Here's the best piece of advice I can give you if you're hoping to declutter your home, your schedule, your brain, or anything else.
 
KNOW THYSELF.
 
Deceptively simple, methinks. Here's how it works in real life.
 
In the Before Times,...

 A few weeks after my father died, my mother tackled his closet. She told me it was one of the hardest parts of losing him. As she gathered his clothing for donation, she said, “I felt like I was just throwing him away.”

Guilty pleasure alert - I love decorating shows.

But for real, they’re setting us up for a lot of house shame. I don't know about you, but my house does not have a stadium-sized kitchen with loads of subway tile. Or an...

One reason you might hire a me to help you declutter is because it can be really hard to stick with it on your own. You get distracted. At least that’s what you tell yourself. What’s really happening is that you’re hitting...

A long time ago I got a divorce. It was traumatic, naturally. It was messy and upsetting for everyone. And for years afterwards, I was haunted by this thing that had occurred long before there was a house, or kids, or any kind of legal contract.

I...

I told a bunch of people recently that in the month of January I did only what I wanted to. For the whole month.

To tell the truth, I was a little nervous about what might happen because I have a secret fear that I'm lazy. What if I got through the...

My mother was a docent for many years. Which made her a terrific museum companion, except that woman had STAMINA when it came to viewing art.

I’d be limping 10 paces behind begging for another espresso while she called over her shoulder that...

Instead of telling you in my lighthearted but dictatorial fashion how to throw off your burdens, I want to talk to you about something near and dear to my heart.

My years of work in hunger relief led me to an interest in public health. I even...

Confession: there is one thing I acquire a LOT of. I purchase them without guilt, and I can’t ever have enough.

Plants.

I have supersized yards both front and back. In my wisdom I’ve rejected the idea of simplicity and made landscaping...

In January I encountered the weirdest car problem ever.

It didn’t help that I was still dripping wet from an interrupted shower when I raced out to move my car so my kid could drive her car to work.

I reversed out of the...

Let’s imagine your great-great-grandmother crossed the country in a covered wagon. She travelled 2500 miles through blizzards and droughts and clouds of locusts. On the way she lost 3 of her 8 children and bore a set of twins.

The wagon...

Am I the only one who finds infinity pools terrifying?

I’m not keen on swimming a solid lap and then FALLING OFF THE EDGE. I guess you can’t really fall off? Probably? But some of them are situated at the top of (more or less)...