As I began writing about fresh starts and the New Year, I thought about how life changed significantly for me 30 years ago. With two babies and a regular commute to New York City for my job in the computer graphics industry, I dreamed of starting my own business. This month marks my 30th anniversary of launching Oh, So Organized!

When I was a young mom juggling work, family life, and two young kids, I recognized that my organizational abilities helped me navigate life with less stress. Other moms often asked, “How are you managing everything?” While I was ‘born organized,’ I realized organizing was a teachable skill I could share with other parents.

After much deliberation, I left my computer graphics career and combined my visual arts expertise, business background, love of helping people, and organizing abilities to launch Oh, So Organized! It was a risky decision, yet I’m happy I took it.

Taking Risks

I’m reminded of a story one of my clients shared about taking risks. Especially if you’re thinking about change as you enter this new year, I hope you find encouragement in this story.

When lobsters grow to be about one pound, they instinctively know they are facing a crisis. They have lived in a shell that protects them but inhibits their growth.

To mature, the lobsters must shed their old shells and grow new ones, which takes about two days. This isn’t long, but they are left naked and vulnerable during that time.

Other sea creatures may eat the naked lobster, or waves may slam it against a rock and damage it. Yet there is no alternative. The lobster must endure two days of risk to grow a new shell and become mature.

Humans often have to do that too.

Celebrating 30 Years

I had no idea what an amazing journey I would have when I left the security of a job with medical benefits and a steady paycheck. Talk about shedding my old shell to grow a new one. Wow! In these past three decades, I’ve continued to shed and grow. Each transition and change I was willing to make opened doors for new experiences, clients, learning, growth, and opportunities.

I remember when being in business meant you needed at least a business card, phone, and fax number. That morphed into adding an email address. After that, having a website was a cornerstone of any business. My first website was launched in 2001 and was redesigned several times, with the most recent revamp in 2020.

The business has several aspects to it. There is the business of running a business, organizing work with clients, and being a participant, resource, and volunteer in the organizing industry. In each of these areas, I experienced tremendous opportunities for growth, learning, and giving. There are too many highlights to include (or remember,) but here are several:

• 1993- Gave my first newspaper interview in December 1993, which connected me with new clients for years and taught me the value of PR. Since then, I’ve been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, Westchester Magazine, and many more media outlets.

• 1994- Wrote and mailed out my first ‘snail mail’ quarterly newsletter, which I still send to a selective group.

• 1995- Presented at the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) conference in Dallas, met industry expert and thought leader Judith Kolberg, and learned about chronic disorganization.

• 1999- Asked to launch and lead the NAPO-NY area Golden Circle group for veteran organizers, which I ran for 8 years.

• 2002-2021- Was featured in several books about professional organizing, including Organizing Plain & Simple by Donna Smallin, The ICD Guide to Challenging Disorganization for Professional Organizers edited by Kate Varness, Junk – Digging Through America’s Love Affair With Stuff by Alison Stewart, and, I’m Right Here – 10 Ways to Get Help for Hoarding and Chronic Disorganization by Jill B. Yesko.

• 2006- Became Westchester’s first Certified Professional Organizer in Chronic Disorganization (CPO-CD®) after three years of training and study through the Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD).

• 2008- Became an ICD Program Mentor. Since then, I’ve mentored many students through a credentialing process to get their CPO-CD® certification.

• 2009- Became an ICD Master Trainer, a credential held by less than 12 professionals in the organizing industry.

“Let your past experiences fuel your fresh start.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

• 2010- Wrote and published my book The Other Side of Organized – Finding Balance Between Chaos and Perfection.

• 2010- Launched my blog, The Other Side of Organized, and started blogging about organizing and life balance. I have written almost 500 posts to date.

• 2013- Completed the foundation courses through Coach Approach for Organizers.

• 2014-2016- Was President of the Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD).

• 2014-2020- Was interviewed for many Smead podcasts by host John Hunt.

• 2014- Presented at the Japan Association of Life Organizers (JALO) conference in Yokohama, Japan.

• 2019- Was interviewed on several of WNYC’s “All Of It” shows by host Alison Stewart.

• 2020- Became a Certified Virtual Professional Organizer (CVOP™) and pivoted my business to working with clients worldwide.

• 2020- Joined The Nest by Revel, an Executive Coaching company, as their Professional Organizer Advisor.

