My monthly newsletter

Take a look at the latest issues of the ClutterGazette, a monthly newsletter that highlights a selection of decluttering issues and solutions around the home and the office.

Dec 2021
Shopping fallout

Recently, I have been working with an elderly gentlemen to sort through a random selection of documents he had accumulated over the last couple of years. Well, I say “documents”, but they were actually hidden within a series of cardboard folders, piles of paper left and right, in a mix of pages from magazines, advertisements, flyers, magazines and such. On hindsight, I should probably call it “a bit of a mess of paper-related flotsam and jetsam”.

Normally, the first order of day would have been to collect everything in one place, but that just wasn’t an option because of the sheer volume, so I set out to assess what kind of paper was there and quickly discovered the categories I mentioned above (plus ‘miscellaneous’). Having this knowledge, I could now go ahead and take each separate pile, binder, collection in a box … and start grouping whatever was in one set into piles of their own.

Once that was done, [...]

Published books

I have published two books so far, both dealing with particular aspects of decluttering both the spaces you live in and the mindset that is associated with your living situation.
We often hear that one of the key points to success in decluttering is that "you have to do it at the right time". This is rather a vague statement, so I have set out to find a way to better pinpoint such times, to facilitate the process and increase the chances of successful decluttering.

My new book "Clutter Tides" describes my findings, how life stages and clutter phases can help determine the best time to get started, and what to consider at each phase in the process.

The book holds a lot of guidance to help you understand why you hold on to things - a.o. in the shape of thought experiments - but also lots of practical tips and tricks to help you along and get you thinking along the right lines.
first published in February 2020
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More often than not, decluttering is seen as an intervention when stuff has already accumulated, but I wonder if there isn't a way to address the reasons that lead us to accumulate things and ideas in the first place.

My first book "Promise Broken. Moving On." talks about how advertising, branding and marketing contribute to the sheer number of items that we choose to bring into our lives. Besides that, it addresses the idea that 'how' we bring things in is in part responsible for our inability to let go.

Being aware that you are being manipulated by the industry, social pressures and your own habits can be instrumental to holding back the tides of stuff that enters your life.
first published in April 2019
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All information refers to Tilo Flache t/a ClutterMeister.  © 2021