The Clutter Fairy Weekly

Whether you’ve set a resolution to get organized in 2023 or you struggle to make New Year’s resolutions stick, we’ll be here to uplift and inspire you this week, next week, and throughout the year. In episode #150 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, pledges to support and encourage our community in making 2023 your b...

Happy holidays from The Clutter Fairy family to you and yours! In episode #149 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, thanks our clients, patrons, minions, Meetup group members, YouTube subscribers, podcast listeners and our community everywhere for your generous support this year and wishes you a peaceful holiday season...

The pressure of holiday activities and year-end priorities means we might have to put organizing projects on hold—or at least in slow motion—and it can be tough to find enthusiasm when when you’re ready to restart. In episode #148 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, suggests strategies for maintaining focus on and co...

In this “Ask Us Anything” show, we’ll answer your questions and discuss topics suggested by our viewers and listeners. In this episode: Focus on favorites to sharpen your declutter decision-making Decluttering shared workspaces for offices and teams What is your clutter trying to tell you about your lifestyle? In episode #147 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and...

Life-changing events can disrupt our efforts to get—or remain—organized. We may face unexpected trauma, such as a natural disaster, a job loss, or the death of a loved one, or find ourselves having to adjust to a new family member, a divorce, or a cross-country move. Each major life event presents a unique set of organizing challenges. In episode #146 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, p...

In this week’s “Ask Us Anything” show, we answer your questions and discuss topics suggested by our viewers and listeners. In this episode: Tips to cultivate motivation or keep your motivation fresh Organize papers to be ready for tax-filing time The stuff we keep to be ready for company In episode #145 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fa...

Just as trees drop their leaves to rest and wait for spring, the end of the year is a good time for us to pause and “shed” things from our lives to make room for something new, to reflect on what has served its purpose, what no longer fits, which habits have changed, what we’re ready to sell, donate, recycle, or discard. In episode #144 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional org...

Do the people with whom you share your space complicate your decluttering process? Spouses, partners, housemates, little children, big children, adult children, and elderly parents with conflicting—or non-existent—household habits and routines can sabotage our efforts to get organized. And sometimes even those who live alone aren’t free from outside meddling in our spaces. In episode #143 of The C...

In this “Ask Us Anything” episode, we answer your questions and discuss topics suggested by our viewers and listeners. In this episode: How many unfinished projects is too many? Micro- versus macro-organizing styles Recap: the five most common organizing mistakes In episode #142 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, an...

Every home contains at least a few items we keep even though they serve no practical purpose and can be awkward to display and difficult to maintain. We’re talking sentimental stuff! Even when we want to let go, we get sidetracked down the path of memories, emotions, and long-held beliefs. In episode #141 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter...

We asked viewers and listeners to “Ask Us Anything” for an episode dedicated entirely to satisfying your clutter curiosity! In this episode: Walk-in closets—is floor storage off limits? Employing a housekeeper or maid in an extreme-clutter situation  “A place for everything and everything in its place”—but where is that? Downsizing as we age—tips you can use to get started right now In episode #14...

Before you can say “Boo!,” we’ll be kicking off the season of fun, joy, food, shopping, and chaos that runs from Halloween into the new year. This year, how about making the holiday season exactly what you want it to be? In episode #139 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, suggests strategies to streamline the holiday...

In the last four episodes, we’ve explored our relationships with belongings from several different perspectives—our idea of a good life, emotional responses, habits and behaviors, and ethical principles related to stuff. In episode #138 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, reviews the elements of the “personal philoso...

We make hundreds of decisions every week about what to buy, what to discard, where to shop, what to keep, what to give away, and who should have what we don’t want or need any more. In episode #137 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, asks ethical, social, and environmental questions that can guide and influence our r...

Unproductive habits can lead to excessive accumulation, stagnation, and clutter. But useful habits can turn small increments of work into gigantic progress over time. In episode #136 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, discusses the role of habits in keeping us stuck in our clutter or giving us the power to make mean...

Emotions play leading roles in the habits and routines through which we acquire stuff, decide what to keep, and face the challenge of  clutter buildup. In episode #135 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, unpacks positive and negative emotions that influence our choices and suggests ways to leverage emotions in managi...

Decluttering feels like working your way through the maze of your relationship with stuff. Wouldn’t it be easier with a map? Our five-part series will guide you through drawing that map—your personal philosophy of decluttering—by examining your relationship with stuff in terms of values, priorities, positive and negative emotions, habits, behaviors, ethical and social questions, and practical appr...

Digital clutter is a paradox—it takes up virtually no space but can disrupt our lives as profoundly as physical stuff. Excessive and disorganized emails, voicemails, digital photos, videos, music, and other electronic files can raise stress levels, waste time, lower productivity, and even damage the environment! In episode #133 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer an...

Many of us accumulate “incompletions”—unfinished DIY, art, or craft projects; coupons or recipes to clip; papers to file; laundry to fold and put away; and so on. Stale tasks and unfinished projects add to our clutter load and can take a costly psychological toll. In episode #132 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, e...

The bedroom should be a quiet, peaceful sanctuary where we recharge ourselves and enjoy intimate moments. But when clutter invades, visual distractions and mental noise can sap our energy and erode the quality of our sleep. In episode #131 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, offers tips for transforming your main bed...

Most homes have at least one space shared by the whole family—the living room, sitting room, family room, great room, den, etc. Whether formal or casual, these common rooms see lots of traffic and may serve many roles, so they’re prone to clutter collection. In episode #130 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, examine...

Working from home created unique clutter challenges even before the pandemic. But now, between sharing home workspaces with spouses and housemates, Zoom studios, and kids’ classrooms, the rooms and spaces in our homes we dedicate to “office work” are under more stress than ever. In episode #129 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Ho...

When your main clothes closet is stuffed to capacity, every day starts with an archeological expedition in search of something wear. But a trimmed-down, organized closet can make getting dressed a delightful act of self-expression. In episode #128 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, excavates clutter issues in clothe...

The bathroom is typically an undersized room that plays an oversized role in functions that are vital to our health, hygiene, appearance, and relaxation time—in other words, a hot spot for clutter accumulation! In episode #127 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, delves into the sources of restroom clutter and offers...

In most homes, the kitchen is a center of activity, but all that traffic can lead to confusion and disagreement about how it should be used and what belongs in this critical space. In episode #126 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, examines the problem of kitchen clutter and suggests strategies for streamlining the h...