As the country gradually starts to reopen, there’s a big question hanging over the heads of professional organizers: will people be willing to let us in their homes anytime soon? We weren’t seen as an essential service when the virus hit. Will people still be willing to spend money on getting organized when life opens…
Troubleshooting the Twenty Minutes
Twenty minutes decluttering a day is the slow and steady way to lasting change but sometimes it feels like you’re spinning your wheels. When you start to wonder if it’s worth it, check in with yourself and see if you’re making things harder than they need to be. Are you all over the map? If…
How Long Will It Take to Get Organized?
When you hire an organizer after decades of accumulating clutter, it’s reasonable to ask how long it’ll take to sort it all out. You want to put a budget together, you want to set aside enough time to work with your organizer, you want to know that hiring someone will be worth it. You know…
How to Organize Even When You’re Sad
When the world stops making sense, it’s hard to concentrate on everyday tasks like decluttering. There’s a giant feeling of ‘why bother?’ hanging over everything and a feeling of terrible impotence. Anger turns inward to depression. So, the closet is a mess? So what? When you’re too mad or sad to declutter or organize anymore,…
Organizing Without Decluttering
Being stuck at home shoves the state of your house in your face. If there’s no rhyme or reason for where things go, the descent into chaos is swift and sure. “A place for everything and everything in its place!” you decide, ready to order some beautiful storage online so you can Get Organized. But…
Are You a Hoarder?
“Wow, look at all those cactuses. What a hoarder!” The word “hoarder” is thrown around a lot, never in a kind way. It’s become a shortcut for a house that’s stuffed to the gills, too crowded in the speaker’s opinion. But as with most things, there’s a spectrum. The Institute for Challenging Disorganization’s Clutter Hoarding…
Catalog Your Clothes
Coming up with the perfect outfit is too much brain work first thing in the morning. You keep meaning to set out your clothes the night before but by the time evening comes, all you really want to do is brush your teeth and roll into bed. If you create your own personalized catalog, you’ll…
Organizing Rules for Recovering Perfectionists
Which organizing rules are you trying very hard to follow? Do they help you or do they trip you up? Check out the new rules for coping with clutter without sending yourself over the edge. O.H.I.O. is Old School I don’t try to O.H.I.O. (Only Handle It Once) paper because that sets me up for…
What Can You Declutter Today?
If you’re a minimalist, the sort who happily gets down to one roll of t-paper before heading for the store, you’ve probably started buying a little more lately. If you’re more of a packrat, you’ve most likely struggled to find space for everything you’ve been buying this month to beef up your supplies. You know…
Getting Unstuck
Carol’s closet was full.* Although she adored clothes, she knew some of her favorites had become more sentimental than usable. She was eager to thin the ranks so she could find what she wanted. She worked enthusiastically for our first session but when I returned the next week, her energy was dragging. She had a…
Organizing With Pictures While We Wait
It’s so easy to put off taking action when everything seems this uncertain but there’s usually something you can do to keep the decluttering and organizing process going. This week, let’s use our phones or cameras to organize. Something You’re Storing for Someone Else Maybe that massive dresser you’re saving in the basement for your…
Staying at Home Driving You Crazy?
This stay at home order has been hell on wheels for anyone who’s been putting off getting organized. Tempers are frayed as the day starts off with a mad dash to sweep the dining room table clean before the online meetings commence. How Awesome Would It Be to Have Gotten Organized Six Months Ago? In…