Reclaiming Workplaces (and the People in Them!)
This fall is going to be awesome! I am in the throes of making over several work areas and taking dominion over workplace chaos!
The life of a professional organizer is robust and highly varied….right now I am knee-deep in various projects for an artisan business, an internet company, and an auto parts dealer. For these projects, I’m re-imagining and building out spaces, creating systems to streamline business, and creating a customized workplace wellness training.
Isn’t that cool? Organizing isn’t what you’ve heard. It isn’t about the bins and baskets, file folders, or the cute pictures in magazines. It’s about YOUR. LIFE. RECLAIMED. And in the workplace, getting organized helps you reclaim the work you love.
As a business organizer, I’m essentially a management consultant on steroids. I learn about every different type of business vertical as I roll up my sleeves and jump into the deep end with each and every client.
I’ll be doing just that with the upcoming clients I’ve got in the hopper… I’ll be tackling a work-at-home mom’s household hub, a business owner’s mail and break room, and an entrepreneur’s home office.
As I come in and out of office buildings and homes and manage multiple projects at once, I feel like I’m juggling technicolor scenes and plots instead of juggling balls. Because there is a story behind every workspace. And – as an organizing expert – I get to partner with clients to treasure hunt their spaces, businesses, and lives! Together, we are going to engage in a discovery process about what isn’t working about their space and systems and apply organic, user-centric solutions.
For these projects I’m partnering with Staples – the national office supply retailer. They’ve got everything I need to knock out these spaces and help these folks reclaim their work.
The challenges in these “scenes” that are awaiting me include incoming paper, desktop clutter, community-use service rooms, and even the wellness of an on-the-go entrepreneur.
What’s cool is that I face each organizing challenge as a possibilitarian. I don’t see clutter, I see opportunities. Order Restorers see possibilities, not problems.
I am going to be invited into the middle of each of these client’s “stories,” hearing the background of how the organizing challenges happened and the context of their work life. What a privilege! (After 17 years in business, I am still so honored that people invite us into their most private struggles or vexing business issues. That’s how committed they are to getting answers and finding their way out of disorder!)
Then, after lots of listening and macro and micro sorting and evaluating, I’m going to custom-create simple solutions to help them take back their work space.
I want the business owner, at-home mom, and entrepreneur to be released into their greatness and maximize their effectiveness through a handful of organizing solutions. In some cases, it just may be a tweak or two or utilizing some resources in a new way.
That’s pretty much it. As Order Restorers, we link arms with everyday folks to help them optimize their work.
So, stay tuned for these forthcoming organizing #StaplesStories and check my Pinterest board and social platforms to follow these projects.
Here’s to juggling life and work in technicolor and having fun doing it!
-Vicki Norris
Related:
- Follow our #StaplesStories board on Pinterest
- Read our #StaplesStories:
- Streamlining the Mailroom: A Tutorial
- Corral Incoming Paper: Establishing a Household Hub for a Work-at-Home Mom
- Save Your Surfaces: Take Back Your Desk From Roaming Clutter
- Invest in Your Employees: Create a Hospitality Center
- Support Yourself: Entrepreneurial Wellness & Productivity Begins at Your Desk
- Learn more about our Workplace Wellness Training
- Learn more about how we help businesses get organized
