How to Avoid Burnout as a Professional Organizer: Simple Steps to Maintain Your Health and Well-being

Welcome to Episode 32: How to Avoid Burnout as a Professional Organizer: Simple Steps to Maintain Your Health and Well-being

In this episode, we chat about How to Avoid Burnout as a Professional Organizer: Simple Steps to Maintain Your Health and Well-being as well as Kate's journey from unhappy corporate girlie to 3-day workweek entrepreneur. 

I started my organizing business out of necessity and it has since grown to multiple locations across the US with a team of over 10 people. I have refined my processes and can now run the business in just 4 hours per week. My focus has been on creating a system that is duplicable, which allows me to scale the business and impact more lives through my team, my clients, and other Pro Organizers like YOU!

Resources mentioned in the episode:

The Pro Organizer Success Kit

Inspired Organizer Program

TAKEAWAYS

Focusing on creating a duplicable system allows for even greater scalability and impact on more people. This is a reminder of what is possible for your as a professional organizer and to stay dedicated and continue striving for success in your own organizing business.

FULL TRANSCRIPT

 Hi, and welcome back to another episode of the Three Day Work Weeks podcast. Today we're gonna be talking about avoiding burnout specifically in your professional organizing business. So I know that there are some of you that listen that are not professional organizers in any way, shape, or form, but I think you'll still find this interesting and applicable to your business as.

But if you're a professional organizer, this is really for you . I s I'm gonna share a little bit about my journey and becoming a professional organizer. We'll skip ahead a little bit and then I'm gonna talk to you about what made the biggest difference in nipping burnout in the bud and making sure that.

I ran the business. The business didn't run me. So that you actually get the benefit of being an entrepreneur in the best of ways and not just becoming a slave to your business and working 24 7 and feeling like you. Can't get out of that rat race. Even when you hit those, that six figure mark it can really trap you.

So I started my professional organizing business in 2018. That was my. entry into entrepreneurship. You've probably heard me talk about this before on other episodes and six months into the business, things were starting to roll. I had there it was slow at first, but I had put systems in place because I genuine be genuinely believed.

This. Will go well, and I'm gonna be prepared for it so that when it goes well, I'm gonna look super professional. I'm gonna have all my ducks in a row, and I'm gonna feel really confident about being able to take on larger projects. . So about six months in things were really starting to roll and I was 26 years old at the time and I started to burn out because if you are, a professional organizer, you know that it's very, not only physically but mentally taxing to work on these projects.

Even no matter how much you love it, it can be. pretty exhausting to work even more than two or three days a week on site. With clients, it's tiring, , and you need like recovery days. So I knew that there were only one. There's only 24 hours in a day. Two, I'm only one person. Three, I'm already starting to burn out at working any more than three days a week, so my wheels were turning.

How can I. Make sure that I don't completely burn out to where I just give up or I'm just completely chained to this business and can never leave. And I had an assistant work with me occasionally on a couple projects, but where everything really came to a head was that there was a day where I had, I think it was seven consultations all in one day.

And I. , all of them, which was so exciting. But at the same time, it was like this, oh shit moment. Because I'm like, how am I gonna do all these projects? I now had them booking for three months out and the last person that I got to, she had the, one of the biggest projects and she was like, but I don't wanna wait three months.

I'm ready to go now. So my wheels started turning and I thought about. My assistants and I had talked about it with my accountant, and I decided, I ran the numbers and I decided, okay, if my clients are okay with it, I'm going to invite. An assistant to work with me on all of these jobs and I'm gonna cut the time in half.

And every single client was completely okay with that . For whatever reason I thought that they might not be, but they were like, yeah, if we can get our project done quicker in like earlier in the month and quicker because there's gonna be two of you. Great. So that was really where everything started to snowball and.

throughout the process continued to streamline, continued to. refine the process of hiring, of how I'm working with other organizers, of how I presented my services to clients, how I talked about my services, how I packaged my services, and I already. Like I have to, share this. I already had a really good foundation because I joined Inspired organizer with Pro Organizer Studio early on in my business and they were an amazing, it's amazing resource.

Still an amazing resource because they have an amazing community that's part of that program. But that was where I started. So I was already off to a really great start and. Bringing in the systems that I created for myself with all the backend stuff to manage all the paperwork and the clients and the the project management, the materials, all those things.

I had created those systems for myself. So I already had a strong foundation to the business. So then adding in these assistance, Wasn't, it was definitely scary. It was challenging. There were a lot of things that came up that were fantastic. There were things that were really challenging than I thought at sometimes I would never get past, but it was definitely a lot more doable because I had those foundation pieces in place.

So I was continuing to refine that process of streamlining the business and. throughout that my love for systems and technology and figuring out how you can be in a more efficient business owner really captured my heart. And that was where Kate Waldo and Co came from. And I wanted to be able to teach other entrepreneurs how to streamline their processes, become more efficient, have those three day work weeks and.

