It’s an excellent time to reflect on the past twelve months before the new year begins. 2024 had emotional, enriching, and deep conversations on the blog.

We walked together, shared tumultuous times, made exciting discoveries, and navigated life balance. In our free-flowing exchanges, insights and new perspectives emerged.

Meaningful Conversations

Our conversations about life balance, change, clutter, letting go, time management, motivation, organizing, hope, and more provided abundant comfort, connection, learning, and joy.

Thank you for being part of this community. You inspire me to show up, write, think, and engage.

Deepest Gratitude

I am profoundly grateful for your thoughtful words and generous sharing. From your comments this year, I curated twelve of my favorite insights from the most active engagers. Thank you, Ellen Delap, Janet Barclay, Janet Schiesl, Jonda Beattie, Julie Bestry, Diane Quintana, Sabrina Quairoli, Sara Skillen, Seana Turner, Sheila Delson, and Yota Schneider.

You are consistent voices and participants who bring our conversations to life. I am grateful to you and everyone who reads the blog, contributes to our discussions, or shares the posts. You infuse this community with hope, humor, curiosity, perspective, and learning.

Many others have contributed to our conversations this year, including Cathy Borg, Florena Davies, Hazel Thornton, Jana Arevalo, Julie Stobbe, Kim Tremblay, and Stacey Agin Murray. Thank you for enriching our exchanges and sharing your thoughts.

Enjoy the year in review- one quote at a time!

12 Inspired Quotes from Our Conversations This Year That Will Make You Feel Hopeful

1. Fresh Start | What Value Does Clearing Clutter Make for Having a Powerful Fresh Start?

“Decluttering may feel like breaking the ice or melting it, depending on how much effort is needed to make that fresh start, and over how long, but it’s always worth it!”

— Julie Bestry

2. Embrace Change | How to Prompt One Helpful Ingredient to Encourage Change

“Asking ourselves if the change is worth the time and energy is a critical first step for anyone looking to try something new.”

— Sabrina Quairoli

3. Next Step | One Fantastic Strategy to Get Unstuck and Easily Take Your Next Step

“Humans are wired to work together and have been for thousands of years.”

— Sara Skillen

4. Letting Go | How to Let Go of What’s Not Working to Joyfully Make Way for What Does

“There are so many things we just put up with, whether in our business or personal lives. When we finally recognize that they’re posing problems and take action, the results are amazing!”

— Janet Barclay

5. Clutter | One Excellent Tool to Assess Clutter’s Impact on Your Mental Health

“Understanding the impact clutter has on our mental health is the first step to doing something about it.”

— Diane Quintana

6. Time Management | 3 Time Management Strategies That Will Make Your Life More Happy

“When it comes to boundaries, I have learned there is a fine balance between building a boundary and building a wall.”

— Yota Schneider

7. Motivation | How Is Chocolate Helpful with Being Motivated to Get Organized?

“The idea of compelling motivation is a powerful concept.”

— Ellen Delap

8. Enlisting Help | Here Are Today’s Interesting and Best Enlisting Help Discoveries – v46

“I am doing a lot of asking for help as there are no alternatives. It’s not my typical ‘shoe to wear,’ but I hope to wear it gracefully.”

— Seana Turner

9. Virtual Organizing | How to Use Virtual Organizing as the Bridge to Help You Achieve Your Goals

“Virtual organizing delivers many gaps when professionally delivered.”

— Sheila Delson

10. Possibilities | 3 Positive Ways Getting Organized Will Reduce Suffering and Improve Your Well-Being

“Reducing suffering by reducing stuff (stuffering?), whether it’s tangible or temporal, is lifesaving.”

— Julie Bestry

11. Wonderfully Human | 4 Ways to Enjoy Thanksgiving More with Some Remarkable Ease

“Be imperfect, make it simple, notice the moments, and find gratitude.”

— Janet Schiesl

12. Life Balance | One Insightful Question to Bring a Joyful Balance Into Your Life

“I am making changes to my practices over the holiday and just doing a general reset in my life.”

— Jonda Beattie

Past Reflections and Future Possibilities

What was most significant for you this year? Is there one quote that resonates most with you? What area of focus do you want to bring into the New Year? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

How Can I Help?

Let’s make 2025 a great year! Do you want support in creating a better balance, letting go of what no longer serves you, or getting more organized? I’m ready to help. Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward. A local feel with a global reach.