• 2022- Presented at the International Virtual Organizers Summit for Virtual Organizers.

• 2022- Hosted my first Oh, So Organized! virtual workshop on “How to Conquer Clutter.”

• 2023- These past 30 years, I’ve been joyfully working with hundreds of clients in-person and virtually. I’ve presented at various public and private conferences and events, attended dozens of conferences, taken hundreds of classes, and volunteered in the organizing industry locally, nationally, and internationally for an array of short to long-term projects.

Gratitude & Fresh Starts

None of this would have been possible without the love, support, guidance, and trust of my family, friends, clients, colleagues, mentors, teachers, and guides. While 30 years is a milestone, it’s not an end. It’s the beginning of this year and many more to come.

My deepest gratitude to all the incredible people I’ve developed relationships with and met along the way. To my clients, I thank you for your ongoing trust in allowing me into your lives and being part of your organizing journey. I love helping and supporting you. To my colleagues, I am grateful for your wisdom, generosity, friendship, and guidance. To my family and friends, your ongoing encouragement, support, and love has helped me grow and thrive. I wouldn’t be here without all of you.

How will you make the most of your fresh start as you dive into this New Year? What are you excited about? What will you let go of? Where do you want to give your time and attention? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

This past week, hundreds of professional organizers and productivity consultants from around the world gathered in Ft. Worth, Texas for the annual National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO) conference.  I’ve been in this industry for 26+ years, and while I haven’t gone to every meeting, I have attended many.  It’s always exciting to learn new things, keep a pulse on the industry, hang out face-to-face with wonderful colleagues, and make new friends. The learning sessions are terrific, yet it’s often the conversations between the courses that I enjoy most.

The essential education this year for me was around letting go. That theme and message continued to pop up in unexpected ways. The lessons I came away with are ones that I hope will be helpful for you too. After all, letting go can be quite challenging so adopting other strategies and perspectives can ease the process and our stress. My deepest gratitude to my NAPO, ICD and other colleagues for teaching, sharing, and exploring these letting go lessons with me.

7 Surprising Letting Go Lessons

1. You Thought You Had a Plan

When I travel, I like to organize and get my arrangements set ahead of time. While I can be spontaneous, I’m more of a planner. So months earlier I had arranged my hotel, flights, and ground transportation for the NAPO conference. At 5:50 am, and five minutes before I was leaving my house for the airport, I received a text from Southwest Air saying they had canceled my flight. After my initial shock and a few choice words, I took a deep breath and realized that Southwest makes it very easy to rebook your flight, so no need to panic. However, for some reason, all of Southwest’s trips for that day and the next four days were either canceled or sold out. I searched for a new flight on a different airline. Delta saved the day. Within 15 minutes I had booked a later trip. In turn, I arrived later than expected, but I did get to the conference.

Letting Go Lesson 1:

Let go of the plan and revise it when you need to.

2. Get Out Of Your Way

One of the first sessions I attended was about future thinking or foresight. The “Drivers of Change” brief generated by ASAE and available to NAPO members, delves into various trends that could have an influence on our business in the next ten to twenty years. We looked at some of the broad categories but spent most of our time discussing and brainstorming in small groups about specific topics that were especially relevant for our industry. While I found it fascinating, I also recognized how challenging it was to think that far ahead. As hard as it was to future think, putting my mind in that mode generated some exciting possibilities.

Letting Go Lesson 2:

Let go of difficult to open the door to possibilities. 

3. The Research Says

Another session I enjoyed was the one describing the survey the NAPO research committee conducted. The information was hot off the press and not ready to be fully shared. However, one stat was particularly fascinating and relevant to the work I do with my clients. When asked the people surveyed how they preferred to manage the belongings they no longer wanted, 75% of them preferred to donate the unwanted and 48% preferred to give them to friends or family.

Letting Go Lesson 3:

Letting go is easier when we give our belongings to people that will use and appreciate them.

4. Take A Walk On The Wild Side

I loved the quiet one-on-one conversations with my colleagues that often happened during meals, like one of the planned evening dinners I had. When we arrived at the restaurant, they told us it would be a 45-60 minute wait since we didn’t have a reservation. Waiting didn’t bother us because the Stockyards were a lively neighborhood to explore. We meandered down the block looking at stores, taking in the sights and sounds, and happening upon the Coliseum, which housed a 100-year old rodeo. My friend, Lynne Poulton got very excited. After some recon, which included meeting a rodeo Hall-of-Famer who encouraged us to get tickets, we skipped dinner and spent the evening watching cowboys wrangle, rope, and ride. As they say in Texas, “Wee-haw!”  It was unexpected, impromptu fun and an evening I’ll never forget.

