Enjoy the latest release (v53) of the “What’s Interesting?” series, which features my most recent finds that inspire, spark curiosity, and connect to organizing and life balance. These unique, fresh start discoveries reflect this month’s blog theme.

You are an engaged, vibrant, and generous group. I am deeply grateful for your ongoing presence, positive energy, and contributions to this community.

I look forward to your participation and further contributions to the collection I curated.

What do you find interesting?

What’s Interesting? – 5 Best Fresh Start Discoveries

1. Interesting Read – Fresh Start Goals

Bigger isn’t always better. Yet if you want to strive for an audacious goal this year, Dan Sullivan, coach and author of Who Not How – The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork, has a way to get there.

This philosophy hinges on changing the questions you ask. Stop asking, “How can I do this?” Forget working in isolation and doing everything yourself. Instead, Sullivan teaches you to ask, “Who can do this for me?”

He advocates focusing on the “whos in your life that give you the perspectives, resources, and ability to go beyond what you could do alone.” Replace “How can I accomplish this?” with “Who can help me achieve this?”

If you’re feeling frustrated and stuck, it could be the ideal time to build your ‘who’ team.

2. Interesting Experience – Fresh Start ‘Party’

Do you have any “boring tasks” you’re procrastinating on? If so, you are not alone. Thanks to one of my clients, I learned about a Business Insider article that describes a new trend offering a fun solution to this challenge.

Instead of staying stuck and alone while trying to get things done, consider hosting an “admin night” party, as Business Insider editor Tess Martinelli did. She invited her friends over to work on their to-do lists or anything that was causing mind clutter, while also having time to socialize.

She kept things casual and as “low effort” as possible. While there were few rules, Marinelli set several parameters to help make the evening flow better, including:

• Dress comfortably.

• Bring your own snacks.
  Provide a beverage (optional).

• Give some structure, such as working for 30 minutes and socializing or resting for 10 minutes. Repeat that cycle two or three times.

• After each “round,” talk about what you accomplished.

3. Interesting Article – Fresh Start Decluttering

One of the top ten New Year’s resolutions is to be more organized. An essential part of getting organized is decluttering. This involves letting go of:

• things that have overstayed their welcome

• no longer support your current reality, or

• don’t want or need.

In The Washington Post article “How to reduce visual clutter for a calmer, more functional home,” the case is made for how taxing visual clutter can be on the brain. My clients often describe their clutter (physical or visual) as paralyzing or overwhelming their thoughts and actions.

Corey Pence from The Container Store defines visual clutter as an “overwhelming or excessive amount of visual elements in a space that make it difficult to focus on important information or executing tasks.” Clutter can also make it hard to feel calm and relaxed. Imagine a bedroom with clothing piled everywhere, or a living room with books, toys, and dishes strewn about.

The article suggests many ways to eliminate visual clutter, such as:

• choosing furniture that encloses objects, such as a nightstand with a drawer instead of an open shelf

• editing routinely

• designating a home for objects

• using coordinated bins on open shelves

• carefully curating decorative objects, with an emphasis on having fewer

For a great fresh start, declutter until you find that sweet spot for the level of visual clutter your brain can handle.

4. Interesting Product – Fresh Start Planning

My go-to source for paper pads is Levenger. Their designs are streamlined, and the paper is smooth and easy to write on. If you’re looking for a new way to capture and prioritize your thoughts, check out Levenger’s Think and Plan Priority Manager Pad.

The pad comes in two sizes with two columns and four sections. The left column is great for brainstorming and list-making. It includes:

• A ruled checklist

The right column is for prioritizing tasks using the Eisenhower method. It has three boxed sections for tasks:

• Urgent and important

• Urgent and not important

• Important and not urgent

Download your brain, sort your to-dos, and give yourself an organized way to focus on your new beginning.

“For a great fresh start, declutter until you find that sweet spot for the level of visual clutter your brain can handle.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

5. Interesting Thought – Fresh Start Magic

There’s something magical about fresh starts and new beginnings. You might feel hopeful, curious, excited, eager, joyful, empowered, or inspired. However, I’ve heard from many people recently that they’re having a very different experience. With the fresh start of the new year, they’re feeling anxious, apprehensive, pressured, disoriented, overwhelmed, or stuck.

Believe me, I get it. I’ve felt all of these ways at different points. On the one hand, I embrace and love a clean slate. It’s an opportunity for a reset and reimagining. Some years, like this past year, I just wasn’t ready to do ‘new.’ Instead, I was in the thick of finishing projects from the year, which overlapped with the time I typically review and plan.