Please schedule a Discovery Call, email me at linda@ohsoorganized.com, or call 914-271-5673. Let me help you create the calm you deserve.

 I wish you a happy, healthy, and joy-filled New Year!

There are times when life goes sideways. The unthinkable happens, and you feel you have no control over anything. Your mood is dark, and hope is barely accessible. Cognitively, you understand there are no guarantees in life and that chaos is present. Yet, how do you cope? What can you do when nothing makes sense, and things feel out of control?

I don’t pretend to have the answers or know what you’re experiencing. I’m navigating this challenging time, too. Yet, I have a few strategies that are helping me, which might be helpful to you.

Instead of focusing on the areas you have no control over, shift your attention. Identify and engage in what is nourishing and within your control.

5 Courageous Coping Strategies When Life Feels Out of Control

1. Supercharge Your Self-Care

Take care of yourself. During stressful times, you might ignore the basics. However, doing that makes you feel worse and less able to cope with challenges.

Recommit to self-care basics. Get enough sleep, hydrate, eat nutritiously, and move your body. Walking in nature has additional mood-boosting benefits.

Beyond essential self-care, consider getting a massage, manicure, or pedicure. Or how about taking a yoga, exercise, or meditation class?

Be kind to yourself and engage in intentional, mood-enhancing activities within your control.

“Recommit to self-care basics.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

 2. Engage With Your Community

You might want to retreat when feeling out of sorts. However, I encourage you to do the opposite. Reach out to those who are also feeling ‘it.’ You’re not alone.

Your friends and family may be struggling, too. Connect with your loved ones. Pool your strengths while offering and receiving support.

3. Curate the Input

Scrolling social media, listening to the news, and fueling the fire may not be the healthiest choice. Cut yourself off (even if temporarily) when the external input you’re allowing adds to those out-of-control feelings.

Just as I encouraged you to eat nutritious foods to nourish your body, do something similar for your mind. Curate the input to minimize anxiety-producing thoughts and maximize ones with a more positive effect.

This could be a great time to read that new book or your favorite magazine from cover to cover. Or maybe you prefer to watch a comedy show or movie.

I’m not suggesting you ignore the outside world forever, but for this day, while building your resilience, choose to disengage with stress-inducing news. Control the input.

“Identify and engage in what is nourishing and within your control.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

4. Make Something

There is a gift in making something from nothing. What kind of something? Maybe you like to bake, write blog posts or in journals, take photographs, write poetry, or knit scarves. Perhaps you want to paint, write music, do a craft project, or create fancy cocktails.

Take control of a joy-inducing physical activity and make something. Enjoy the process and the result.

I’ve already journaled and worked on this post. Guess what else I did? I baked (and ate) some Almond Butter Chocolate Chip cookies. Fortunately, these cookies are not only delicious but also nutritious. I just have to remember to eat them in moderation. Wish me luck.

5. Declutter Your Space

Physical disorganization and chaos in your environment can affect how you feel and function. The disarray adds to a feeling of lack of control. You don’t know where things are or have the mind space to focus.

There is mood-boosting power in decluttering and organizing. The act of doing, making a change, and then experiencing the benefits of that shift is palpable.

You can’t control everything, but you can improve your corner of the world (or desk).

Human Coping Skills

Remember, you are resilient, and you have people to lean on. To help navigate challenging times, exert control in tiny yet significant ways. This won’t change everything, but it will help to calm and ground you. What coping strategies do you use when life feels chaotic?

If you need help decluttering, organizing, planning, or grounding, I’m here for you. Please schedule a Discovery Call, email me at linda@ohsorganized.com, or call 914-271-5673. Organization and ease are possible, especially with support.

This year winds down, and we take time to reflect on the past twelve months and the year about to start. 2022 has been full of intense emotions, experiences, and amazing conversations we shared on the blog. We’ve walked side-by-side, navigated turbulent waters, made new discoveries, and wrestled with life balance. In our free-flowing exchanges, insights and new perspectives emerged.

Our conversations about life balance, change, mindfulness, clutter, letting go, motivation, organizing, coping, resilience, hope, pandemics, and more have provided immense comfort, connection, and joy. Thank you for being part of this generous community. You inspire me to show up, write, think, explore, and engage.

