If you’re like about 50% of Americans, you’ll receive unwanted gifts this holiday season. 39% of you will keep those unwanted gifts, and at least 7% of you knowingly gift unwanted gifts! As an organizer, I’ve seen firsthand how the backlog of unwanted gifts creates a great burden of guilt, unnecessary use of precious storage space, not to mention the largely unseen burden on the environment.

Who’s that crazy person with 6 lists on their refrigerator door? A professional organizer who is about to go to Bali for 3 weeks. I found this video on my phone while organizing photos from our August trip. The closer we got to our trip date, the faster the lists multiplied, though each became essential.

A few weeks ago I shared one of the better, more honest, articles on organizing I had read in a long time. I declutter homes for a living. I hate free stuff. was written for The Washington Post by fellow DC organizer Nicole Anzia.

It’s a joy and a challenge to work with a whip smart client who has tried it all and looks to me for some out-of-the-ordinary advice. I knew she and I would be working on her email last week. She didn’t want someone else to tell her to create more email folders and just reply to things on time.

I declutter homes for a living. I hate free stuff. is one of those articles that leaves me screaming inside “I should have written this!” I didn’t though, so am very happy that DC organizer Nicole Anzia did.