The Clutter Fairy Weekly

How do you push back on procrastination? What’s the best way to organize a move so that others can help? What tips can we offer for organizing Lego pieces and projects? In episode #224 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, answers your questions about Legos, organizing moving help, and procrastination and covers other s...

Do your decluttered spaces seem to collect even more clutter after you organize than they contained before? It can be a challenge to modify your thinking and habits to maintain clear space. In episode #223 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, examines habitual behaviors of “clutter recidivists” and suggests strategies...

Nothing challenges an organizer’s professional skills and expertise quite like putting principles into real-world action to move her own household! In episode #222 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, discusses best practices of move planning, packing, moving, and unpacking from the fresh perspective of having just mov...

Sometimes our emotions about certain stuff get muddled up with our sense of who we used to be, who we are, or who we hope to be someday. This “identity clutter” can be anything we’re hanging onto that no longer supports the life we really want to be living. In episode #221 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, discusse...

How do you handle other people’s opinions about your clutter? How do you make environmentally conscious decisions while downsizing? Is there a difference between “just in case” items and clutter? In episode #220 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, answers your questions about unsolicited opinions, green decluttering,...

An audience member recently asked, “Is it time to let the Rolodex roll away?” Good question! Why do we keep so many things in our spaces long after they’ve outlived their usefulness or relevance? In episode #219 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, explores the sources and causes of “outdated clutter”—stuff that’s over...

Living the lives we dream of starts with making the most of every day . But cluttered spaces and unproductive habits can waste valuable time, sap our strength and stamina, and keep us from making each day count toward our long-term goals. In episode #218 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, continues our discussion ab...

Living the lives we dream of starts with making the most of every day . But cluttered spaces and unproductive habits can waste valuable time, sap our strength and stamina, and keep us from making each day count toward our long-term goals. In episode #217 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, explores ways to streamline...

Leisure travel seems to be booming again—industry forecasts indicate that vacation travel is likely to return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024. But if you’re not careful, the effort and inconveniences of travel can detract from your hard-earned fun. In episode #216 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, offers...

Many of us experience a feedback loop between clutter and negative emotions—we feel bad, so we ignore or exacerbate our clutter, which makes us feel worse. Living with clutter can reinforce unproductive patterns such as self-distraction, resistance, and avoidance of pain. In episode #215 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston,...

An impending move sharpens the urgency of eliminating stuff you no longer use, want, or need. Would you rather purge through careful, calm decisions, or in a panicked state because you’ve run out of time and energy to pack? In episode #214 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, offers tips to optimize planning, packing,...

Sometimes we make our lives harder by tying ourselves up in knots—confusing the problems we need to solve with our thoughts and feelings about them. In episode #213 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, offers fresh perspectives and bold approaches for cutting through emotional tangles to arrive at creative, practical...

Shopping is a source of entertainment, fun, and relaxation for many people. But “retail therapy” becomes a problem if it contributes to the clutter in our homes. In episode #212 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, explores the perils of “retail therapy” and offers strategies for bringing mindfulness, balance, and car...

Moving to a smaller home is a complex process that requires careful planning and tough decisions. But sooner or later, we all need to reduce our possessions, either to fit in a smaller space or so we can comfortably age in place. In episode #211 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, explores the challenges of shifting t...

Did the pandemic change the rules for keeping clothes? What’s a practical storage solution for a journal collection? And how does Ed’s (kitchen) garden grow? In episode #210 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, answers your questions about culinary plants, journal collections, and old clothes and covers other short to...

Some spaces and categories of stuff in our homes are relatively easy to declutter and organize, but some are constant sources of struggle. What lessons can our “sweet spots” teach us for managing our trouble areas? In episode #209 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, explores household problem areas and clear zones an...

Negative emotions complicate and compound the difficulty of managing our clutter. Guilt, shame, fear, grief, anger, and other painful feelings reduce our ability to focus and make decisions, and cluttered spaces and piles of stuff can aggravate our emotional distress. In episode #208 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texa...

An audience member asked, “How much should you keep for your ‘little birdies’ while they’re testing their wings?” There are difficult decisions and challenges to face as you transition from a full house to an empty nest. In episode #207 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, discusses not-quite-empty nests, Earth Day or...

An audience member asked, “What should we do if we notice ourselves becoming more disorganized than usual?” The good news is that you can learn to recognize the warning signs that clutter is creeping back into your previously organized life. In episode #206 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, explores the tendency to...

Do you sweat the small stuff? Little things can cause some of our biggest organizing headaches: spice jars, tiny bottles and tubes of notions and potions, jewelry, accessories, sticky notes and scraps of paper, the contents of purses, and all the various bits and bobs that collect in our lives and our homes. In episode #205 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and ow...

Paper is a plentiful source of clutter—and frustration—for many people. Even though our digital lives offer us more options than ever for “going paperless,” paper clutter still seems to keep stacking up. In episode #204 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, examines habits, behaviors, and attitudes that lead us to keep...

Join us for another “Ask Us Anything” episode. We’ll answer viewer and listener questions and discuss short topics suggested by our audience in our surveys and through our other channels. In episode #203 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, discusses striving for balance between convenience and clarity, how to avoid f...

This month presents a rare treat—an extra day on the calendar! How about using some of that bonus time to get a jump on your spring cleaning by drafting a project plan? In episode #202 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, peeks into often-neglected corners of our lives and shares a list of simple cleaning chores where...

We love the people in our lives—and we also love our stuff. But sometimes our feelings about and behavior with regard to our clutter can create distance, conflict, or tension with people we care about. In episode #201 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, examines the ways in which our attachment to stuff complicates o...

Why do we procrastinate? We’re probably not lazy or lacking in self-control. We know what needs to be done and why it’s important to us. So why do we go out of our way to avoid the inevitable? In episode #200 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, explores procrastination and avoidance behavior and suggests tips and tec...