Where are my organizers at? You know who I’m talking about. Which of my readers have a knack for organizing things – and love doing it? I know you’re the ones secretly excited for New Year’s or a new academic year just because it means scoring a fresh day planner. Wave your organizer flag proudly! It’s probably on the tidy shelf right next to you, in a drawer neatly labeled “flag.”
I’m here today to explain how your love of organization can turn time into gold for you – well, at least into more dollars in your bank account. There are no small number of work-from-home jobs out there that can benefit from your skills; you just need to know how to find them! So, what jobs are best for organizers? Check out my list below!
1. Administrative Support
One of the most ubiquitous positions for those who live and breathe organization is that of an administrative assistant. You can spend your days managing someone else’s agenda, following up on projects and coordinating with others on your business team. You may even book engagements, make travel arrangements, organize receipts, draft emails and, in general, keep your boss’s life tidy. The best part of being an administrative assistant is that it translates well as a remote position in our increasingly-connected world. You don’t have to be local to help an executive manage their work and life anymore – basically, you just need an Internet connection and their phone number! There are many, many business people out there in desperate need of a virtual business assistant – just check for job listings on FlexJobs or become a virtual assistant with an organization like Worldwide101, and see!
2. Virtual Assistant
The work-at-home opportunities for organizational positions don’t stop at typical administrative duties either! As a Virtual Assistant, you may find yourself offered a wide variety of tasks that appeal to your love of categorizing and filing. There are small businesses and even individuals out there with unruly information they just can’t manage to get in order, and they’re more than happy to pay you to do it for them. Bloggers may hire a VA to organize their blog by creating a useful set of tags; an entrepreneur may hire a VA to research product distribution pricing and create a spreadsheet. You may even find yourself sorting and organizing a businesswoman’s email or digitally filing a retiree’s vacation photos into straightforward and sensible computer folders. There are so many freelance opportunities out there that Virtual Assistant companies are booming: I mentioned Worldwide101 above, but there’s also Time Etc, BELAY, and Zirtual, just to name a few.
3. Researcher
Organization’s favorite cousin is research, and there are quite a few business opportunities that get the two together! All those small businesses and entrepreneurs I mentioned above might need someone to research event venues or collect technical information or even assemble a reading list for them about a subject they’d like to study. Basically, Researcher is another position that might pop up on Virtual Assistant boards and one that should definitely snag your attention. You can also look for companies specifically hiring remote researchers – Wonder is an organization dedicated to bringing that human element back to learning in a now-digital world. They’re often looking for well-organized and highly curious individuals to join their team of researchers and put together briefs answering any question their clients ask.
4. Data Analyst
Once you’ve built an organizational system and assembled all your data, what’s the next step? Admiring your pretty rows of figures or perfect color categorization scheme? Certainly! But the next big step is making that organization work for you – and, by extension, your clients. Often, this next step comes in the shape of data analysis. You evaluate what you’ve put together, and draw conclusions or create graphs and charts and explanations for your client. If you’re an organizer with critical thinking skills, this is an excellent way to extend your usefulness and retain a freelance position. Also, if you can’t find any organizer jobs up front, searching FlexJobs for analyst jobs is one of the next best things.
5. Database Management
If you’re not into analysis, there’s another track you can take to find organization-adjacent jobs: look for work-at-home positions in database management and maintenance. You may be able to find remote positions with big companies managing or updating their customer records, or work with a small business to build sales and payment records for a limited merchandise run. Keep this in mind when you’re scanning through job boards looking for work-at-home positions with promise.
6. Crowdfunding Organizer
It’s becoming a crowdfunding world out there, with entrepreneurs raising capital through Kickstarter to launch their awesome new board game or amazing restaurant/bar/coffee shop concept. Established brands like Torani have even used Kickstarter to test out new products! (Torani’s not just for flavoring your coffee anymore; they successfully crowdfunded Plus Ups to add “function + flavor” to any drink.) With this more level playing field, it’s easier than ever to present your surefire new idea to both small and big-time investors all at once. Just because it’s easier doesn’t mean that people are good at building their own Kickstarters, though, which is where the organizers of the world come in. Offer your services as a freelance crowdfunding organizer, and help your clients create a coherent, well-organized campaign that’ll help their dreams come true. It really is just that easy!
Longing for Closets?
If you love diving head first into an overflowing closet, consider taking your skills local. Professional organizers can make a great living helping those in their communities overcome overwhelm and tidy up for good.