Art of Organising
Zena's Art of Organising
Zena Hockley, a professional organiser and founder of Timessence in Amsterdam helps self-employed freelancers, sole-proprietors and start-up companies replace chaos with organisation in their work. Here she shares her advice and experience with Happiness Express.
How did you become a Professional Organiser?
Throughout my early career as an executive assistant, I supported senior managers in high profile functions. I was responsible for getting them organised and managing their time, so that they could be more effective, and all the while thinking with them on how to improve productivity.
I realized that helping people to get organised was something I enjoyed and that it came naturally to me. I’ve since honed my ability and now with years of experience, I focus on the individual needs of self-employed business owners and small businesses.
What are the benefits of working with you?
By making the smallest of changes in their work environment, working style or processes, self-employed business owners can create space to do more of the work they love and increase their profits. There’s everything to gain and nothing to lose by being organised!
What are your most popular services?
The hands-on 'De-Clutter Sessions' are the most popular. This is where I work side-by-side to physically help a client remove unwanted paperwork and organise wanted paperwork.
Also, many self-employed individuals sign-up for the 'Fine-tune Service'. This is where I think with the client on how to fine-tune or implement working processes to better manage their administration or operational tasks.
All the services are available as either Hands-on or D-I-Y, where I develop a customised program to meet their particular needs which they can implement at their own pace.
What are the key qualities you need to be a Professional Organiser?
Besides being highly organised yourself, you need to have patience and compassion. You are trying to change people’s habits around their working style. It can take time for them to adapt, but once they realize the benefits there’s no going back!
What's the biggest issue facing your clients?
Procrastination! Generally procrastination and disorganisation go hand-in-hand but it’s not always about being disorganised. Some clients simply lack the knowledge or interest in starting certain tasks, which leaves them with a worryingly big heap of avoided tasks. I introduce the client to various strategies to make the tasks less fearsome and more manageable. Alternatively, if the task requires a specialist skill, I can help find an outsourcing solution.
What are your top 3 tips for de-cluttering?
1. End-of-the-day: return office stationery, equipment or books to their rightful place in your office or workspace. Leave out only the basics you’ll need to start again the next day, such as a pen or a notebook. There's nothing like a clean desk to get you motivated in the morning.
2. End-of-the-day: gather together any loose papers such as scribbled post-it notes, magazine cuttings or unopened mail into a ‘FAB’ pile. Dismantle the pile one-by-one placing each piece of paper into a FILE, an ACTION folder or a paper recycle BIN.
3. End-of-the-working-week: fire-up the shredder and dispose of any sensitive paperwork. Make this the last task of the week, so you can bin the contents on the way home (in the appropriate manner, of course). This action will become a symbolic closure to your working week!
What handy hints, books or websites do you suggest to help people get organised?
There are some great blogs with valuable tips and inspiration for getting organised both at home and work. Check out my favourites:
· www.simpleorganizedliving.com
· www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogList.asp
[March 2011]
For more top tips, visit the Top Tips for De-cluttering page.