Your Personal Space of Shame: Organizing the Final Frontier (Meetup)

Nature Discovery Center 7112 Newcastle St., Bellaire, TX, United States

Most of us have a place that becomes our last refuge for clutter. You know the space we’re talking about—the closet where things go in but never come out, the unusable spare room, the junk drawer you can’t close (or dare not open), the impenetrable garage. At our August meetup, we’ll discuss these trouble spots and offer tips for reclaiming your “personal space of shame” as a usable part of your home.

Free

Maintenance: How to Keep Your Decluttering Machine Running Smoothly (Meetup)

Nature Discovery Center 7112 Newcastle St., Bellaire, TX, United States

Whether you’re confronting a long-term clutter problem or starting anew in a pristine space, a critical part of creating an organized life is maintenance. Well-designed maintenance routines can stop a bad situation from getting worse and can keep an organized space functioning smoothly. And you might find that establishing good maintenance habits gives you a fresh outlook on your old clutter.

Free

We’re Not Getting Any Younger: Clutter and Aging (Meetup)

Nature Discovery Center 7112 Newcastle St., Bellaire, TX, United States

As we age, many of us find our clutter problems becoming more complicated by the urgent needs of elderly parents or loved ones, our desire to share mementos and family history with the next generations, our own physical limitations, and many other factors.

For the June meeting of the Houston Clutter Coaching Meetup Group, we’ll explore clutter-related issues that arise with aging. We’ll suggest strategies that you and your family can adopt to ease the burden of future clutter.

Free

Piles and Heaps and Mounds: Dos and Don’ts of Organizing Paper (Meetup)

Nature Discovery Center 7112 Newcastle St., Bellaire, TX, United States

Whenever The Clutter Fairy speaks to a group, she answers anxious questions about managing paper. Paper clutter is a universal First World problem—we all accumulate too much of it and face the challenge of figuring out what we really need to keep.

Free

Preparing to Move Out: Decluttering Strategies for Moving…or Staying Put (Meetup)

Nature Discovery Center 7112 Newcastle St., Bellaire, TX, United States

There’s nothing like the pressure of moving to help you throw away things you don’t need! Whether you purge by choice or because you’re too exhausted to keep packing, the demands of a move are guaranteed to reduce your pile of possessions. But even if you won’t be moving any time soon, you can still use moving strategies to help you let go of excess in your life.

Free

Getting Past Overwhelmed: Cultivating Decluttering Habits (Meetup)

Nature Discovery Center 7112 Newcastle St., Bellaire, TX, United States

People with clutter issues often report feeling overwhelmed—they know where they’d like to end up, but they can’t see a way to get there. The March 2014 meeting of Houston Clutter Coaching Meetup Group will examine the thoughts and behaviors that underlie overwhelm. We’ll suggest some better ways to think about clutter problems, and we’ll send you home with a few practical pointers to get unstuck and stay in motion on your organizing goals.

Free

Holiday Meetup: Making a Plan for a More Organized 2014

Nature Discovery Center 7112 Newcastle St., Bellaire, TX, United States

At the December meeting of the Houston Clutter Coaching Meetup, Gayle Goddard talked about planning your first organizing project of the new year: supplies, timelines, support services to transform a 2013 problem area into a 2014 blissful space.

Free

Organizing for the Unforeseen: How to Be Prepared for a Clutter Crisis (Meetup)

Nature Discovery Center 7112 Newcastle St., Bellaire, TX, United States

Sometimes we find ourselves in situations that require us to deal with a lot of stuff in a short time—an unexpected move, a serious illness, a death, a natural disaster. You can’t keep these crises from striking, but there are steps you can take now that will help you or your loved ones manage better when trouble arises. At the October 2013 meeting of the Houston Clutter Coaching Meetup, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy, talked about how to plan and prepare so you can minimize the impact of clutter emergencies.

Free

The Allure of the Sale: Coupon-Clipping and Bargain-Hunting (Meetup)

Nature Discovery Center 7112 Newcastle St., Bellaire, TX, United States

Are you a bargain-hunter? Do you keep your eyes open for coupons, Groupons, rebates, and specials? Here’s some shocking news: a bargain is only a bargain if you need what you’re buying. Retailers use a warehouse full of tricks to get you to overspend and bring home more stuff than you have the space for.

At the August meeting of the Houston Clutter Coaching Meetup Group, we’ll talk about how to shift your thinking to become a more conscious shopper. We’ll arm you with tricks of your own to see through the marketers’ hype and resist the allure of the sale.

Free