Marina Mahnken

Professional Organizer and Decluttering Expert

Marina Mahnken is a professional organizer and decluttering expert based in Monmouth County, New Jersey. With almost 10 years of professional experience, Marina is the founder of Declutter My Clutter NJ LLC, which she launched in early 2016. She specializes in helping clients overcome clutter-related challenges and reclaim their spaces. Marina strives to create realistic, lasting solutions tailored to each client and their lifestyle. Marina is a long-time Golden Circle and Professional Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO) and a member of the NAPO Virtual Chapter. She holds specialist certificates in Residential Organizing, Workplace Productivity, Life Transitions, Life Productivity, and Team Productivity, and has also earned a Foundations Certificate in Chronic Disorganization from The Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD). Her expertise has been featured in publications including Asbury Park Press and Market Watch.

Education

NAPO Specialist Certificates: Residential Organizing, Workplace Productivity, Life Transitions, Life Productivity, and Team Productivity
Foundations Certificate of Study in Chronic Disorganization, Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD)
Master’s coursework completed in School Leadership, Touro Graduate School of Education
B.A. in Early Childhood Education (Concentration in Sociology), Brooklyn College
A.S. in Educational Studies, Kingsborough Community College
New York State Initial Teaching Certificate, Early Childhood Education (Birth–Grade 2)

Professional Achievements

Founder of Declutter My Clutter NJ LLC, a multi-organizer company serving Central New Jersey
Featured in Asbury Park Press and Market Watch for her decluttering expertise
Company was voted “Best of Monmouth” by Monmouth Health & Life Reader’s Choice Awards in 2017 and 2018

Certifications & Organizations

Golden Circle & Professional Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO)
NAPO Virtual Chapter Member
The Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD) Member
NAPO Specialist Certificates in Residential Organizing, Workplace Productivity, Life Transitions, Life Productivity, and Team Productivity
ICD Foundations Certificate of Study in Chronic Disorganization
Former New York State Certified Teacher, Early Childhood Education

Favorite Piece of Advice

Everything in your home is part of a story you’ve been telling yourself. Some of it belongs to the life you’re living now and some of it’s from chapters that ended a long time ago. Getting organized isn’t about making everything perfect - it’s about editing the story so your space actually matches your present. If something doesn’t have a real role in your life anymore, it’s just taking up room. Once you clear that out, your home stops feeling like a museum of old stuff and starts feeling like yours again.

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Co-authored Articles (9)

How to

Organize Your Life

Does it seem like there aren't enough hours in the day, or dollars in the bank? Is your car usually running on empty, and your trash can full? You’re suffering from a common affliction of being too busy — you have n...

How to Organize Your Room: 13 Tips & Tricks

Try these organization hacks to keep a clean and tidy bedroomAlong with creating an extremely aesthetic space, organizing your room is a good habit to get into to maintain its overall cleanliness and functionality. To he...

How to

Get Rid of Junk Mail

Free up your mailbox from unwanted junk mailEveryone knows the feeling of coming home to a mailbox overflowing with junk mail. It’s annoying, wasteful, and takes up space in your home until you throw it out. Luckily, y...

How to

Store a Kayak

Kayaks are constructed with thin material for optimal performance on the water. Because the material is stretched so thin, warping can occur during storage. When storing a kayak, it's important to keep in mind the three ...

How to

Make a Cat Bed from an Old Sweater

Does your kitty keep sleeping on your sweater? If so, why not turn that sweater into a new bed for her? If you don't want to cut and sew the sweater, you could always use an old one, or buy one from the thrift store inst...

How to

Organize Your Desk

As the saying goes, “a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind.” Keeping your workspace clean and organized can have a huge effect on your productivity, concentration, and ability to find everything you need. Yo...

31 Places to Get Free Boxes for Moving

Discover ways to get free boxes for your move and start packing up your old home From liquor stores and pharmacies to classified sites and apps, there are tons of places to get free boxes for an upcoming move: the key is...

How to

Recycle Trophies and Plaques

Trophies and plaques are made of materials including stone, marble, plastic, and metal, and they cannot be recycled with curbside waste. Go online and search for local or national trophy recycling programs, and then eith...

11 Ways to Let Go of Clothes You Don’t Wear

So you're ready to declutter your closet, but now you have to decide what clothes to get rid of. What can you do if you feel too attached to let go of anything in your wardrobe? It's completely normal if it's a little to...