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Business Insider •

I'm a professional declutterer. Even I struggle to let go of books.

Some decluttering tasks are more emotionally charged than others, and paring down your library may be one of those.

Look, I know you love your books. They're like members of your family; the idea of sending any of them to the thrift store, book sale, or even Tiny Library seems akin to sending Aunt Emily off on a Greyhound to nowhere.

But would you set Aunt Emily on a shelf and then forget to talk to her or even look at her for years on end? Of course not. But you're doing that to a lot of your...
Business Insider •

I taught my kids good decluttering habits at a young age

As a professional decluttering consultant who works with both kids and adults, I've noticed that children aren't nearly as attached to their toys, games, trinkets, and keepsakes as their parents.

In fact, it's often the mom saying, "Oh honey! Are you sure you want to get rid of that scooter? You used to love it so much!" Never mind that they've been too big to ride it for years.

Children lack this sense of nostalgia that keeps us oldsters hanging on to useless stuff because of an emotional att...
Next Avenue •

'That Looks Terrible on You' and Other Brutal Truths From Good Friends

The beauty of creating your own chosen family is that you get to pick people who meet your needsI'm standing in the narrow hallway between dressing rooms at Nordstrom Rack. My friend of 40-plus years is in one of those tiny, ill-lit rooms, trying on work clothes. She opens the door, looking for my opinion."That looks terrible on you!" I say, grinning. "Take it off immediately." "Tell me how you really feel!" she replies, laughing. After 40 years we no longer need to sugarcoat, though we're never...
Business Insider •

Digital clutter is still clutter. It takes time, but here's how to tackle it.

Digital clutter is real, and you've likely got some, particularly if you're paying for extra storage space.

Holding on to extra files, apps, and other digital assets not only costs money, but it's also costing us all in terms of the environment. In fact, computing has now surpassed the airline industry's carbon footprint.

It turns out the cloud is not, in fact, a gentle, fluffy, amorphous part of the atmosphere. Instead, hundreds of server farms use vast amounts of water and electricity. And e...
Next Avenue •

Can You Treat Your Menopausal Symptoms With a Patch?

The science is still out on transdermal patches but some women say they find relief from brain fog, hot flashes and other ailmentsThis summer, as people were dressed in shorts and tank tops, I started to notice two things: lots of very cool tattoos and limbs sporting small round stickers. Once I'd noticed these little flesh-colored patches I started to see them everywhere. What were they?It turns out that transdermal patches are all the rage. They dispense treatments of all kinds, ranging from p...
Business Insider •

I'm a professional declutterer. I help people decide when to get rid of their collections, even if it's difficult.

Tom Hanks famously collects typewriters, Jerry Seinfeld maintains multiple garages to house all his cars, and Rosie O'Donnell has amassed over 2,500 Happy Meal toys.

Some of us are just collectors at heart. But what's the difference between a meaningful collection and a bunch of stuff you can't find space for?

As a professional declutterer, I know that getting rid of a collection is harder than getting rid of single items.

Several years ago, I purchased a blue ceramic owl that housed a partic...
Business Insider •

I'm a Gen Xer who hated working with baby boomers. I love working for millennials because they view work differently.

In my early 40s, I did something revolutionary: I got a full-time job.

I'd been self-employed for over a decade, but the siren song of paid benefits was too strong to ignore. Within hours of starting in my new position, it became clear that I was an anomaly. I was one of only two members of my team over the age of 30, and there was an age gap of 10 to 18 years between me and my other seven coworkers.

Much to my relief, every member of that team was happy to teach me the ins and outs of the new...
Scary Mommy •

My 26-Year-Old Is Mad We Let Her Believe In Santa

I was initially against pitching Santa to my kids. I believe it’s mean to hype up a concept that will end up deeply disappointing them. But I caved, and so the myth continued for another generation. It wasn’t the first or the last time I ignored my gut and bowed to outside pressure, but it’s one I still regret. A little.There are those aspects of parenting you’re sure you’ll be good at, principles you think you’ll never subvert. But decision-making is rarely that simple. I thought my partner and...
Business Insider •

3 tips for purging holiday decorations

The holiday marathon is nearly upon us, and for some, it requires a lot of bling.

