help can make a difference. That courage comes from a deep longing to create systems and routines that have been unnatural for them.

When we initially talk or meet, my role is a listener. I am hearing what are the challenges.  I am not judging.  Because our work is non-judgmental, we are from the start creating a trust relationship.

It’s common that my clients can feel anxious about our first meeting. Perhaps it is about whether there is “hope” for a solution, or whether there will be judgement, or another feeling.  After we meet, that all changes.

What to expect when we meet

Our meetings begin with an assessment. It’s further talk and review of goals, expectations, and ho we will work best together.  There is a lot of verbal processing going on! My clients are talkers, who as they talk, ideas become clear.   We review the process of decluttering, organizing, and maintaining that we will work on together.

My clients and I establish a rhythm to our work for decluttering.  Our work always begins with “what to keep and what to let go.”  It’s a conversation at times and it’s a quick sort at times.   If my client gets stuck, at times we put something aside to talk further and at times we keep it for a while. My clients often don’t know what to let go of because it is not clear how much of an item they own.  We gather items together while we are decluttering.  In the end, I bring items to donate to facilitate decluttering.

As we organize, my clients and I determine categories together.  There’s grouping, there’s placing, and then there’s products to help.  Many of my clients have lots of products to help us organize. We can place these more effectively together.

What to expect after we meet

Organizing is a journey.  It’s not over after our series of meetings.  We discuss what maintenance looks like, how to create routines to maintain and what a maintenance visit together looks like.  These new perspectives on organizing help my clients keep organized. We talk about when we might meet again as needed.

What to expect

My clients have recently decided that they want to make a big change.  They have hit a point where the time has come to invest in that change on many levels.

The core of our work together is trust, education, support, and communication.  Knowing how my clients work best and sharing basic knowledge about ADHD are underpinnings of our work together.  My support and establishing a team to support my clients are part of our work together.  Communication, verbal processing, and non-judgemental discussions are elements that move our work together forward.

Curious about ADHD and getting organized?  Let’s connect!