Gayle Goddard facilitates the monthly meeting of the Houston Clutter Coaching Meetup Group. Details will be announced soon!

Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research
(Carriage House)
5300 Caroline
Houston, TX 77030
832-393-2600

FREE and open to the public.

The Houston Clutter Coaching Meetup Group is a community of people who want to conquer their clutter and make more room in their lives for the things they love. Come learn tools and tips from an expert, and share your success stories and “ah‑hah!” moments…[READ MORE]

This program is not sponsored or endorsed by Houston Public Library.

If you have a special physical or communications need that may impact your participation in this activity, please contact Gayle Goddard at 713‑816‑9505 at least 72 hours prior to the event to discuss accommodations. We cannot ensure the availability of appropriate accommodations without prior notification of need.

Gayle Goddard facilitates the monthly meeting of the Houston Clutter Coaching Meetup Group.

At the April meetup, we’ll follow up on the project we introduced in March: “The Home Office: Productive Workspace or No Man’s Land?” Come tell the group about your progress and we’ll share hints about how to keep rolling.

The garage is also a place to park your car.

We’ll also introduce our focus for May: “The Garage Is Also a Place to Park Your Car.” We’re heading into prime garage sale season, so now is the time to move the junk out and the car in and give yourself a bonus of some vacation cash. We’ll talk about how garages become the storage space of last refuge and graveyard of deferred decisions—and what you can do to change that.

As usual, we’ll also open the floor to your questions, success stories, and tales of trouble spots. And don’t forget the drawing for a door prize or two! (You must be present to win.)

SPECIAL NOTE: Our April meeting will be on the FIFTH Thursday of April instead of our regularly scheduled fourth Thursday.

Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research
(Carriage House)
5300 Caroline
Houston, TX 77030
832-393-2600

FREE and open to the public.

RSVP by visiting the Meetup page or by sending us e‑mail.

The Houston Clutter Coaching Meetup Group is a community of people who want to conquer their clutter and make more room in their lives for the things they love. Come learn tools and tips from an expert, and share your success stories and “ah‑hah!” moments…[READ MORE]

This program is not sponsored or endorsed by Houston Public Library.

If you have a special physical or communications need that may impact your participation in this activity, please contact Gayle Goddard at 713‑816‑9505 at least 72 hours prior to the event to discuss accommodations. We cannot ensure the availability of appropriate accommodations without prior notification of need.

Your rental payments, like the storage units that clutter our landscape, go on and on forever.

One retired man had been collecting items from garage and estate sales, and he believed that his children’s inheritance was somewhere in his “collection.” Some day they would open his unit, pull out the junk, and find the treasures they’d inherited. Burglars had broken into the unit once, only to walk away empty-handed because the unit was too stuffed full of junk to bother robbing.

Another interview subject, a divorced mother, was storing a huge collection of stuffed animals. She said that she couldn’t throw away “anything with eyes.”

The movie was a fascinating commentary on how tightly we cling to our stuff. Once we’ve claimed something as ours, we have a hard time surrendering it, even if it’s no longer useful. Our desire to maintain ownership is so strong that we’re even willing to pay for it—we’ll rent a truck, spend a Saturday afternoon loading and unloading, and sign a rental contract with a hefty monthly fee that goes on to infinity. Isn’t that an awful lot to invest just to keep “anything with eyes”—or whatever it is that you can’t let go?

Storage may seem like a convenient way to defer the decision to let go, but do you want to keep things so much that you’re willing to pay for them again? Would you go back to Macy’s and make monthly payments to keep a dress that you already bought? Of course not! So why pay for a storage unit? Why not spend your time, energy, and money on the finite task of letting go of some things?

You can watch a trailer for Store on the movie’s web site. We’ll keep you posted when the documentary shows up in general release or becomes available for download.

Kim Jordan, host of The Ask Kim Jordan Show, interviews Gayle Goddard about organizing products for the closet and home office. Check out the Pods from Neat Containers, a great way to store shoes, purses, and accessories in the closet. We also look at an expanding file container that’s perfect for storing your tax paperwork.

Gayle Goddard will speak to the monthly meeting of the Frostwood Women’s Group. This meeting is in a private home and not open to the general public.

Saturday, March 27, 2010
9:00 a.m.–noon

Houston residents can bring their sensitive documents to be shredded securely and on site at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel on Saturday, March 27. Your $10 minimum donation will benefit the ABWA WINGS Chapter.

