The latest installment (v30) of the “What’s Interesting?” feature is here with my recent discoveries that inform, educate, and relate to organizing and life balance. I’ve included unique and inspiring, change-related finds, which reflect this month’s blog theme.

You are a wonderfully generous, warm, and engaged group. I am deeply appreciative and grateful for your 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? . . .

1. Interesting Read – Motivational Change

Making a change can be challenging enough. When we understand what motivates us and why we can create an environment for success in our lives.  In The Motivation Code – Discover the Hidden Forces That Drive Your Best Work, Todd Henry, author, consultant, and creative, shares research that identifies twenty-seven unique motivational themes that drive us. We each have a specific combination of motivation drivers that can be discovered by taking the MCODE assessment. Todd says, “Your Motivation Code is not intended to be worn like a name tag. It is meant to help you better understand why you are driven to achieve certain outcomes, and the unique opportunities that accompany those drives.” If you feel challenged by change and motivation, your insights from reading this book and taking the assessment will be valuable. As Todd says, “Operating within what naturally drives us allows us to work toward the outcomes we most crave.”

2. Interesting Resource – Clever Change

The pandemic has accentuated the need to have rooms serve multiple purposes. An eating space, living room, or bedroom is also an office, meeting, or learning space. Having furniture that is functional, well designed, and easily transformable for your needs sounds too good to be true. Not anymore! Expand Furniture in Canada has an impressive collection that changes coffee tables into desks, ottomans into extra chairs, desks into dining tables, and many more options. The only downside is that I’m now addicted to watching their YouTube channel. 

“If you’re ready to change your attitude about the cold, focus on ‘koselig,’ a Norwegian strategy for thriving in winter.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO

3. Interesting Article  – Mood Change

With the pandemic, various quarantine levels, and winter’s cold, short days, many of us feel unsettled. In a recent Forge article, The Norwegian Philosophy of Thriving in Winter, James Ware shares the Norwegians’ secret for creating a positive mindset in winter. They focus on koselig, which is “a sort of shared, safe togetherness.” It’s a feeling of warmth and safety that can “describe a house, a situation, a meal, a conversation, or a person.” It’s similar to the word, cozy, or the Danish concept, hygge. Psychologist Kari Leibowitz researched the winter mindset. Ware shared her thoughts and said, “the koselig mindset is about making the best out of a bad situation.”  If you’re ready to change your attitude about winter, try one of the suggestions: create a cozy ecosystem at home and with people, find creative ways to be social, be in nature, and reach out to help someone else.

4. Interesting Season – Organizational Change

The cold temperatures, mounds of snow, and pandemic likely means you are spending more time inside than out. Are you working from home, helping your kids learn remotely, and trying to carve out some personal time? Is your home feeling cozy and supportive or chaotic and disorganized? Winter is a great time to set your organizing goals, declutter the extraneous, and create the calm at home that you deserve. Change is possible, especially with support. If you are struggling, enlist help from a compassionate and non-judgmental friend, family member, or professional organizer like me. I’m ready to help. Discover how virtual organizing can work for you. Let’s talk. Call 914-271-5673 or email me at linda@ohsoorganized.com.

5. Interesting Thought – Fear of Change

Let’s face it. Change can feel scary. Our fear can be paralyzing. However, I’ve noticed from personal and client experiences how our fear exaggerates the actual change. Fear isn’t a bad emotion. As a matter of fact, it’s present to warn us of danger and to take a specific action. When we move away from the familiar and comfortable, we can be afraid. Recognizing that growth and positive change are available to you on the other side can help normalize your feelings and move you forward despite your fear. 

What are your interesting finds? Which of these resonate with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

For years, possibly decades, I spoke with my mom at least once a day. Over time, as her dementia worsened, the phone was no longer a viable way to communicate. I miss our conversations. Our calls frequently were about the people we loved and the time spent together. She’d say, “That’s the good stuff!”  She always communicated a deep sense of gratitude for her family, friends, music, art, and the preciousness of time. 

As the world begins to start, pause, and restart, so much uncertainty and distress exist. What life will look like a month or year from now is impossible to know. Yet, each day we forge forth with work, family, projects, and life. We move ahead despite the considerable uncertainty. It can feel exhausting, overwhelming, or scary. In your mix of doing, are you making time to notice and embrace the “good stuff?”