I thought that I couldn't be both an online educator and a professional organizer at the same time, . So I actually tried to kill my organizing business. I deactivated the Facebook page. I changed over my Instagram to Kate Waldo and Co. And then for years didn't have an Instagram for orchid organizing at all.

And. , we still were getting client requests. We were still getting people reaching out, wanting help with organizing. And so that was really amazing to see that I had put systems in place for the business to a point where I literally couldn't kill it. Like I was actively trying to kill the business. I wasn't just leaving it alone.

I was like doing things to somewhat to the detriment of the business, and it was still going. So that was a big light bulb moment where I said, okay, this is. , this is crazy. Like other people need to know how to do this. Other organizers need to know how to do this. Specifically as a professional organizer and my friends at Pro Organizer Studio approached me and said, Hey we, share with people the impor importance of having a CRM system.

A customer relationship management system to organize all their paperwork and their clients and invoices and contracts and all that stuff. But you've really gone deep on this and. in a great way, created all these systems. Would you create a course for us? And I said, okay. We'll see how it goes.

I'm happy to try. So I did and it was a hit. It was crazy. A lot of you now probably have, joined DS OTO for pro organizers and. , that was so cool to be able to pour out my brain into a cohesive format. I love organizing and I love teaching and I love sharing things that have worked for me and I am always refining those processes.

So that was, it was really cool to, to take something that had worked so well for me and for my business. And be able to put it into a container that I could share with other professional organizers like you to be able to do it for yourself. So then throughout that process I had moved from Savannah's where I started the business where I grew up, and then I had moved to New York City and.

throughout that told you I tried to kill the business, it wouldn't die . And and then in New York, we were getting. inquiries about organizing. I didn't know if I was gonna still have the organizing business when I moved up there, so I just left everything as is for a little bit. But we started getting inquiries, people wanting organizing help in New York, and then we still were getting people who wanted organizing help in Savannah and I still had my team members there who were like, Hey, we're game.

If you want to us to take clients, we can do that. . So that's what happened. It was like everything has happened. Everything that I teach is every, literally everything is based on my real life experience of what something that I needed, I had to create for myself, and information that I've gathered from other teachers, other courses, other experiences, summits, masterminds, all of the things putting it into how can this work in a system for.

Me that is duplicatable, which I'll get to in a second. So it was out of necessity that I needed to figure out how do I have someone working without me on site because we have, we're leaving thousands and thousands of dollars on the table if I don't figure this out of how we can have an organizer working somewhere really far away from me.

New York and Savannah are not close at all, . It's not like I could just pop over there if something went wrong or not even went wrong. at all. So that, that was cool to see that come to fruition. And then I got a lot more confidence of okay, this system clearly works. Like now I really know how to build a team and based on all of our systems for how we run the business, I can now have other people run the business, which is.

everything starts to get really valuable for you as a business owner because your value, I've talked about this a good bit, especially on social media. Your value as a business is not you, your value is being able to replicate yourself without you having to be present to be able to deliver the product or service that you have at.

That is where the real good money comes in. That's where the multiple, six figures comes in. The millions of dollars comes in and the ability to impact so many more lives, both the people on your team and your clients, your students, your customers. That's where that happens. Where that shift of, can you duplicate it without you personally like me, Kate, having to be the one to do.

Really any of the pieces of the business. So in New York, I then had Savannah in New York locations and then it's grown since then. All need based people asking me like, Hey we want your, organizing in where I live, like close to me and. So now we're at five locations across the US and have over 10, I think we've got 11 right now on our team, throughout the us.

That kind of ebbs and flows. But yeah, there's been a lot of challenges along the way, but continuing to streamline and tweak and refine those processes has made everything. Just so much easier, and it's gotten me to the point where I'm able to run my organizing business on about four hours a week. So that doesn't include client sessions.

I typically don't go on site. I very, rarely go on site with clients anymore. But but just managing and running the business, I can do that on four hours a week, which Really, cool. And what I love the most is being able to share those systems and streamlined ways of doing business and being able to scale.

with other professional organizers just like you, because I really believe in abundance and I really believe that there's enough for all of us. There's enough space for all of us. There are plenty of people in this world that need the help of a professional organizer, and so the more of us that can.

Charge what we're worth. That can have systems that create a really wonderful client experience and also a really wonderful experience for you as the business owner so that you can continue the business and not burn out in the process the better. So I have out of that too. Pro organizer studio came back to me and they were like, all right, we love this Dub Soto thing.

People are loving it. We love, Dub Soto is the crm. that I teach how to set it up and use it for everything from the time someone interacts with you, either in person or on your website, and shows interest in your organizing services all the way through the onboarding, invoicing, contracts payment process, the project management through to follow up and post-project.

like how you interact with the client to give them the best experience possible and all that happening on four hours or less a week of admin time. That was a hit, and then pro organizer studio came back to me and they said, okay, now people really want know how to. Have a team, how to build a team.

What's involved with hiring, with, where do you look for these people? How do you interview them? What do you look for when you're interviewing them? What happens if X, Y, z? How do you handle the telling your clients that you have lead organizers that isn't you gonna be on site? How do you handle multiple people on a team?

