Trust in the Process: It Works!

Yesterday I was working with a client to organize his home office. His wife was participating in some decisions and I sensed that she was feeling stressed. I never ignore these intuitions — it’s always important to understand how everyone involved is reacting. I asked how she was doing and she opened up a bit.

“I used to be organized, but with life events over the past ten years I haven’t had time. I’m always buying storage solutions and only lightly tackling projects that need more attention. I feel scattered.” Her next comment surprised me. “This must be annoying you, all of this mess.” I responded, “Not at all.”

She assumed that because the mess annoyed her, I must also be annoyed. That’s when I explained the process. Sort, purge, store. I’ve done it so many times at this point that I can walk into a room and see the solutions, not the clutter. That’s not to say that each project isn’t customized, because it definitely is. It’s more that I’ve become so comfortable with the general process of organizing that I can estimate project times and feel confident that we will reach the established goals. It’s a good place to be, and I could tell my client was calmed to know that her “mess” didn't stress me out.