Wherever you are right now, consider these possibilities:

• If you’re ready, let the wonder of a new year help you move forward.

• If you’re not ready, be gentle with yourself and ease the pressure to make big new plans for now.

Stay open to activating a fresh start (and its magical powers) at any time: a new day, month, or season.

The Fresh Start Advantage

There’s still time to make this first month of the new year work for you. Lean into the energy and newness of this season. Use the clean slate to your advantage.

Which of these discoveries resonates most with you? Which would you like to add? I’d love to hear your thoughts and invite you to join the conversation.

How Can I Help?

Do you feel overwhelmed, stuck, or disorganized? I’m here to help. Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – Local feel with a global reach.

Let’s talk. I’m easy to reach.

• Schedule a Discovery Call

• Fill out the Contact form

• Email me at linda@ohsorganized.com or

• Call 914-271-5673

Getting organized is possible, especially with a fresh start and compassionate support.

Recently, I reread the first blog post I wrote on waiting. As humans, waiting is something we do, yet we’re not always happy about it. We want things to happen quickly, effortlessly, and painlessly. However, things don’t often go that way. Our patience gets tested as waiting can be a challenging experience.

Maybe you’re working toward a big goal that might take months, years, or even decades. Perhaps your energy is low, and progress looks different from what it did earlier in your life. You might also lack clarity about your goal or what your next step will be.

Developing your internal resources, including patience, resilience, and agency, can be beneficial. You can also enlist help from external resources, such as haulers, handymen, trade specialists, a coach, a therapist, or a professional organizer like myself.

Progress is possible. Reaching your goals is doable. Gathering the resources to get there is essential.

Over the past few months, my husband and I have been working on some home projects. They have taken different amounts of time to complete, and some are still ongoing. The biggest obstacles were setting priorities and managing time constraints. To finish these projects, we had to decide that they were still important enough to pursue. Once we agreed on that, we scheduled the time to complete them. The scheduling was pivotal. Without planning and scheduling, nothing would have happened.

During the process, I reaffirmed and learned a few things. Hopefully, some of these will resonate with you and be useful as you pursue your goals and projects.

5 Life Lessons I Learned About Patience and Promising Progress

Life Lesson #1:  I can tolerate discomfort.

I love the final result when we improve our home. It’s hard for me to tolerate the temporary chaos that happens. Stuff gets pulled out of place, messes spread to multiple areas, and order and organization are disrupted.

I often tell my clients that things usually get worse before they get better. When you’re organizing a closet, for example, and things are pulled out, it doesn’t look great. But as you start editing, rerouting, discarding, and donating, clarity begins to emerge. Once you organize the “keepers,” everything looks and feels better. However, there's a tipping point in the middle of the project where discomfort can surface.

Even though I’m happy when we’re fixing things, I tend to feel more anxious and stressed when we’re in reno mode. That discomfort motivates me to finish what we started as soon as possible. Interestingly, I can easily handle disorder in spaces I don’t live in. But in my own home, I prefer a certain level of order, calmness, and predictability.

Although I prefer not to be uncomfortable, I am capable of tolerating discomfort. This is especially true when it’s temporary or for a good reason. Acknowledging this made me feel less stressed and more accepting of the chaos.

Life Lesson #2: I can transform temporary chaos into an opportunity to reimagine.

One of the benefits of taking things apart is having time to edit, question, and reimagine. We recently disrupted our entryway to spackle, paint, and do some electrical work. Doing that allowed me to let go of some things and reimagine the placement of certain items, like my Pez collection and one of the rugs.

I also felt inspired to repaint three of the cabinets. One is a big project, which I’ll wait to do in warmer weather. The other two cabinets will be done soon. Without being open to chaos and committing to the entryway project, these other projects might not move forward.

Chaos doesn’t have to be negative. It can be an opportunity to bring positive changes. The temporary chaos stirred my creativity and desire to make more improvements.

Life Lesson #3: I can finish what I start when I prioritize and plan.

This might seem obvious, but when you want to accomplish something, whether it’s organizing, home improvement, or changing a habit, dedicating time and energy to it is essential.

Deciding that something is a priority is the first step. This may involve temporarily setting other things aside while you focus your resources on the main goal. After all, you can accomplish a lot, but not all at once. Something has to give.

Once you've identified your priority, the next step is to schedule and plan dedicated time to work on it. For us, that meant working several evenings and weekends. Again, without blocking out specific calendar dates, it would not have been completed.

I can wish all I want, but without making it a priority and including it in a scheduled plan, it’s unlikely to happen. There is great potential and power in recognizing what I’m capable of when I prioritize and plan.