ABWA’s mission: “To bring together business women of diverse occupations and to provide opportunities for them to help themselves and others grow personally and professionally through leadership, education, networking support, and national recognition.”

Location

Four Points by Sheraton Houston
10655 Katy Freeway (I-10 and Beltway 8)
Houston TX 77024

This event is sponsored by Texas Security Shredding and the Sabine River Cafe.

For more information, contact Susan at Texas Security Shredding by calling 713‑320‑8019 or sending e‑mail.

Bonnie Peterson, host of blogtalkradio’s Wise Women Do radio show, interviews Gayle Goddard about tools to get organized for tax filing and beyond. (Please allow a few moments for the audio player to load.)

Gayle Goddard facilitates the monthly meeting of the Houston Clutter Coaching Meetup Group.

At the March meetup we’ll follow up on the project we introduced in February: “Purging Paper Piles: Getting Yourself Ready for Tax Season.” Come tell the group about your progress and we’ll share hints about how to keep rolling.

The home office: productive workspace or no man’s land?

We’ll also introduce our focus for April: “The Home Office: Productive Workspace or No Man’s Land?” If you’ve made progress clearing paper piles, then cleaning up your home office is a great next step! We’ll talk about how to streamline your files, manage the desktop, maybe rethink your furniture placement. Or do you need to create a filing system from scratch? We’ll take a fearless look inside the home office.

As usual, we’ll also open the floor to your questions, success stories, and tales of trouble spots. And don’t forget the drawing for a door prize or two! (You must be present to win.)

Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research
(Carriage House)
5300 Caroline
Houston, TX 77030
832-393-2600

FREE and open to the public.

RSVP by visiting the Meetup page or by sending us e‑mail.

The Houston Clutter Coaching Meetup Group is a community of people who want to conquer their clutter and make more room in their lives for the things they love. Come learn tools and tips from an expert, and share your success stories and “ah‑hah!” moments…[READ MORE]

This program is not sponsored or endorsed by Houston Public Library.

If you have a special physical or communications need that may impact your participation in this activity, please contact Gayle Goddard at 713‑816‑9505 at least 72 hours prior to the event to discuss accommodations. We cannot ensure the availability of appropriate accommodations without prior notification of need.

Gayle Goddard, professional organizer, will be the guest speaker at the March monthly meeting of the Quilt Guild of Greater Houston. The topic of the presentation will be “Organizing Your Craft Area.”

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
11612 Memorial Drive
Houston, Texas 77024

Quilt Guild of Greater Houston is a group of quilters and quilt lovers, almost 400 strong, who meet to share their love of this artform. You don’t need to be a quilter to join the guild. Anyone with a love of quilts is welcome to join.

This meeting is free and open to visitors. (Visitors may attend two meetings of the Quilt Guild for free before they are asked to become dues‑paying members.)

Morning meetings are held the third Friday of the month at 10 a.m. in the Amphitheater at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church.

LEOH SESSIONS
Adventures in Learning
for Senior Adults

Gayle Goddard will participate in the Spring Town Hall sessions of Life Enrichment of Houston (LEOH). The topic of her presentation will be “The Five Most Common Organizing Mistakes.”

Bethany United Methodist Church
3511 Linkwood Dr
Houston, TX 77025

LEOH programs are open to the public and free for first-time visitors. The Town Hall session will be followed by lunch, which is available for $3. No RSVP is required. Visit the LEOH web site to learn more.

LEOH is a nondenominational, nonpolitical, nonprofit organization where volunteers blend their ideas, energies, and talents to enrich their lives! LEOH meets at Bethany United Methodist Church and holds two eight-week sessions during the year. The spring session is from mid-March to mid-May, and the fall session is from mid-September to mid-November.

The National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) designates January as “Get Organized Month.” January is a logical choice: we wake from a holiday‑induced dream state to realize that we’ve let things go. We need to get our lives and spaces back in order!