Maybe you're a seasonal decorator and are hunting down gourds and pussy willows, or you might just do the bare minimum. Whatever your decorating methodology, chances are you've got bins and bins of trinkets that never make it to the mantlepiece, the dining table, or the front yard.

At their best, holiday decorations conjure warm images of childhood. Unfortunately, they can also lead to swearing while trying to di...
Next Avenue •

Your Kids Are Probably Compromising Your Online Security

Having grown up with digital technology, they are often less concerned about the harm hackers can doThere's a lot of information out there about how to protect our kids from online dangers of all kinds. But what about keeping us safe from some of our children's less-than-stellar online behavior?It turns out the younger generation can be a little blasé about online security. This can have annoying results — as when my friend's kid downloaded the Bible onto her phone; not once but twice — or calam...
Next Avenue •

Hiking With the Boys

How I overcame self-doubt and physical challenges to reach the summit on a mother-daughter dream trip to PeruWhen my daughter graduated from high school, I offered to take her on a Big Trip. She wanted an adventure, and I was down. Dive school in Honduras? Exploring Angkor Wat? We looked up the seven wonders of the world, modern edition, and chose Machu Picchu in Peru.We had hoped to hike the Inca Trail, as one does while there, but the limited number of annual permits already had been handed ou...
Scary Mommy •

What's So Great About An Empty Nest Anyway?

My so-called nest has been emptied three times so far, but a global pandemic, sky-high housing costs, and layoffs have filled it right back up again. At the moment one of my 20-something children lives with me and the other lives one state over. The kid at home would rather have her own place, and I get it; she loved the independence and general adult-ness of living in her own apartment. But me? I’m pretty happy with the status quo.When I was young, I couldn’t wait to move out. I grew up in a sm...
Business Insider •

How to declutter your workspace.

If you have a lot on your plate at work, then your desk, office, or cubicle is likely less than beautifully organized.

While we're not all going to maintain pristine workspaces, you will most likely be more productive at work if your desk is clean and organized.

I'm a professional declutterer specializing in clearing out spaces and ensuring they are properly utilized. So I know you can benefit from a tidier work environment

Here are five tips to get there.

Less is more when it comes to works...
Business Insider •

Kids don't understand the concept of 'cleaning up' so here are 3 ways to help them do it.

If our kids have too much stuff, we have only ourselves to blame. Sort of.

Living in the headquarters of late-stage capitalism is nearly synonymous with having more possessions than we need or can easily manage, and our kids are prime examples.

Now that we are in a new school year, some semblance of organization will help you maintain your cool. Here are a few tips for keeping your kids' stuff from taking over.

The first best way to get clutter out of the way is to go vertical. This is partic...
Business Insider •

I'm a professional declutterer. Here's how you can manage your millions of digital photos.

It's cool that we've got a camera in our hands every hour of every day, and yes, it's fun to document the minutiae of our lives. But there's also a downside to it. We have so many photos.

In fact, we have so many digital photos that many of us can't begin to sort through them. And do you ever look at them? Because having 20,000 photos of your adorable kid isn't that helpful if you don't have a way to enjoy them that doesn't involve carpal tunnel-level scrolling.

As a professional declutterer,...
Scary Mommy •

Middle School Is When It All Goes To Hell

Consider me the Ghost of Parenthood Future. I’m here to tell you that, while it’s lovely that you’re trying so hard and you’ve read so many articles and watched so many Instagram Reels and formed a really intentional childrearing strategy, most of your thoughtful, well-researched parenting practices will mean nothing once your kid enters middle school.When our children are young, it feels like we have absolute dominion over their tiny lives. We choose what they eat, what media they’re exposed to...
Business Insider •

Dorm rooms can get messy fast — here are 4 tips for keeping dorm rooms clutter-free.

