EmmaHelps Simplify Life Organizing Whittier

01/16/2026

This is the face of a TIRED organizer. Who wants to see what my team and I did today?

12/16/2025

When your house makes you twitchy…

I absolutely love our cozy living room, especially this time of year, but right now it kind of looks like Christmas threw up all over it. There’s garland on top of garland, bins stacked in the hallway, and almost every flat surface is covered in something sparkly, red, or pine-scented.

Maddie is thriving in the chaos. She wants to decorate everything, and I honestly love that about her. She’s all in. But the truth is, it was starting to make me twitchy. The clutter, the visual noise, the unfinished projects sitting everywhere—I could feel my shoulders tightening and my patience thinning.

So I did something simple that helped a lot. I gave myself a time block of a few hours and told myself, "This is all I need to do today." I put away what I could. I cleared off a couple of surfaces and made some visible progress. And then, when I hit that wall where I felt done, I didn’t force myself to keep going. I didn’t guilt myself into powering through.

Instead, I grabbed a box, labeled it “Christmas Break Projects,” and I put everything else in there. Then I opened up my calendar and scheduled a couple of hours during the break to come back to it. Not right away. Not this week. But soon enough that it wouldn’t sit there until spring.

And that was enough. I decided it was okay to stop. I reminded myself that “good enough” still counts. That one small decision helped me feel like I could breathe again.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed in your home right now, I just want to say—you're not alone. The holidays can bring so much joy, but also so much extra stuff. And sometimes, the best thing you can do is pause, take care of a few small things, and give yourself permission to finish the rest later.

It doesn’t all have to get done today. You’re allowed to pace yourself.

Sometimes, putting it in a box for later really is the best next step.

What's overwhelming you right now? Maybe we can brainstorm how to make it a bit better

12/03/2025

2 weeks ago my team and I were helping a retired client sort through her living room — which had turned into a storage zone after several relatives passed and left her with all their things. There was no place to sit, and even the couch had been moved out to make room for the piles.

She had reached out after seeing my story in Whittier magazine and said, “I just can’t do this on my own anymore.”

While we were sorting through one of the many bags — mostly full of old 31 products — I found a small stack of photos. She glanced over and said, “Oh, those were from my mom.”

As I moved the photos into a sturdier box to keep them safe, something underneath caught my eye.

Jewelry.

She gasped. “Oh my god. I wondered where that went. I couldn’t find her pearls anywhere… and look, it’s all her watches.”

It was one of those moments that reminded me — sometimes it’s not about the clutter. It’s about what you find in it.

So I’d love to know what's the weirdest place you have found something you "lost"?

11/08/2025

Who wants to see kitchen we worked on this week? Here are some before pictures.

11/03/2025

Brea improv and Ali Wong

10/10/2025

CHeck out my ad in a new local magazine.

Call 562-263-4055 or click to learn more

10/06/2025

09/04/2025

Thanks to for a great networking meeting and connecting me to to chat about being an expert contributor in her new hyper local friendly hills and Whittier hills print magazine. And of course zen tea in whittier. So do you think I should be an expert contributor? What would you like to learn about organizing wise?

08/04/2025

1 day shed transformation… who wants to see how it comes out?

05/31/2025

My friend reached out for help at her parents home. She realized it was just more than she could help them with. Our team took this room from piles to clear in 2 days. We have 1 more day scheduled next week. How long do you think this would take your parents?

05/25/2025

Having fun with my new label maker ;)

05/25/2025

Sometimes a client needs help with a refresh. I donated 6 hours to a SIW auction. This is the first of the packages from the auction. It was a 30 hour refresh package of her kitchen and garage. The garage had been organized in the past, but systems need refreshes from time to time. She and her hubby are so happy with the better functioning of the garage and the 4 bins of stuff donated.