I am deeply grateful for this community’s thoughtful words and beautiful sharing. I curated twelve of my favorite quotes of the year from my top engagers, selecting one from each month’s theme. Thank you, Christine Li, Diane Quintana, Ellen Delap, Janet Barclay, Janet Schiesl, Jonda Beattie, Julie Bestry, Lucy Kelly, Sabrina Quairoli, Sara Skillen, Seana Turner, and Yota Schneider. You are the consistent voices and readers who bring our conversations to life. I am grateful to you and everyone who reads the blog, contributes to our discussions or shares the posts. You bring hope, light, curiosity, perspective, and learning to each day.

There have been many other conversation participators and sharers this year, including Alison Nissen, Andi Willis, Christine Johnson, Geralin Thomas, Hazel Thornton, Jill Katz, Jill Yesko Diana, Julie Stobbe, Juliet Landau-Pope, Katherine Macey, Kim Tremblay, Lisa Gessert, Lynne Palumbo, Nancy Haworth, Sheila Delson, Stacey Agin Murray. Thank you for bringing richness to our conversations and for sharing your ideas.

Enjoy the year in review- one quote, insight, and inspiration at a time!

12 Delightful Quotes From Our Conversations This Year That Will Make You Feel Inspired

1. Fresh Start - 5 Best Ideas Shared Here by Pros to Help You Make a Promising Fresh Start

“Zero assumptions is a wonderful way to remind myself that I can start fresh with every moment. Every breath can be a reminder to refocus and notice what’s happening now and move from there.”

— Lucy Kelly

2. Embrace Change - 3 Hopeful Ideas Motivated Big Changes in My Life Which Can Really Help You Too

“I have made such sweeping changes recently...I’m still catching my breath and am learning that it’s ok to postpone some decisions while waiting for the dust to settle. The big change...feels so right that I’m happy just to let that feeling resonate for a while before I implement some of the other smaller changes that I am aware are lurking in the background...”

— Diane Quintana

3. Next Step - What Becomes Visible If You Make Your Next Step Hope?

“When life feels challenging, I like to reflect on the challenges I’ve endured and survived in the past. If I got through ‘that,’ I can surely get through ‘this!’”

— Janet Barclay

4. Letting Go - 3 Ways to Let Go of Big & Joyfully Experience Powerful Benefits of Little

“Often, it is in letting go of the big and cluttered that we can fully appreciate the abundance in our lives.”

— Yota Schneider

5. Clutter - 11 Delightful Pros Share Best Cues for When It’s Time To Declutter

“I know I need to declutter when I am feeling drained or fatigued. It’s a bodily response informing me that there are too many things going on or too much to focus on accurately and well. When I have that realization, I do my best to spring into decluttering mode so that I free myself up for smooth action again.”

— Christine Li, Ph.D.

6. Time Management - How To Prioritize Your Time and Celebrate Life’s Joyful Moments

“If we don’t prioritize our joy, our lives slip by, and while we’ll have served the clients and cooked the meals, and checked off our tasks, will we have really lived?”

— Julie Bestry

7. Motivation - Discover One Surprising Solution When Doomerism Sabotages Your Motivation

“Optimism is key to finding opportunities. When we are down, we feel stuck. Staying optimistic doesn’t mean you need to deny what is going on. You choose to put your energy into something that will uplift and motivate you.”

— Sabrina Quairoli

8. Enlisting Help - What’s The Value Of Enlisting Help As You Make A Positive Change?

“Enlisting help either as a mentor/teacher, accountability partner, or a cheerleader can make the difference between reaching your goal or giving up.”

— Jonda Beattie

9. Mindfulness - How to Bring Mindfulness To Each Day And Easily Increase Joy In Your Life

“…I often ask my clients to consider what they ‘get to do’ vs. ‘have to do.’ Right now, I’m joyfully anticipating a light day, some reading time, and prepping for the rest of the week. I ‘get to’ think ahead about my clients and meetings and family time – all of which I’m grateful for. It’s a key component of mindfulness...”

— Sara Skillen

10. Possibility Thinking - What’s Achievable When You See Life As A Petri Dish Of Astonishing Possibilities?

“…it’s easier to be grateful and optimistic than we think.”

— Janet Schiesl

11. Wonderfully Human - What Is The Amazing Value Received by Reframing More Thoughts?

“Rather than ‘I don’t know how,’ say ‘I am learning to.’ It is all about our perspective and our capacity to keep learning.”