Letting Go Lesson 4:

Let go of supposed to in favor of flexibility as you might miss out on something truly spectacular.

5. Perfection Alert

Professional organizer aka stand-up comedian, Janice Simon presented an excellent workshop about resiliency. I loved her premise that making regular deposits into your resiliency bank will better equip you to handle life’s storms. She also shared that when you are going through challenging times, it’s important to adjust your expectations. Ask questions like, “What really needs to be done?”  Or “What can be cut back?” A quote she shared from Donna Smallin resonated with me. Donna said, “Done is perfect.” 

Letting Go Lesson 5:

Let go of perfection, especially when done is good enough.

6. There Is Always Room To Grow

Sessions featured workshops that addressed the chronically disorganized population. One of these courses was the panel of colleagues Alison Lush, Diane Thompson, Vickie Dellaquila, Carrie Cooper, and Gayle Gruenberg, of ICD (Institute for Challenging Disorganization.) They shared poignant stories about their clients and the process they went through to help them. The stories were emotional, and at points brought tears to my eyes. The creativity, compassion, generosity, helping spirit, and knowledge that these colleagues embodied are inspiring. What struck me most was they all went through as much learning and change as their clients did. In the process of working with their clients, these organizers learned to let go of their expectations, experiment with alternate organizing strategies, and trust in their clients’ wisdom and resourcefulness. As they let go, their clients stepped forward.

Letting Go Lesson 6:

Let go of being the expert and make space for the wisdom of others to emerge.

7.  Lean In To That Scary Stuff

The last session I attended presented by Nettie Owens was an inspiring (and way too short) workshop about reinventing your business. One of the questions she asked was, “What are you holding onto that is no longer serving you?” She then had us write on an index card, “What do I need to let go of?” along with our response below. I wrote, “doubt.”  Then she asked us to tear up the card, which we obediently did. Once torn, she implored us to toss the pieces up in the air. Think confetti flying. Being the organizers that we were, this made us viscerally uncomfortable. We didn’t want to make a mess that someone had to clean up. Understanding our demographic, Nettie acknowledged our challenge and insisted that we do it anyway. After a short deliberation, I took the plunge and threw my pieces as high into the air as I could. What a liberating feeling! As I tossed the papers, I felt my doubt dispersing too.

Letting Go Lesson 7:

Let go of the stuff that’s holding you back.

As I continue to think about my time away, I know that more letting go lessons will surface. However, in the effort to follow Donna’s advice of “Done is perfect,” I’m going to wrap things up here. Did any of these letting go lessons resonate with you? Have you experienced a different letting go lesson? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

I just returned from the NAPO 2016 organizing conference in Atlanta. About 550 professional organizers from around the world gathered to learn about building organizing businesses, learn new skills, think about current and future trends, and discover the latest products and services to help our clients.

There was a lot of note-taking, conversing, laughing, photographing, tweeting, listening, and observing. I loved seeing old friends and making new ones.

Some conference highlights included:

• Attending the IFPOA (International Federation of Professional Organizing Associations) meeting with the leaders from Japan, Canada, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom and the United States

Photo by NAPO President, Ellen Faye taken at IFPOA Meeting

• Going to the President's Black & White Reception with dancing and karaoke

• Talking with current and potential ICD subscribers at the ICD Booth during the NAPO Expo

• Discussing the influence of future trends on the organizing industry, including aging, downsizing, coaching, and technology

• Learning new ways to combine video with social media from Mindy Rodenburg

• Hanging out and talking with Denslow Brown

• Learning about Judith Kolberg's unique "to-do" list, digital estate planning, and her dance break during her session

• Seeing hundreds of old friends and making new ones

The days were packed from morning until late night. Everywhere I turned, there were new people to meet and old friends to greet. I loved that part. In between conversations, I attended sessions to learn about new trends, ideas, and concepts. During the sessions, I took notes and tweeted some highlights. Mealtimes gave us further opportunities to talk, connect and share ideas. Are you getting the picture? It was wonderful. At the same time, there was a lot to take in and process. And guess what? My heart was filled with connecting with all the amazing people, but so was my head. By Sunday morning, my mind felt full and cluttered.

