Gayle Goddard presents “The Five Most Common Organizing Mistakes” at the 32nd Annual Spring Houston Texas Home & Garden Show. Gayle will offer this talk at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 10, and at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 11.
Gayle Goddard presents “The Five Most Common Organizing Mistakes” at The Brookwood Community, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit residential facility and vocational program for adults with disabilities. Learn tips for conquering your clutter in the new year!
Many of us recognize the negative impact of clutter on our comfort, convenience, and relationships, but feel powerless to begin the overwhelming effort that decluttering entails. Decluttering happens piece by piece, but we can’t get it done when our stuff provokes conflicting emotions. Sometimes the reasonable voice gets drowned out by the panicked impulse to keep everything or defer every decision for another day.
For our January 2018 meeting of the Houston Clutter Coaching Meetup Group, we’ll suggest ways to set aside the emotional responses that stand in the way of the work of decluttering in favor of practical techniques that allow us to move forward. We’ll talk about cultivating detachment and objectivity by creating algorithms—rules to filter our stuff to fit our spaces and our present lives. We’ll offer examples of criteria you can apply to your own collections, or that will guide you as you define your own practical rules.
We’ll wrap up 2017 by looking at our spaces through the lens of peace of mind. What things in your home get in the way of feeling peaceful, rested, and rejuvenated? What’s creating negative emotions, standing in the way of positive experiences, or blocking your enjoyment of time at home? For the December meeting of the Houston Clutter Coaching Meetup Group, we’ll offer suggestions for clearing the worst trouble spots, having constructive conversations with people who share your space, and moving toward a more serene environment.
The Houston Peace & Justice Center presents an opportunity to trade objects and services without currency and to support “Buy Nothing Day,” a national effort to provide alternatives to the media driven consumerism of “Black Friday.” The purpose of this event is to challenge those who choose to participate not to shop or buy anything on the day after Thanksgiving.
The holiday season can mean many things: family and fun, carols and candles, good food and gratitude, shining lights and festive spirits. But it can also mean stress and burden as we overcommit our time, overspend our budgets, and overwhelm our homes with fresh clutter. At the November meeting of the Houston Clutter Coaching Meetup Group, we’ll suggest a way to lighten your load—and brighten your life—by focusing your holiday preparations on what the season means to you. Let the things you treasure about the holidays guide your celebrations, and this year you’ll collect joyful memories instead of just more stuff.
Hurricane Harvey has taught us harsh lessons about what’s at stake when a natural disaster strikes. Our lives and priorities get turned upside-down overnight, and we find ourselves having to navigate the unknown in a state of panic, loss, and grief.
We talk all the time about how clutter disrupts our lives—our comfort, productivity, enjoyment, and pride in our homes. But there are circumstances in which clutter becomes a serious threat to health and wellbeing.
The urge to offer hospitality is a fundamental human desire. For the July 2017 meeting of the Houston Clutter Coaching Meetup Group, we’ll suggest ways to reconcile conflicting emotions to start entertaining now, even if our spaces are still works in progress.
The creative drive is an essential human need to enrich and beautify our lives and the world around us. But for many of us, clutter erodes the space, free time, and clarity of mind we need for creative pursuits. For our June 2017 meeting of the Houston Clutter Coaching Meetup Group, we’ll break down the obstacles that our clutter throws in the way of creativity, and we’ll share ideas for making more room in your life for creative expression.
