WHO: Skye Collins, 30, professional organizer and founder of Clear Skye Organizing Solutions (www.clearskye.org). Collins worked for years as a librarian before starting her own organizing business last year. At the public library in Belleville, Ontario, Collins spent five years cataloguing the collection. “It was my dream job,” she says. “Every book passed through my hands, which was really exciting.” She also worked for the De Beers’ corporate library, devising a complex filing system to manage their research materials, including a large number of geological reports related to diamond exploration. Ultimately, the corporate environment didn’t suit Collins’ personality, though she loved the challenge of creating new processes.
“I’m a whiz at paperwork,” she says to me during our initial consultation as she opens the drawer of my filing cabinet and great chunks of paper pop out in all directions. “We’ll have to go through this together.” She honestly looks excited.
CLARITY STARTS AT HOME: Collins stresses the importance of making peace with your living space. “You should enjoy being at home,” she says. Since I’ve recently started working out of my house, I’m particularly concerned with finding a way to keep the chaos at bay. Before she jumps in, Collins interviews me about my habits, priorities and goals in order to determine our best course of action (initial assessments are $40 and last an hour or two). Focusing on my home office, we talk about practical matters, like the optimal placement for my desk, printer and bookshelves, and we go through the stacks of stuff littering my work area.
“Are these batteries good?” she asks, holding up about seven double-A’s floating around the bottom of one of my desk drawers. I admit that I think they’re dead but that I don’t know how to properly dispose of them. She tucks them in her pocket and later emails me a list of places where I can drop off old batteries in the future (such as Grassroots, 408 Bloor W., 416-944-1993; 372 Danforth, 416-466-2841).
She gives me a few items of homework, such as clearing everything off my desk and figuring out what I really need to have at my fingertips. After simply moving my printer to a more ideal spot — it had been “temporarily” teetering precariously atop an antique stepping stool for months — I immediately start to feel calmer.
BRIGHT AND CLEAR: Collins believes in the power of a little structure to improve one’s overall sense of well-being. “You will feel more in control and less stressed by de-cluttering your home and organizing your schedule,” she says. And not everyone needs a complete lifestyle overhaul in order to see the benefits of minor but strategic shifts in daily routine. Collins says that some of her clients just need the initial assessment to help whip their ship into shape, while others (like me) may crave more guidance. Her enthusiasm and upbeat attitude make the search for sanity far less overwhelming, and her pleasure in the process is clear. “You’re going to feel great about it afterward,” she says encouragingly as we develop my plan. “It’s like lifting off a veil.”