Meet Zeenat Siman | Professional Organizer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Zeenat Siman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Zeenat, what’s something about your industry that outsiders are probably unaware of?
When people think about organizing their homes and businesses, what they usually think of is decluttering, making things neat and tidy, and creating great systems that makes staying organized easier. But what’s not always clear is that personal productivity is typically a huge part of the organizing process. I started organizing for myself over a decade ago after our youngest son was born, and back then, my goal was just to create some order and regain control over our house, and to find a spot for the ridiculous baby swing that we kept stubbing our toes on! So, I read organizing books and went at it at full speed. I spent several months decluttering, sorting, assigning homes to all our stuff. But even though I did everything the books said, a few weeks after organizing the kids’ closets, the pantry and the playroom, it would all fall back into disarray. I became frustrated, dejected, tired, and I told myself — and anyone who visited our house – that it just wasn’t important to be super organized anyway “because, really, shouldn’t my focus be on my family, instead of on putting stuff away neatly?” Of course, I was lying to myself. Being organized was important to me and I couldn’t be fully present with my family because there was always something to find that I had misplaced, something to do that I had forgotten, or someone to call before a deadline. I needed to be in control of my life. As it was, I felt completely overwhelmed, I let myself get distracted by all things digital, and I was using my ‘organizing projects’ as an excuse to procrastinate on other things that should have been a priority. It wasn’t until I became a professional organizer that I understood that although I had technically done all the right things to get my home organized – decluttered, sorted, assigned a home to everything – I wasn’t placing enough emphasis on structuring my days and weeks. If I didn’t have clear priorities for the day or week, I would get lost in multitudes of emails and would allow tasks that could have been completed during daylight hours (ahem…baby laundry) to stretch into the evenings, which wasn’t healthy for my relationships with my family. Having a personal productivity plan in place made me focus on what I had to get done so that I could have time to do what I really wanted: hang out with family and friends without frustration, shame or guilt. In other words, to be truly organized, I had to organize my space as well as my time.

What should our readers know about your business?
People get overwhelmed when they start organizing, and it’s easy to understand why. I mean, I’m attached to my stuff, whether it’s the embroidered tablecloth made by my aunt, or the college notes and old work awards that I held on to for years. How do we decide what to do with those things? Keep, donate or toss? If I get rid of the extra charging cables today, will I kick myself tomorrow when mine suddenly stops working? After organizing for a couple of years, it became clear to me that being overwhelmed and not knowing where to start were the biggest roadblocks for my clients. So I’ve made it my mission to guide people through all those questions I asked myself, and more. In fact, my CLEAR Framework for organizing is designed to make organizing EASY. It’s a 5-step process with specific tools within each step that make sure folks won’t wonder what to do next, how to make a decision about what to keep, or what organizing products they need. The CLEAR Framework walks them through it all, and I’m excited to teach people about it!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m fascinated by Vizcaya’s gardens and would love to take visitors there for inspiration. I’m also fond of Bill Baggs Park, especially sitting on the beach at the foot of the lighthouse, enjoying the peaceful water there. And, of course I’d take friends to trendy Wynwood to check out somme of the eclectic eateries there, or just to grab something from Zak the Baker to take home.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband, Humberto, has always been my greatest champion, supporter and mentor, and I wouldn’t have started my business without his encouragement.

Website: https://www.fireflybridge.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fireflybridgeorganizing

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zeenatsiman/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fireflybridgeorganizing