“I can tolerate discomfort.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

Life Lesson #4: I can feel the joy and satisfaction that come with progress.

Done is great, but so is progress. No goal happens with one step. Progress happens one step, one action, and one commitment at a time. When working on the renovation projects, Steve and I took a moment to appreciate the progress along the way.

Momentum is a powerful force. Taking action motivates you to do more. Experiencing progress encourages further movement. Progress is satisfying and joy-inducing.

Steve and I made sure to see, feel, talk about, and celebrate the progress we've made. It was no small feat to get some of these projects started. We embraced the positive feelings that came with making progress.

Do you know the expression, “Stop and smell the roses?” For this one, let’s pause and celebrate the progress. You took action and worked hard. Now, enjoy it!

Life Lesson #5: I can be awed by my bad-ass husband.

After 42 years of marriage, I am still amazed by my husband. He is a talented man who, among his many skills, knows how to cook, play the drums, coordinate large-scale architectural woodworking projects, and handle almost any type of home improvement or repair project. He’s also a devoted volunteer, a great listener, a wonderful father, and an incredible husband and life partner.

Whether he was finishing the glass tiles in the bathroom, doing electrical work, plumbing, cutting through walls, spackling the ceiling, or painting surfaces, he not only knew what to do but also had the right tools to do it. He also taught me how to do some things, so we could work together on projects. I love that!

I am constantly inspired by Steve’s work ethic, humanity, skills, design sense, dedication, and talent. He was willing to let go of perfection to do his best and finish projects. I’m grateful for and in awe of the incredible human he is. Thank you, Honey!

How Do Patience and Progress Manifest for You?

Patience, or the lack of it, is part of being human. In fact, impatience can sometimes drive progress. When you feel stuck, progress may seem out of reach. However, leaning into that urge to move forward and pushing your patience to its limit can be one way to make progress. Prioritizing and planning are also helpful. What helps you move ahead?

Which ideas resonate most with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

How Can I Help?

Are you ready to make progress? Do you feel overwhelmed, stuck, or disorganized? I’m here to help! Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – Local feel with a global reach.

Let’s talk. I’m easy to reach.

• Schedule a Discovery Call

• Fill out the Contact form

• Email me at linda@ohsorganized.com or

• Call 914-271-5673

Getting organized and making progress is possible, especially with support.

Does this sound familiar? Your mind is filled with a running list of tasks, places to visit, and projects to start (or finish). The thoughts swirling in your brain feel like one giant, cluttered mess.

It can be more challenging to concentrate, take action, or make progress because your ponderings are caught in thought loops. Simply thinking about the possibilities can leave you feeling anxious, exhausted, or demotivated.

Guess what? I’ve been there, too. It’s not that I don’t have task lists to manage, because I do. However, those tasks and events have already been prioritized, planned, and accounted for. They aren’t the issue, but the unaccounted-for ones are. Many of those items require coordination with my husband, Steve.

To clear my mind clutter, I engaged in a helpful process that I will share with you. If your cluttered thoughts have nowhere to go, I encourage you to experiment with this strategy.

The Process to Calm Mind Clutter

Step 1: Activate the Process

• This may seem obvious, but the first step is to schedule a time to actively work on clearing your mind clutter. This intentional act will help you move in a productive direction.

• Choose a time when you’re at your best. Steve and I decided to meet on a weekend morning after breakfast when we felt alert and well-rested.

Step 2: Do a Brain Download

• Release your thoughts, which will immediately clear your mind clutter. This clearing is analogous to decluttering a kitchen counter or editing an overflowing basket of magazines. Relief is felt as space opens up.

• The brain download can take many forms. Your capture tool can be analog, digital, or auditory. I used a blank piece of paper, which I titled “Planning with Steve.”

• Create categories if it’s helpful. I separated the page into four columns, each representing a different category: Papers/Logging, Fun, Home, and Financial.

• Populate your capture tool. As soon as a thought surfaced, we categorized and added it to the corresponding column. For example, “Visit the New York Botanical Garden” went into the Fun category. “Clear out the garage” was added to the Home column.

Step 3: Prioritize

• Your capture tool is probably quite full now. You might feel overwhelmed, as in, “How am I going to get it all done?” You can accomplish everything, but not all at once.

• Prioritizing comes next. Instead of planning every single thing you captured, select the top three or four things you want to focus on first.

• There is no right or wrong way to prioritize. For example, your priorities could be time-based if something has a specific deadline, or preference-based, as in what you’d like to accomplish or do first. We opted to prioritize several things from the Fun and Home categories.