— Ellen Delap

12. Life Balance - Make A Happy Holiday Season Life Balance Inspired By One Of Einstein’s Timely Ideas

“…this moment of calm was a true blessing…balance comes from allowing all activities to have some time, including stillness and rest.”

— Seana Turner

These quotes were taken from our lively dialogue on the blog this year. What resonates with you? Is there one idea you’d like to bring forward into the New Year? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

The newest release (v37) of the “What’s Interesting?” feature has my latest finds, which inform, educate, and relate to organizing and life balance. These unique, inspiring, possibility-thinking discoveries reflect this month’s blog theme.

You are a generous, communicative, and engaged group. I am deeply grateful for your ongoing presence, positive energy, and contributions to this community. I look forward to your participation and additions to the collection I’ve sourced.

What do you find interesting?

What’s Interesting? – 5 Best Possibility-Thinking Discoveries

1. Interesting Workshop – Conquering Clutter Possibilities

Are you overwhelmed by clutter? If so, you’re not alone. One in four people have challenges with clutter, which can affect their anxiety levels, relationships, sleep, and ability to focus. Help is here.

I’m so excited to offer a lively one-hour online workshop – How to Conquer Clutter, on October 20th @7:00-8:00pm EST. You’ll discover where clutter comes from, why it’s so hard to let go, and what you can do about it. Come away with energizing possibilities, manageable clutter-reducing strategies, and powerful insights. Register now!

2. Interesting Perspective – Reframing Possibilities

I frequently hum and sing. The funny thing is I don’t realize I’m doing it. In addition, I often unknowingly sing the incorrect lyrics. Recently, I learned a word for that. Mondegreen is a misheard word, phrase, saying, lyric, or slogan that makes sense in your head, but is entirely incorrect. Check out this infographic with some commonly miss-sung lyrics for a good laugh.

What does mondegreen have to do with possibility thinking? Let’s revisit the mondegreen definition of words, which make “sense in your head, but…are entirely incorrect.” How often have you repeated a negative message to yourself that is no longer true? You get stuck in old thought patterns or beliefs and forget to change the script. Clients often share these negative messages with me, which sometimes were ingrained since childhood.  A parent might have said, “You are like a tornado leaving stuff everywhere you go.” However, they learned organizational strategies over time and are no longer “messy” or “disorganized” kids. They didn’t adjust the lyrics.

Singing the wrong words to songs is harmless, but repeating negative, untrue messages about yourself is damaging. What possibilities become visible when you change the script?

“When you imagine possibilities, your thinking becomes open and expansive. ”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

3. Interesting Read – Grounding Possibilities

In The Practice of Groundedness – A Transformative Path to Success That Feeds – Not Crushes – Your Soul, author, researcher, and coach Brad Stulberg rejects conventional measures of success, which he says do not support long-term happiness. As an alternative to feeling like “you are never enough” or having “a compulsion to keep chasing the next thing,” Stulberg draws from modern science and lessons from ancient wisdom traditions to encourage the cultivation of habits and practices to live a more grounded life.

Stulberg says, “Groundedness is unwavering internal strength and self-confidence that sustains you through ups and downs.” His six principles of groundedness are acceptance, presence, patience, vulnerability, community, and movement. Sharing specific practices and new ways of thinking, Stulberg inspires us to choose “acceptance over delusion and wishful thinking…presence over distraction…patience over speed…vulnerability over invincibility…community over isolation…movement over sitting still.” How will grounding yourself influence what’s possible?

4. Interesting Product – Capturing Possibilities

Have you noticed when you shower, ideas, to-dos, and possibilities start to flow? The relaxing effect of water stimulates your thoughts. Do you easily forget those brilliant ideas you had in the shower? It used to happen to me, but not anymore. One of my favorite products is AquaNotes waterproof notepad. Their tagline says, “Never let another great idea go down the drain!” When a shower-inspired thought pops into my head, I make a note on the pad with their special pencil. Post-shower, I transfer the idea to the appropriate list. The notepad is also an excellent place to exchange messages with my husband.

5. Interesting Thought – Welcoming Possibilities

When you imagine possibilities, your mind goes into an open, expansive growth mode. When you say the word problem, your thoughts constrict and bring a negative focus to the situation. You can get stuck in the problem’s details. Challenges definitely exist. However, if you shift your thinking towards possibilities, you will find a more productive, positive path when you encounter issues.

Do you have an interesting possibility-thinking discovery? Which of these resonates with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.