Silvia Rori is helping your clients to reorganize and optimize their spaces to live better. Can you explain to us what it means to put your home in order?

Yes, I help people feel at home. The space in which we live bears witness to our activities and therefore represents an active part of our lives. You are always in some sort of space, even right now! It is an integral part of us, and that is why it is so important to give it the right value and devote the right energy to it. Neuroscience shows that unpleasant emotions negatively affect our ability to think, learn and work, which means that the important thing is therefore not to understand if the space is messy or not, but rather if it affects our emotional state and possibly in what way. Space can therefore facilitate or hinder our workflow and our emotional flow. If we want to live and work peacefully, we must make sure that the house (and the office) gives us stability, even in the emotional sense. The house should bring serenity. Then you have to understand what activities a space should accommodate, what objects it should contain, and how to make it functional for the intended use. The identification of these aspects is a prerequisite for the correct organization of the space that must support the activities to be carried out. The space in the house should facilitate and simplify activities.

You came to Geneva a couple of years ago, where everything was new to you. You had to find yourself in a new environment. Did this change you to look for new opportunities for personal growth?

I arrived in Geneva five and a half years ago. My children were 4 months old (I have twins) and I was really overwhelmed by these changes. On the one hand, maternity; on the other hand, a new country, without knowing anyone, not even the language. It was not at all easy at first. I had to bring out all my energy to face this new situation, but I had great motivation at the base, which also helped me to always find the right organization. I left my job in a company in Italy, and after a brief period working on a professional project, I discovered the existence of a profession that combines my passions, my skills, and my interests. For me, it was just amazing! So yes, yes! Sometimes a big change or even a difficult time can become the start of something wonderful that you could not imagine.

What was the most challenging during your women's entrepreneurial journey?

For me, it's about two things. The first is that it's not always easy to work alone; there are a lot of hard times to overcome, and you always need to have motivation, especially at the start. The second is to advertise my profession, which is not yet very well known in Europe, but I have already noticed a good evolution in this direction. But I'm so happy with the beautiful life changes that my work brings to people, and it gives me enormous energy.

Can you explain to us the difference between organization and order?

Yes, and thank you for asking this question because sometimes we confuse the two concepts. Order is not synonymous with the organization. To explain it, I'll give you an example: For a moment, think of a kitchen, and imagine a scene in which everything is in order and clean. Nothing is on the furniture, neither on the sink nor on the table. Beautiful, right? Too bad that as soon as you open the pantry, you find many mixed products. Same with a shelf at the top. Open the fridge, take out the products, and you have to throw away some that have already expired. So what can we say? The kitchen may be seemingly tidy, but in reality, it is very unorganized, rendering any activity inefficient. On the contrary, you enter the kitchen, everything is in order and clean, nothing is above the wall units, on the sink, or on the table. Beautiful, right? When you open the pantry this time, all of the products are organized by category and functionally for specific use. The same for the top shelf. You open the fridge and there too, all the products are well preserved and perfectly distributed. Okay, maybe the situations are a bit exaggerated, but both scenarios demonstrate the big difference between an ordered environment and an organized environment. In the first situation, the organization is left to chance, hence the low efficiency of the activities that we carry out in the kitchen, even if, over time, we know where to find certain things, especially those that we use most frequently, thanks to the habit we have created. In the second case, the environment is very organized, with everything in its place. Therefore, the spaces are used optimally, the activities that take place are optimized, and the maximum result is obtained with the minimum effort. Therefore, we can say that the concept of order is closely related to control, aesthetics, and linearity. While the much broader concept of organization is linked to comfort, practicality, and functionality. The organization is a tool that leads us to simplify our daily lives.

Do you have three tips for us on how to be better organized in our everyday lives?

In fact, I have many, and each situation is different. It goes without saying, but I will give you the three tips that are among the most effective.

1. Free yourself from the superfluous, that is, from all damaged items that you have not used in a long time and do not bring you joy when you use them. You can donate, recycle, repurpose, or sell them.

2. Design an organizational structure that is practical, efficient, and functional. I wrote a post on my blog on this subject. Here is the link: "The 10 rules for a good organization of space." (in french)

3. Work on acquiring good daily habits: putting things back in their place right away, not procrastinating, sorting periodically, anticipating what can be anticipated, etc.

And for women with kids?

If the organization is very important for adults when it comes to children it is fundamental for many reasons. In particular, through the development of organizational skills, we will work on many collateral skills, such as self-esteem, decision-making ability, creativity, concentration, and organization of thoughts, to name a few. So, I would say the same previous tips but with the big difference of explaining to children what to store, organize, sort, etc. but also showing them, by example. The perfect house does not exist, especially with children, but it is very important to accompany them in learning organizational skills so that they can develop their own baggage. All this with great flexibility because the organization must evaluate with us, and we can imagine how much and how quickly a child grows!

Can you also help your clients organize their time?

By working on the functionality, optimization, and beauty of the space, we work proportionally on time management. In fact, if the space is in order, you don't waste time looking for things or stressing over anything. The organization helps us simplify our lives and focus on what we really consider important.