I often say there are two types of professional organizers: those for whom organizing comes naturally, and those who teach others the skills they’ve acquired to overcome their own struggles with organization. The Other Side of Organized is an excellent resource, no matter which group you fit into.

There are lots of excellent organizing books that describe strategies to use in different situations, but in her book, Linda Samuels guides us through the other side of organizing, particularly the emotional issues associated with life changes.

If you are a natural organizer, you excel at planning and implementing systems for your clients. Your easiest client is likely someone who is naturally organized as well, but needs you to set up a system which he or she can maintain. Although clients requiring more support are more challenging for you,  you can work with them successfully if you are able to demonstrate empathy.

Empathy… means feeling yourself into, or participating in, the inner world of another while remaining yourself.

~ Alfred Benjamin, from The Helping Interview

The Other Side of Organized can help you to achieve empathy by describing the personal challenges your clients may be facing so you can better understand them. It also contains many motivational strategies to apply that may not always come to you naturally.

Even if it’s easy for you to empathize with your clients, you’re sure to find Linda’s advice inspiring, whether for your own benefit or that of your clients. Her description of the five stages of change as they relate to the organizing process is especially valuable. She also shares some of the practices she’s developed in her own organizing business and her definition of the role of the professional organizer.

The main thing that distinguishes The Other Side of Organized from other organizing books is the emphasis on each person finding the right balance between being organized and having time for what’s most important to them. As Linda says,

We can always make improvements, but it’s important to know when to just let things be.

I was privileged to receive a copy of the book from one of my clients, who told me that she regularly gives copies to her clients. I think that is a great token of appreciation for their business, as well as a valuable resource to help them stay on track after her work with them has been completed!

The Other Side of Organized is available in the Organizing – General department of The Bookstore for Professional Organizers.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Book Review: The Other Side of Organized.

Welcome to the Motivation issue of the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival! If you’re looking for some new approaches to motivate your organizing clients, you’ll want to set aside a little time to read the many ideas submitted by our readers. If you see something you especially like, be sure to leave a comment or share it with your social network!

I’d like to kick this Carnival off by congratulating our two new Professional Organizers Blog Carnival Star Bloggers, who have now participated in 10 or more editions of the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival:

Ramona Creel – Staying Motivated To Reach Your Goals

Lisa Montanaro – Do You Suffer From Temporary Organizing Paralysis?

Thank you to Lisa, Ramona, and everyone else who participated this month! And now, the rest of the posts:

Janine Adams – The magic of linking new routines to old

Audrey Cupo – Do You Whistle While You Work?

Heather Burke – Vision Boards

Jodi Granok – A New Way to Look at New Year’s Resolutions

Linda Samuels – Futzing, Putzing & Getting Motivated

Clare Kumar – Getting Good at Letting Go

Barbara Tako – Quit trying to get motivated to clear clutter: Just do it

Pauline Wiles – Pin Up a Picture: 7 Tips to Muster Motivation

Geralin Thomas – Motivation: ABC, MP3

Ellen Delap – Motivation for Organization

Elaine Shannon – Routines or Rituals, how do you get stuff done?

Stephanie LH Calahan – Monday Motivation – When You Fall Do You Get Back Up?

Deb Lee – GO Month Day 6: How to Stay Motivated

Margaret Lukens – Following Through: The Pink Poker Solution

Tracy Hoth – Motivation – Where Do I Find It?

Master Cruz – Keep Moving

Our theme next month will be Organizing Home Offices, and we’re accepting submissions from now until noon EST on Monday, March 7.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Professional Organizers Blog Carnival for February 2011: Motivation.

Now that it’s December, many of us are looking ahead to the new year, and starting to set goals to grow our businesses, buy a new home, improve our relationships with others, or make other positive life changes. At the same time, we’re trying to come up with clutter-free gifts for our clients and loved ones. I have a suggestion that may help you achieve both at the same time!

Don Giberson is a Master Law of Attraction Trainer and Coach, and the President and founder of DreamCrafters. I’ve known him for several years, and as well as him being one of my clients, I’ve participated in some of his programs, and can honestly say that they’ve helped me grow my business to where it is today.

Don has created a Mastering Life and Business Library which consists of all the recordings and handouts from all 13 of his programs – that’s over 62 hours of audio and more than 460 pages of notes, checklists and worksheets to help you create the kind of life you want. Don normally sells his Mastering Life and Business Library for $297.00 (although the total value is over $2000), but for a limited time, he’s offering it for the low price of $97.00.

This special offer includes a second Mastering Life and Business Library that would make a wonderful gift. When you make your purchase, you’ll receive an attractive gift certificate which you can print out and give to your recipient, along with a brochure outlining all of the programs that are included in the Mastering Life and Business Library. This would be a great way to enhance someone’s life, as well as your own, without creating any clutter!

For more information about the Mastering Life and Business Library and this special offer, visit http://www.dreamcrafters.ca/dreamlibraryoffernew.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Make Your Dreams (and Someone Else’s) Come True.

Welcome to the August issue of the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival! This monthly feature is provided to allow you to grow your network and learn something new from some of the other organizing consultants who enjoy reading Your Organizing Business. There’s lots of great information here, some to help you grow your business, and some to help you help your clients.

Home and Family Organization

Jacki Hollywood Brown says “Back-to-school doesn’t have to be a stressful time. Read my top 9 tips for making a smooth transition from summer to school!” Don’t miss her Tips for the New School Year.

Sarah Welch brings us Organizing 911, What To Do If Your Significant Other Is A Slob – a situation that probably comes up often if you work with residential organizing clients.

Julie Bestry shares her post Top 10 Vital Documents–Do You Know Where Your VIPs Are? and its companion, More VIPs–Very Important Papers Beyond The Top 10. (Normally I only allow one submission per person, but since this is really Parts 1 and 2 of the same topic, I thought I’d make an exception!)

Business and Office Organization

Lauren Halagarda reveals how to Eliminate Email Clutter: Stop Using Email to Schedule Meetings.

In Creativity and organization in the workplace: work space, Lelah Baker-Rabe discusses “three things that make up any workplace and how having those parts organized can increase productivity and creativity.”

Getting Things Done

Because “sometimes even Professional Organisers need help getting things done,” Angela Esnouf tells us how to Get It Finished.

Alex Fayle describes The Positive Power of Peer Pressure, explaining that “peer pressure isn’t always a bad thing – we can use it for motivation too!”

Tips for Professional Organizers

“Have some raving fans that want to share what you’ve done for them?”  This month, Tammy Burke shares how to get a testimonial that helps prospects choose you, in her post What’s in a Testimonial?

Krista Colvin answers the question, “What’s Twitter?” by defining Twitter and some of its lingo.

Janine Adams confesses, “I’m Officially Hooked on Working with POs. I worked with fabulous PO Aby Garvey on my own pantry and shared the fun we had and the insights we gained. It was so nice to put myself in my clients’ shoes!”

Thanks for visiting the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival! We’ll do it again next month, so don’t forget to get involved by submitting your post. Be sure to come back on September 10^th for the next edition.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Professional Organizers Blog Carnival – August 2009 Edition.