Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean that you are a Speed of Life Decluttering Coach?
I have been been trained by Dana K White to use her 5 Step No-Mess Method. Click here to learn more about what that means, how that approach works, and what you can expect.
How much do you charge?
I currently charge $35/hr.
I also have a problem with keeping up with daily habits and maintaining my home—can you help with that?
Yes!
But maybe not the way you are imagining. I currently do not have the bandwidith to do regular checkins with clients beyond our scheduled sessions, but the good news is that I have found that using our focused time together to make decluttering progress helps more with maintenance than you might expect. Some reasons why are:
A decluttered home is much easier to maintain.
Working together, you will get a much better sense of the impact of maintenance. I follow the visibilty rule with my clients, which means that (unless there's a special reason not to), we start in the same place every time, and go through the house in the same order every time. And (again, unless there's a special reason not to), we start every session with a 5 minute pickup, complete with before and after pictures.
Having a time with me scheduled in the future can be very motivating to put things away! I recently had a client tell me "I knew when we had our call, I'd have to put it away then, so I put it away when I was done with it instead".
I'm not sure that will work for me–I really need help with mainteance!
If you want, you can also hire me at my usual rate to work on mainteance tasks! I'm happy to hang out and talk to you about decluttering and home mainteance while you deal with procrasticlutter (like loading the dishwasher or folding laundry).
And if maintenance has been a major challenge, the best thing you can do for yourself may be to get rid of some of your dishes or clothes. Which I will absolutely help with as we go.
Can you help me with x specific challenge/area of my house?
I am confident that I can, because the 5 Step No-Mess Method really true does work. The only way it can fail is if you don't get started, and it's literally never happened that I've done a session with someone where they didn't get started. (If that ever happens, I promise to update this page!)
However, I may recommend that that we, as Dana likes to say, "don't start with that".
Decluttering momentum is real. And my experience tells me that the best way to build it is to start in the most visible part of your home first.
If you really want to start with your overly full memory box on the top shelf of your master bedroom closet that's keeping you up at night, first let me pitch you on the benefits of starting at your front door and throwing away trash. Preferably, I would be delivering his pitch as are throwing away trash.
(If you have fully, fully decluttered and redecluttered everything it your house except for that one memory box, that's different of course. In that case, we should absolutely start with that box, and the strategies will still work. Most people haven't though!)
Is it okay if I'm taking care of kids while we work together?
Yes, absolutely. Some people get huge benefit from putting time on their schedule where they don't have any other responsibilities, but I know from experience (as a homeschooling mom of four) that for many people, time with childcare is scarce or nonexistent, and it's not always realistic to expect that.
We may not be able to move as quickly if you are get interrupted a lot, but:
We never make piles, which has the added benefit that even if you have a determined toddler, they won't be able to undo all our progress!
If you have kids and have very little time with child care, then practice decluttering while you are with your kids may be even more helpful than you working by yourself would be.
I get how kids are, and I will never ever judge you or them if they sometimes act like actual, real-life children who necessarily aren't showing me the public-facing side of their behavior!
What if I don't want to get rid of something that you're saying I need to get rid of?
As a Speed of Life Decluttering Coach, that's not how I work. You can always keep what you want to keep, and I will never tell you otherwise. I may point out, perhaps repeatedly, that your house is a container, and for it to be under control, you can only have what fits comfortably. I may also point out, from time to time, that it takes work to deal with the things that you end up keeping. But what to keep is always 100% your choice, and I don't judge.
How will you keep me on track? You say you aren't pushy, but what if I need someone to push me?
When I say that I'm not pushy, I mean that:
I won't moralize. ("You really should get rid of that rocking chair! It's in terrible condition, and having this much clutter will make your family stressed, and you don't want that–do you?")
I will respect your "no"s. ("I know you said you can't rid of any baby wraps, but you really need to–they don't fit!")
I will never dismiss your feelings. ("You're saying that's sentimental, but really? That thing?")
But as your decluttering coach, I absolutely do see it as my job to keep you on track, and I will:
Come in with a plan. If you know exactly what you want to work on, great! I may or may not want to share my feedback on it before (or as) we get started, since I know from experience that some ways of decluttering reliably build momentum and result in durable progress, and others don't necessarily.
Continue to ask questions and offer framings, all in service of helping you come to terms with your real life constraints. "It's your house, and of course you can keep every one of those books. And you can either clear out another spot so you have more space for them, or if you keep them all here, then the shelf will be full enough that it won't be easy to get one one out without other ones falling. And it may not feel easy to put them back when you're done with them.
Remind you to prioritize your "right now" life. If your dining room table is filled with craft supplies that you're sure you want to use some day, but you value eating together as a family and there's currently no where to do that, that matters!
Make sure we are doing the most to finish things as completely as possible. If you have an object that can't go in the trash, I may encourage you to schedule a pickup for it right now, even if that would take a few minutes. If there's sometihng you're thinking about selling, I will look for completed listings of items like yours in the moment, so you have a realistic estimate about how much money you could get for it.
Represent the interests of the part of you that decided to hire a decluttering coach. I realize that you may have mixed feelings about whether to keep things or get rid of things, and that's totally normal! And sometimes I will say "Of course you can keep everything here--that's your choice. And also, I know you want this space to be easier to use and maintain, because that's what you told me when you hired me."
Do my best to use our time together as efficiently as possible. Your time is valuable. I see it as an act of trust when you set aside time to work with me, and I want you to see as much progress as possible as quickly as possible. So all of my questions and suggestions will be with that in mind.