The organizer "gets" you. Jane is a reader and has a huge personal library, so I knew she wouldn't fight me about my books. Her butler's pantry is larger than many kitchens and is filled with crystal, glass and china. She loves antiques and understands sentimental attachment to things, so there again I knew she wouldn't pressure me to get rid of everything, but help me to prioritize and organize.Indefatigable energy. Decluttering is exhausting work, physically and mentally. As I said before, some people get energy from pulling order out of chaos, and this is a nonnegotiable. There will be moments (hours!) when you want to crawl into the fetal position because the job is so overwhelming, but this is just when a naturally organized person is getting fired up and gaining momentum.A sense of humor. This is for all parties involved. If there is ever a time you need to be able to laugh, it's when you are knee deep in bags and boxes and the end of it all is nowhere in sight.Creativity and flexibility. Jane's passion is "systems," which are personal routines that establish and maintain order. We had to find compromises between her suggestions for an ideal world and our day-to-day living as a family with several members not naturally organized — one of whom is me!Basic respect and kindness. To put it delicately, Jane is not a social worker, and her attitude is often, "What is wrong with you?" — which isn't always helpful. I came into decluttering with a healthy self image; I knew I was bringing many things to the table, but organizing was not one of them. I also knew that Jane cared about me and thought a lot of me in general. Mutual respect overall is imperative.