Step 4: Commit

• Commitment is the powerhouse of the mind decluttering strategy. It is essential and is often neglected. Overlooking this aspect can make Steps 1-3 ineffective.

• Have your calendar ready.

• Choose one of the priorities you identified.

• Schedule a time block or blocks for that priority. We began by scheduling dates from the Fun category and then added a few projects from the Home category.

• Repeat choosing and scheduling until those three or four top priorities are blocked out on your calendar.

• We found it less overwhelming to focus on and schedule only the top few priorities. We will revisit this process and repeat Steps 3 and 4 once we have made progress on our initial priorities.

• As an alternate approach, you may prefer to schedule everything from your brain download list in one sitting.

“Commitment is the powerhouse of the mind decluttering strategy.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

The Benefits of Mind Decluttering

There are many benefits to clearing mind clutter. Here are some of the positives I experienced using this process:

• My mind feels clearer.

• While we utilized a team approach for mind decluttering, I also see value in using this strategy individually.

• The unproductive thought loops have ceased.

• That anxious feeling has dissipated.

• I feel less burdened by the projects and events because they now have a designated slot for attending to them.

• I am excited because we have set aside time to focus on things that are important to us.

• I feel confident that we will complete the tasks we prioritized.

• I am glad that projects that have been incomplete for a long time will now be brought to completion.

• I have happy anticipation about the fun things we’ve scheduled.

What Helps You Release Mind Clutter?

There are many ways to ease mind clutter, including the strategy I shared. What helps you declutter your mind? In what ways could the process I described be beneficial to you?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

How Can I Help?

Do you need support with organizing, editing, or decluttering your thoughts? I’d love to help! Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – Local feel with a global reach.

Please schedule a Discovery Call, email me at linda@ohsorganized.com, or call 914-271-5673. Living clutter-free is possible, especially with support.

When you read “leisure time,” what thoughts come to mind? Are you thinking, “What leisure time? I don’t have any free time!” Does downtime feel absent from your life because you’re constantly working, stressing, and feeling overwhelmed? If so, you’re not alone.

In 2014, Brigid Schulte, an award-winning journalist and bestselling author, introduced “time confetti” in her book Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time. Time confetti refers to fragmented pieces of free time that happen during the day. These moments are too brief to be productive or meaningful, and they spoil the downtime we do have.

Time confetti are “short, unenjoyable moments that end up stressing us out rather than relaxing us.” Frequent interruptions are typically due to technology or multitasking. Even if a disturbance seems minor, it reduces the quality of time off, which can lead to a feeling of constant busyness without a sense of accomplishment.

What is the Antidote to Time Confetti?

Strategies to balance the effects of time confetti revolve around reducing distractions and valuing and creating larger blocks of leisure and downtime. Some of Schulte’s suggestions include:

• Identify where time gets spent

• Prioritize what matters, including more leisure activities

• Lessen digital distractions

• Stop multitasking

• Delegate and share household responsibilities

• Schedule and protect leisure time

• Shift perception of busyness and success

What Does Leisure Time Look Like?

Several years ago, I jotted down a list that I rediscovered recently called “Help for those who do too much.” What’s interesting is it doesn’t specify what not to do. Instead, it focuses on creating more time to enjoy life. The list is relevant to this discussion, so I included it.

Siblings - Tod Machover and Linda Samuels

Help For Those Who Do Too Much:

• Taking time off

• Biking

• Connecting with family

• Kayaking

• Going to the beach

• Sleeping

• Waking up naturally (no alarms)

• Losing track of time (no watches)

“Schedule and protect leisure time.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

In the spirit of leaning into more downtime, I reserved two full days of fun this past weekend, which was so welcome.

Intentional Leisure Time Activities

• Spending time with family

• Exploring Manitoga, the house, studio, and 75-acre woodland garden of the mid-century designer Russell Wright

• Having a picnic

• Celebrating Father’s Day with my husband (Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads!)

• Going on a day trip

• Taking a scenic train ride in the Catskills (ice cream included)

Happy Father’s Day!

If your days and downtime are disjointed and overwhelming, gift yourself a present of being more intentional and protective of your leisure time. Eliminate distractions that disrupt your focus. Time is precious. Yes, we need to work and handle life’s necessities. We also need balance to the busyness and overwhelm that many of us feel. What helps you carve out downtime? What do you enjoy doing? What gets in your way? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

If you want help organizing your time so you can enjoy life more, email me at linda@ohsorganized.com, call 914-271-5673, or schedule a Discovery Call.  A life including downtime and fun is possible, especially with support.