Dorm rooms aren't really known for being roomy. Plus, you're (or your kid is) probably sharing with someone who also thought bringing a microwave, a TV, and a bean bag chair was a good idea.

Living in a pile of clutter makes it harder to get your schoolwork done and harder to have fun. I'm a professional declutterer specializing in clearing out spaces and ensuring they're being utilized properly.

So here are four tips to better manage your dorm room this school year — at least your side of it....
Next Avenue •

Take Mom's Old Knickknacks!

Decluttering with your parents? Try these 7 tips to make the process easier.As a professional declutterer, I've seen first-hand the tensions between the generations when it's time for Mom or Dad (or both) to move out of the family home. The kids want to help, but it's a short road from obliging to impatient when watching Dad dither over whether or not to keep Grandpa's broken fountain pen.In turn, parents feel overwhelmed and dismissed by the kids' cheerful observation that all their stuff is us...
Business Insider •

Cleaning out your garage is a big project — here are 5 tips to finally tackle it for good.

Summer is here, and it's time to take on those big projects you've been avoiding all year. If one of those is cleaning out the garage, here are some tips to keep it from taking all summer and ruining your familial relationships.

There's a reason we procrastinate when it comes to getting this combination of storage space and junk room managed; it's full of things we can't quite make a decision about. That's what clutter is at heart — deferred decisions.

Maybe you've set aside a weekend for this...
Scary Mommy •

What Are We Gonna Do Without The Middle Children?

Birth order is equally blamed and touted as a defining aspect of our characters and behavior patterns. And it’s got me worried: what are we gonna do, now that middle children are starting to disappear?We used to have tons of middle children; eldests and youngests were in the minority, and onlies were anomalies. But family size is diminishing according to the CDC (and your own eyes), and I don’t think anyone is worrying about the real problem: Oldest and youngest kids are going to get a shock whe...
Business Insider •

Here's how to know when to replace your pillows, mattress, and sheets.

As a professional declutterer, I know there are some items in the house that beg to be replaced, and then there are those you don't think about all that often.

When was the last time you really looked at your sheets or comforter? You use them every day, but you may have failed to notice that your linens could be past their prime.

Spring cleaning season is over, but it's never a bad time to examine your bedding and swap out the stuff that's worn out or uncomfortable. Some bedding lasts longer t...
Next Avenue •

My Parents Didn’t Teach Me How to Apologize — My Kids Did

After years of practice (did I mention I'm fallible?), my kids and I are champion apologizersI grew up in a family that valued good manners. We asked to be excused from the dinner table, we didn't talk back to adults and we (mostly) did as we were told. New England in the '70s was decidedly not alternative or laid back. One thing that was missing from our etiquette training, however, was when and how to offer an apology. I mean a real apology, none of that "I'm sorry you feel that way" business....
Business Insider •

I'm a professional declutterer. Here are 5 things from your bathroom you need to throw out.

Modern bathrooms are a miracle of storage space, but that boon comes with a downside: they can hold a lot of clutter.

But there's good news, too. We tend to be less emotionally attached to the contents of our bathroom cupboards, making it one of the easiest rooms to declutter.

As a professional decluttrer, here are five things I recommend you purge today.

Soap, lotion, eye cream, deodorant, all the elixirs that keep you clean, lovely, and smelling great. Most of us have way more of this stuff...
Business Insider •

I'm a professional declutterer. Here are the 5 things you need to throw away right now from your kitchen.

As a professional declutterer, I work with clients, helping them get rid of things they don't want, need, or have too many of.

Kitchens are generally the heart of the home and are thus liable to collect clutter at a supersonic rate. These five tips will give you back a little space and increase your serenity with a modicum of effort.

Take a survey of your spice cabinet. In 10 minutes or less, you'll discover that a significant proportion of your spices have turned to unappealing, flavorless du...
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