Fortunately, I scheduled a later flight on Sunday. This gave me time to visit the Atlanta Botanical Garden to see the beautiful gardens and Chihuly exhibit. If you live in Atlanta or ever have the opportunity to see Dale Chihuly’s art, definitely go!

Dale Chihuly - Atlanta Botanical GardenIt turns out that one of the best cures for my cluttered mind was to spend several hours being outside in the sun, exploring nature, the gardens, seeing and photographing Chihuly’s vibrantly colored and organically shaped glass sculptures, taking in the wonderfully fragrant scents, hearing the sounds of water and birds, feeling the breeze, and walking along the winding paths.

Returning home, I gave myself time to sit by the river to collect my thoughts and review my notes. There are still many people to follow-up with and ideas to simmer and implement. However, by giving myself the time with nature and art, my cluttered mind has settled.

I’m excited about the possibilities, and calm about the pacing. My heart is full and happy. My mind is calm.

What helps you when your mind gets cluttered? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation!

We need self-trust in order to make decisions. When we make choices using our best, authentic self we have the opportunity to grow and seek exciting possibilities. Having just returned from the Professional Organizers in Canada (POC) conference in Toronto, I noticed a theme of decisions, growth and possibilities during my journey.

Colleagues

Colette Robicheau, Linda Samuels and Karen SencichOver 22 years ago, I decided to become a professional organizer. Because of that decision, I’ve had the opportunity to develop wonderful relationships with my organizing colleagues. When I was in Toronto, I conversed, laughed, and learned with some of my long-standing and new colleagues from Canada and the United States. While classroom settings are fine, there’s something special about the impromptu learning that happens when engaged in direct conversations. In addition to the colleagues I featured in the following paragraphs, I also treasured the lively conversations I had this week with Colette Robicheau, Karen Sencich, Marie Potter, Leslie Josel, Regina Lark, Georgina Forrest, Jennie Vlietstra, and Christine Janes.

Leaders

Linda Samuels, Stephanie Deakin and Ellen FayeOne of my greatest joys in Toronto was spending time with POC, NAPO, and ICD leadership. Making the decision to accept a leadership role as ICD President has given me a seat at the table with some of the most brilliant, compassionate leaders in our industry. There’s nothing more growth and possibility provoking than talking with inspiring leaders like Stephanie Deakin, POC President and Ellen Faye, NAPO President. It's been so rewarding to connect with them at our industry conferences. Congratulations, Stephanie on your successful conference! What a fun, engaged group.

Social

Jill Robson and Linda SamuelsNo matter how we connect with people, there’s always a social aspect. In the case of one particular group, our connections began through social media and blogging. My decision to join this community about five years ago brought me in contact with wonderful people from all over the world. At the POC conference, I had the opportunity to mesh the virtual with actual by having a chance to see some of my Canadian friends in person like Jill Robson (first time ever!), Heather Burke, and Janet Barclay. There’s nothing quite so special as being face to face. What amazing conversations we had (this time in person) about family, organizing, blogging, mindfulness and more.

Possibilities

Laurene Livesey-Park and Ruth Betz-EssingerAside from my choices that resulted in growth opportunities and enhanced my possibility thinking, I wasn’t the only one making positive decisions this week. When it was announced at the annual meeting that there weren’t enough POC Board members as per the Bylaws, three POC members stood up to self-nominate. This ignited the energy in the room. The volunteers that stepped up made choices that will bring positive results and possibilities for POC and for them individually.

Linda Samuels and Alison LushIn addition, there were many POC attendees that wanted to learn more about ICD’s education about chronic disorganization. At the Expo, the ICD booth had lots of enthusiastic visitors. For ICD’s Basic CD class, the room was packed. As a result, many POC members decided to join ICD, take teleclasses, research info on the ICD website, and purchase publications. They’ve made education a priority so they can better help and understand their chronically disorganized clients. Special thanks to Ruthann Betz-Essinger, Laurene Livesey-Park, and Alison Lush for talking with potential ICDers, organizing the ICD booth, and helping with the class. It was a bonus to have time to hang out with you!

Making authentic decisions based on what we value leads to growth, opportunity, and possibilities. What have you noticed about decision-making and possibilities? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join our conversation.