In the spirit of GO Month, we want to offer you a few ways to get support toward achieving your goals. Here are some of the opportunities coming your way in the next few weeks:

• The NAPO Houston chapter is sponsoring a cool GO Month event this Friday, January 22, from 7:30 to 11:00 a.m. at the University of Houston Small Business Development Center. NAPO members will be at SBDC’s Fusion Friday networking event and will present two workshops: “Using Your Mobile Device to Get Organized,” and “18 Tips for Getting Organized in 2010.” The event is FREE, but you must register. Get more information, or register online now at the SBDC site.
• Ready to get rid of some stuff? A friend of ours has launched a new nonprofit organization called Re:Distribute. Its mission is to supply teachers with recycled supplies that can be used in the classroom. If you have office, school, or art supplies, furniture, or children’s books to donate, Re:Distribute will be delighted to put them to good use! Visit Re:Distribute’s Facebook group to find out more or to arrange a donation.
• Need ongoing support in your organizing efforts? Come to the free monthly meeting of the Houston Clutter Coaching Meetup Group. We convene at the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research on the fourth Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. Join us for a brief presentation on a specific organizing topic, followed by Q&A with group members about their organizing challenges and goals. Our topic for January 28: “Getting Organized in the New Year: Rethinking Resolutions.” For event notices by e‑mail, sign up for Meetup.com and join our group.
• Want to arm yourself for the battle against clutter with some basic organizing skills? We’ve got you covered. We’re offering Conquering Clutter 101 at Studio NiaMoves in the Heights on Sunday, February 7, at 1 p.m. We’ll share basic organizing principles. You’ll go home inspired and ready to get started! Find out more, or register online now.

Finally, we’re starting the New Year by relaunching our web site with a new look—and lots of new content on the way. Our resolution? To help you get more organized in 2010! Keep an eye on the site for more events, new articles, and more organizing resources than ever before to help you GO!

We’ve overhauled everything, so we expect to find a few kinks to work out. If you find a problem, we’d appreciate your letting us know about it. Please send e‑mail to our webmaster about any issues that you encounter.

Thank you, enjoy the site, and have a happy New Year!

Gayle Goddard facilitates the monthly meeting of the Houston Clutter Coaching Meetup Group. The topic for February’s meetup will be “Clearing Out the Closet: Unpacking the Problem of Clothing Storage.” The dead of winter is a perfect time to dig through your closets. Gayle will offer strategies to sort and thin your wardrobe and put things back in a more organized way.

Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research
(Carriage House—Note: If the Carriage House is still under repair, we’ll meet in the main house. Look for a sign on the door if the lights aren’t on in the Carriage House.)
5300 Caroline
Houston, TX 77030
832-393-2600

FREE and open to the public.

RSVP by visiting the Meetup page or by sending us e‑mail.

The Houston Clutter Coaching Meetup Group is a community of people who want to conquer their clutter and make more room in their lives for the things they love. Come learn tools and tips from an expert, and share your success stories and “ah‑hah!” moments…[READ MORE]

This program is not sponsored or endorsed by Houston Public Library.

If you have a special physical or communications need that may impact your participation in this activity, please contact Gayle Goddard at 713‑816‑9505 at least 72 hours prior to the event to discuss accommodations. We cannot ensure the availability of appropriate accommodations without prior notification of need.

Gayle Goddard will speak to residents of two Galveston Housing Authority facilities. Her topic will be “Organizing in a Small Space.”

Holland House and Gulf Breezes facilities
Galveston, Texas

This event is for residents only.

About Galveston Housing Authority (from their web site): “GHA has been serving the Galveston community for nearly 70 years, and throughout its history has sought to maintain pace with the growth and modernization of the Galveston area. Current dwellings and future development plans reflect this strategy and will lead GHA into a new era of public housing with design input of the citizens of Galveston.

“GHA is continually rethinking what public housing can be and can provide, both aesthetically and in how it interacts with the community. If you are new to the Galveston area or are just looking for an opportunity to become a member of one of our affordable housing programs, please take a closer look at what GHA has to offer.”

This introductory classroom session will give you the tips and tricks you need to move past being overwhelmed and start clearing out your “stuff.” You will learn the secrets of sorting mail, clearing and organizing your desk, cleaning out your closets, and divesting yourself of unused, unneeded items. You’ll leave the workshop with loads of organizing ideas to transform any space into a productive, pleasant, clutter-free zone.

NiaMoves Studio 1
508 Pecore St.
Houston, Texas 77009
713-864-4260
Price: $45 early registration (by January 31).
$55 late registration or at the door.

Register online now.

We encourage you to register in advance so we can plan materials and refreshments for you. For more information, send e-mail to The Clutter Fairy or call 713‑816‑9505.