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Have someone (or several someones) on your Holiday Gift List that are a little bit organizationally impaired? Here are some great stocking stuffer ideas for the recovering pack-rat in your life. The holidays usually results in a more items coming into your home than going out, and the result is clutter.

1. Time
One of the main stumbling blocks in decluttering is the idea that it takes huge amounts of time to get clean and organized. While it can take a long time to get fully clutter-free, there are many steps that can be accomplished in as little as 20 minutes! Give the gift of time; offer to watch their children/pets/plants for a couple hours. Go pick up groceries for them. Anything that will allow them to work on decluttering without interruptions for a while.

2. Professional organizer service
Want to get really serious? Give the gift of a session with a local Professional Organizer. Professional organizers know their stuff, and they know lots of great tips and tricks that will help anyone (even me!), and they help without judging.

3. Help cleaning up
More of a Do-It-Yourselfer? Pitch in and help your friend clean up personally! Having a friend around to help can be greatly motivating and can make large tasks more manageable. Just make sure to be sensitive about their messy problem; you’re there to help, not hurt their feelings by calling Great Aunt Agatha’s thimble collection or the prized ceramic horse they made in grade 4 “junk”.

4. Container Store gift certificate (or equivalent)
“A place for everything, and everything in its place”, as they say. A common reason for clutter is a lack of space to put everything. If an item doesn’t have a “home” in your house, how can you be expected to put it away? However, this gift idea goes hand-in-hand with the Clutter Control Checklist, as you get rid of clutter, you’ll have more room to store the items you truly use and love.

5. Donation to charity in their name
A gift that helps improve the lives of the less fortunate and prevents more clutter from accumulating. What could be better? Find out what charities your clutter-prone friend supports and make a donation in their name. Usually charities have cards or certificates that you can give to show your donation.

6. Plant a tree in their name
Similar to a donation to charity, but planting a tree also helps a broader spectrum of your local community. Trees can provide beauty and shade in parks, homes for native fauna, and they help clean the air.

7. Replace (or fix) a broken item they already own
Odds are a cluttered person has at least one item in their house, likely more than one, that is broken, but has not yet been discarded. Instead, it sits there as true clutter. A bookshelf with a missing can’t hold as many books as a whole one, and that busted egg-timer in the kitchen isn’t helping anyone.

Your two cents: Do you have a smart tip for what to give someone that already has “too much stuff”? Share it here!

You may also enjoy these posts:

• Professional Organizers
• January is Get Organized Month
• Clutter Control Checklist
• 5 Ways to Clear Closet Clutter