“Order is half the battle.” You have probably heard this saying often enough. We’ll all take on half-heartedly more often than not and then put it on the back burner because other things come in between or seem more important at the moment. Did you know that there are people who have specialized in cleaning up? We conducted an interview with just such a personality: Rita Schilke is a clean-up coach. The sympathetic Berliner works together with her customers to develop simple but effective ways to implement the good resolution to keep order in the long term.

Viking: How would you describe your job in three sentences?

Rita Schilke: I help people to create order in their home with a system and to keep it in the long term. Essential factors are letting go of things that are no longer needed, creating a system for good order in all living and working areas and practicing new rituals, such as put things back in their place immediately when they are no longer needed. I support my clients with energetic commitment and while we clean up together give many hints and tips and accompany them in the sometimes painful process of letting go.

Viking : How did the idea of ​​becoming a cleaning coach come about?

Rita Schilke: After completing my technical training, I have many years of practical work experience in accounting, logistics, order services, housekeeping and home nursing. An article in a large national daily newspaper gave me the idea to combine and contribute my skills as a clean-up coach in a completely new way. In my daily work I feel how valuable my various previous experiences are. Since then, of course, the experience as a tidying up coach with the many different people I was allowed to support and accompany by the tidying up has also been added, a job that still gives me a lot of pleasure.

Viking : What obstacles did you have to overcome?

Rita Schilke: The creation of a professional presentation on the Internet, the development of a business plan and the creation of marketing materials were essential steps at the beginning of my work in order to become known and build a customer base.

Viking: Who are your customers?

Rita Schilke: As different as people can be, as different are my customers: busy professionals who don’t have enough time to tidy up in their demanding jobs, overburdened fathers and mothers who have to deal with help with tidying up have more time for their families or teenagers and young adults who have never learned to tidy up properly, and finally older or disabled people who have trouble keeping things tidy themselves.

Viking: Are there any hopeless cases?

Rita Schilke: Sure there are people who have a harder time tidying up than others, but I have never had a hopeless case. Of course, some people think that of themselves, but until now I have been able to support each one of my customers in their special situation with their particular tidying up problem and support them on their way of letting go and creating order.

Viking: Please tell us a few tricks that will immediately ensure visible success.

Rita Schilke : 1. Schedule fixed appointments to keep things tidy!

Plan a fixed appointment, e.g. on Thursday at 6 p.m. I go to a drawer or an area of ​​my closet. The appointment with a tidying coach also helps to finally tackle the sometimes annoying topic of tidying up. Once an appointment has been made, the most important step has already been taken. Regularly looking through the wardrobe for drawers, kitchen cupboards etc., e.g. I personally find every two months to be very suitable, in order not to create a collection of outdated clothes.

2. Be realistic!

Set realistic and achievable goals: only tidy up and sort out one cupboard area, one drawer at a time, not all compartments.

3. Treat yourself to a reward!

After you’ve managed to clear up (e.g. a drawer, a cupboard) to give yourself presents for the work done e.g. with the invitation of a friend, a movie night or a nice walk, regular tidying up can become part of a nice ritual.

Viking : What has been your greatest success in your job so far?

Rita Schilke: When I come to a customer, the success is immediately visible after the first appointment. Most of the time I leave the apartment with one or more filled garbage bags after the mission. I was very happy after I was able to introduce a young man to tidying up and tidying up who, due to his personal circumstances, had never learned.

Viking : What is your favorite office item that you can no longer do without?

Rita Schilke: In addition to the calendar on my smartphone, I always keep a paper calendar at the same time so that I can quickly see all appointments. Otherwise, I use my laptop for e-mails with my customers and possibly for researching special features.

Viking : In the past you have read about driving school instructors who were traffic offenders as private persons. What about you? Do you apply your principles or can you ignore clutter at home?

Rita Schilke: Yes, I also apply my principles in my apartment myself. To all of those who ask me about it and who would like to know “How tidy it actually is with the tidying coach” I answer with the following principles, combined with ideas to imitate.

1. Enough space for the shelf

As the first requirement for a tidy home, I have enough space in my apartment to clearly and systematically stow the things that are important to me and that I really need. So this is the first, important prerequisite for creating order in bookshelves and cupboards, in drawers, on desks and also in basement compartments.

2. Tidy up immediately as a good habit

What I can really recommend to everyone and what I consistently adhere to myself: putting the things I have just used back in their place after I no longer need them. Always tidying them up immediately and finding nice places for the things that are important to me is the second secret formula that helps me to always live in a harmoniously tidy apartment.

3. Being able to muck out means being able to decide

Even if there is enough space for everything, it becomes necessary every now and then to systematically clear out cupboards, look through clothes and tidy the rooms more thoroughly. I usually start such a check on myself every three months.

The most important thing is being able to decide, because hesitating too long would lead to my decision being postponed and things to pile up again. I myself am a very decisive person and experience time and again how liberating and beneficial it is to be in my beautiful apartment after such a mucking out in the ever new clarity. And I am happy to make these skills available to my clients.

Viking : How do you switch off after a working day?

Rita Schilke: Working with my clients is often very moving for them and me, and therefore mentally and physically demanding. Relaxation and physical fitness are all the more important to me, be it through yoga or muscle training, swimming, sailing or even playing chess.

Viking : Thank you for the interview.