The Clutter Fairy Weekly

For people who struggle with stuff, clutter permeates every aspect of our lives: our space, our time, our emotions, and our relationships. In episode #76 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, we set ourselves a challenge: to identify and explain an organizing concept, issue, or tip for every letter of the alphabet. Show...

We constantly make judgments about worth, assessing and assigning value to our lives and our stuff. But our notions of perceived value can clash with the reality of our physical surroundings. In episode #75 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, examines value-based emotional responses and habits of thought that sabotage...

The creative impulse is an essential human need to enrich and beautify our world. But clutter erodes the space, free time, and mental clarity we need for creative pursuits. In episode #74 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, explains key principles for organizing an art or craft workspace and offers tips to keep your c...

Our collections of decorative items can fall out of synch with our changing senses of style and the desires and goals we have for our spaces. In episode #73 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, identifies the behaviors that lead to decor clutter and suggests strategies for cleaning up your “look.” Show notes: http://cf...

Getting organized is simple, but it’s not easy. For your project to succeed, you need a realistic plan and a clear process. In episode #72 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, revisits the basic steps in the decluttering process and how to apply them to your cluttered space. Show notes: http://cfhou.com/tcfw072 The Clu...

Dealing with our clutter can feel like stepping into quicksand—we’re stuck, helpless, can’t move forward, and struggling only makes matters worse. In episode #71 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, examines the many flavors of decluttering stuckness and suggests strategies for extracting yourself from the mire. Show n...

Our stuff can stifle our efforts to adapt to shifting circumstances, or it can support the new life we’re seeking. In episode #70 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, explores the transitions that disrupt our lives and suggests ways to adjust our thinking and behavior around stuff to help us move forward. Show notes: h...

We all have “must-haves”—things we think we can’t do without in our homes, but that can stand in the way of successful decluttering. In episode #69 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, examines the assumptions and expectations we inherit from our family or culture—or entrench in our own habits—and offers fresh perspect...

The universe of available organizing solutions can be overwhelming. Stores that sell organizing products want to solve your stuff problem with more stuff. In episode #68 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, shares how a few carefully selected organizing products can make a world of difference in your space. For links t...

Spouses, parents, children, roommates, housemates, and even guests who overstay their welcome can introduce extra complexity to our organizing challenges. In episode #67 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, examines these complicating factors and suggests ways to improve communication, negotiation, and cooperation to d...

Wrangling the stuff required for the gym, the dojo, the trail, the beach, the picnic, or the pool shouldn’t be an obstacle to your health goals or recreational activities. In episode #66 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, offers strategies for organizing clothing, gear, and accessories for relaxation and fitness to m...

Habits are a powerful force in our daily lives, and the study of habits has revealed surprising relationships between our thinking, our action, and our “context”—our location and circumstances. In episode #65 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, explores interesting findings from the field of habit research and suggest...

If we don’t plan and prepare carefully for moving or even temporary relocation, we waste time and money and make the project harder than it has to be. In episode #64 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, offers strategies for planning and preparing for a successful move or a major home renovation project. Show notes: ht...

Paper pileup often outstrips the time, energy, and enthusiasm we can muster for processing. Inboxes overflow, and the dream of an orderly filing system gives way to stacks, bags, and boxes of paper chaos. In episode #63 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, explores ways to rethink paper sorting and storage by defining...

I’m delighted, proud, and honored to announce that I’ve won the 2021 Founders’ Award from the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO). I want to thank my NAPO colleagues for nominating and voting for me, and I would especially like to recognize the NAPO leaders and volunteers with whom I’ve worked over the last 13 years. We’ve accomplished a lot together! It's...

Sometimes we make our lives harder by tying ourselves up in knots—confusing the problems we need to solve with our emotional responses to them. In episode #62 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, offers strategies for cutting through our emotional tangles to arrive at creative, practical solutions to clutter problems....

Shopping can be satisfying, fun, and even therapeutic. But “retail therapy” becomes a problem when it contributes to the clutter in our homes. In episode #61 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, examines the phenomenon of “retail therapy” and offers strategies for keeping balance and perspective in our shopping habits....

Spring in the northern hemisphere is right around the corner, bringing warmer days, more daylight, and fresh energy. In episode #60 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, looks at often-neglected areas of our homes and lives and offers pointers to help us spring forward in the coming weeks. Show notes: http://cfhou.com/t...

Tackling clutter is really two jobs: reducing the backlog of accumulated stuff and cultivating habits to keep the mess from getting worse. In episode #59 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, offers a dozen five-minute tasks to jump-start your clutter-prevention strategy, plus a pet-centered Weekly Tittle. We dedicated...

Addressing the clutter challenges that our viewers and listeners face is the heart and soul of our efforts, and neither snow nor ice nor burst pipes can slow us down for long. In episode #58 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, reports on the winter storm that paralyzed Texas last week and responds to comments and ques...

Containing the day-to-day accumulation of clutter while trying to reduce a backlog can feel like a juggling act. But like juggling, organizing isn’t magic—it’s a skillset you can learn. In episode #57 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, discusses setting priorities, one of the key skills for an aspiring “organizing ac...

Get Organized Month 2021 is now behind us. Are you running out of steam on your long-term organizing commitments? In episode #56 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, offers strategies for finding—or recovering—the motivation to keep your organizing projects and resolutions going strong. Show notes: http://cfhou.com/tcf...

We often talk about how clutter disrupts our comfort, productivity, enjoyment, and pride in our homes, but in some circumstances, it even becomes a threat to health and wellbeing. In episode #55 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, asks questions aimed at uncovering where clutter danger lurks in our homes and offers st...

No two people approach decluttering projects and tasks exactly the same way. In episode #54 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, discusses a variety of organizing styles and offers suggestions for identifying a decluttering workflow that fits your strengths and needs. Show notes: http://cfhou.com/tcfw054 The Clutter Fa...

The changing seasons of our lives require fresh approaches to the way we use and manage our homes. In episode #53 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, discusses the challenges of finding ourselves with an “empty nest”—and of children or elderly parents moving back into our spaces. Show notes: http://cfhou.com/tcfw053 T...