How do you. Delegate tasks, who's responsible for what? How do you pay your team? How do you charge your clients differently now that you have a team? All those fun things. And it was so exciting for me cuz I'm like, this is what I love to do. I love being able to put these systems together and then tell other people about it and be like, this is so cool how it worked.

This. . So that is where the building teams for professional organizers came in. And so many of you have gone through that program, which is really cool. And I love hearing about how it's really changed your life because having an assistant, just one assistant, you can make 155% more. on the projects that you're already doing just by having an assistant with you and you get so much closer to those three day work weeks that we all like desire.

I think if you're here you're, interested in the three day work week it gets you so much closer to that. So then what we did, like once those programs were completely fleshed out, we had bundled them into the pro organizer success. , and that includes some really cool bonuses as well.

And we're always updating the content. Like my business is a living, breathing, organizing business. I'm in it every day. And so any challenges that come up, any opportunities that come up. Every time there's something that applies to what I teach, I add that back into our programs. And so we have really excited, we announce a little bit like.

Couple weeks ago, right before Christmas. And so by now you probably have heard that the doors are opened to the Pro Organizer Success Kit, which is that bundle of Do Soto for pro organizers, building teams, for pro organizers and some of our other bonuses that help you get to those three day work weeks and be at multiple six figure.

Scale. It's a really, nice compliment to our smarter, not harder. The, difference, I do get this question. So the difference between the Pro Organizer Success Kit and Smarter Not Harder is that Pro Organizer success kit is very specific to professional organizers. How you. handle your client process and how you build your team of organizers that are on site with clients.

It does not cover anything that has to do with all of your social media, your finances, your marketing, your affiliate programs any other streams of income that you probably have for your business that is not, that's all included. That part is all in smarter, not harder. That's That's how we streamline.

How do you have these multiple businesses? How do you have these multiple income sources manage it all and still only work three days a week? So really getting to that scale of multiple six figures and being able to dabble in your passions and or really go full force in your passions, but also have pillar business.

content and avenues that generate income for you to support you across all aspects of your business. So that's where that difference is, that everything in the Pro Organizer success kit is very specific to professional organizers. Your. Team of people that are onsite out with clients, not admin people.

We talk a lot about admin management in smarter, not Harder, and then the actual client process of the entire. inquiry all the way through project management contracts, all that stuff to follow up. But we don't touch on any kind of like marketing or social media or anything in that program. So I'm really excited because for the next week we have the price of the Pro Organizer success kit is 5 97 US dollars, and that gets you.

All building a team for pro organizers that gets you dodo for pro organizers. That gets you creating a six figure three day work week business. Intro bonus, and scheduling six plus months of social media content in six hours. . So those are some of the bonuses that's all included in that. And then on the 18th it will still be open, but at 10:00 AM we are raising the price to the program to 6 77, and both of those have PA payment plans.

So it'll still be available, but the price is going up and you. Get access when you join the program, you get access for life and you also get access to all new bonuses, all updates to the program. You have a login where you have all the different pieces. Super easy, it's all in one place. Lots of templates.

Email templates are, I love those. We have spreadsheet templates, all sorts of stuff that make sense. In the program. It's not extra fluff. I don't do that. So it's very to the point, easy to follow, lots of step-by-step instructions for how to set things up, and a lot of help along the way and recommended resources.

So I just wanted to share that behind the scenes of like, why do these programs even exist? What is the story behind them? Where did they come from? And. just encourage you to invest in yourself in a way that you are looking out for future you. Because burning out doesn't do anyone any good. It doesn't help you.

It doesn't help your family, it doesn't help your business, it doesn't help your clients. It doesn't help your team. So taking care of yourself, slowing down a bit and. . I know, especially right now, it's January when you're listening to this, can be a go go, time, but this is the perfect time to take a breath.

Take some time to work on the back end of your business. Slow down just a bit so that you can speed up and scale in a way that is very authentic to you, to your business. Gives your clients the best experience possible, your team, the best experience possible, and makes you a lot more money with a lot less work.

All of those links about everything that we talked about are in the show notes. You can also go to kate waldo and co.com and go to programs. You'll see it there right now. Everything should be open. And if you have any questions, you can always email us support at kate waldo and co.com. And I loved hanging out with you.

I hope you enjoyed this. I hope this gave you some really good context and why I love it all so much. So we'll see you on the next.

Connect with Kate Waldo here:

Instagram

www.youtube.com

www.katewaldoandco.com

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Kate Waldo + Co Programs:

Smarter Not Harder

Airbnb on Autopilot

Pro Organizer Success Kit

Always cheering you on,

Kate

Creator of the Smarter Not Harder: 3-Day Workweeks for Millennial Entrepreneurs©  Program

Owner + Founder, Kate Waldo + Co. 

P.S. Curious how you can grow your 6-figure business while slashing your workweek in half? Click here to learn about the Smarter Not Harder© program!