When Ranka Burzan is helping someone de-clutter their home, she cites stats that show the average house has 350,000 items, most of which are not used.
“We only use 20 per cent of our stuff,” the Langley resident says.
“Eighty per cent, we are saving for someone else.”
Burzan has been helping people get organized for 15 years.
She says she was working with special needs children and feeling a little burnt out when she saw a business card for “professional organizer.”
“And I thought, that’s me.”
She describes herself as a “minimalist” who developed a dislike of clutter and disorganization because she came from a “dysfunctional and chaotic home” and she was legally blind for most of her life.
Following corrective surgery 25 years ago, she said her eyesight “isn’t perfect” but it is far better than it used to be.
And while she has less trouble navigating around clutter, she still doesn’t like it.
“Whatever is not working, whatever is broken in your home, you have to let it go,” she tells people.
“Broken appliances, broken TVs, why are you keeping them?”
She gets clients to assess their situation by going through their homes with a clipboard, listing all the things they don’t need.
Burzan runs Solutions Organizing Simple (S.O.S.) which offers organization services.
She is the author of two e-books called, “Kick the Clutter, Get Organized” and “What’s the Price of YOUR Procrastination” as well as dozens of articles on organizing, downsizing and how to live a more productive and happy life.
Burzan estimates she’s held 150 seminars.
On her website, she says disorganization often results from loss; loss of finances, loss of loved ones and more.
To be freed from clutter, she teaches clients “to get rid of all the things you don’t need, don’t want and don’t use (which frees) time and energy for things you want to do.”
Burzan will present “Kick the Clutter: Get Organized” on Wednesday, May 16, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Muriel Arnason Library
The announcement of the free seminar says it show attendees to “learn where and how to start, as well as three practical steps to downsize and organize any space.”
To register for this free program, please call 604-532-3590 or visit the Muriel Arnason Library at 130 - 20338 65 Ave.
dan.ferguson@langleytimes.com
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