What is on your “good stuff” list? Here are some of mine:

• Waking up each morning

• Opening my eyes after meditating 

• Taking the first sip of coffee from my favorite mug

• Holding hands with my husband

• Hearing the sound of rain hitting the window panes

• Walking by the river

• Hugging my daughter, especially after being apart for six months

• Baking lemon blueberry muffins

• Picking herbs from my mini garden

• Capturing images of people, places, and nature with my camera

• Swimming in my friend’s pool

• Hearing birds sing

• Touching a very soft blanket

• Sitting quietly

• Biting into a big, juicy piece of watermelon

• Writing with my favorite pen

• Watching the leaves rustle in the breeze

• Having a conversation (phone, Zoom, or in-person) with a friend or loved one

• Relaxing in the hammock

• Eating a chocolate brownie Yasso pop

• Seeing my client experience an “ah-ha” moment during their virtual organizing session

• Writing in my journal

• Watching a good movie, or even a bad one

• Kayaking on any river

• Discovering new tomatoes growing on my cherry tomato plant

• Being still during the last ten minutes of yoga class

• Discovering vibrantly colored flowers

• Reading a good book

• Learning something new

• Getting into bed at the end of the day

“In your mix of doing, are you making time to notice and embrace the good stuff?”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®

Time is a gift. Some of our time will be spent navigating the daily doings of life. Included with responsibilities and commitments are also those things that make your heart sing. Or, as my mom would say, “the good stuff.” What is one thing you include on your list? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation!

Clutter appears in different forms like physical clutter, which shows up in our possessions and space. There is also clutter that appears in the mind, body, and soul. Each type of clutter looks and feels different. Effective decluttering requires various strategies depending on where you are focused. There are no rules here. Sometimes when we organize our physical clutter first, the positive emotional benefits we receive make it easier to care for other aspects of our well-being. At other times, it’s essential to nurture our mind or body first so that we can manage the physical clutter in our lives. There is no right, wrong, or singular way. It might be easier if there were one way, but since you are unique, your needs and process will be too. How will you declutter your life in a way that feels authentic?

To spark your thoughts about decluttering, I’m sharing five ideas with you for decluttering stuff, space, mind, body, and soul. As you read them, notice if any resonate with you. Or do other ideas come to mind?

5 Authentic Ways to Declutter Your Life 

1. Declutter Stuff by Shredding

There is something cathartic about shredding old papers. It’s a physical and visceral experience to feed outdated documents into the machine. As you watch and hear them rip to pieces, you are physically letting go. Recently, I edited and shredded two years of old tax back-up documents. They were ready to go because they were older than the seven years from the date of the filing requirement. I also thinned out and shredded some additional business and personal documents. Seeing the big bags of shredded papers exit the house on recycling day was incredibly satisfying. I felt lighter and less burdened by the past. The positive sense made me want to do more, and I know I will.

2. Declutter Space By Releasing

As you know, for the last few months, I’ve been offering virtual organizing only because of the pandemic. If this is something you are interested in trying, let me know, and we can set-up a VO session. With one VO client, I’ve been helping her regain space in her bedroom. For a variety of reasons, her clothing was overwhelming her room. Instead of having a peaceful, calm place, the piles, bags, and boxes were dominating the space. It’s a work in progress that’s going beautifully. I support her as she makes decisions about what to keep, donate, or discard. Each time we work together, we see the progress, as she lets go, declutters, and gets her space closer to what she envisions.

3. Declutter Mind By Conversing

We all have mind clutter. Our thoughts can be filled with worry, self-doubt, fear, and sadness. When those thoughts overtake us, it’s hard to focus on anything positive. One of the things that help is releasing those ideas by talking with trusted friends or loved ones. I have a standing weekly Zoom call with a small group of girlfriends. We go around the room and share parts of our week. We talk about our successes, challenges, worries, concerns, and observations. We support one another as we navigate this unprecedented time of change and uncertainty. After our calls, my mind feels clearer (yes, decluttered), calmer, and darn grateful for this generous group of women.

“One of the ways I declutter my being is by soaking in nature’s beauty.”

— Linda Samuels

4. Declutter Body by Honoring

It’s easy to hold tension in our bodies. We are often unaware that we’re doing it until our shoulders, jaws, or backs begin aching, crying out in pain. Perhaps we forget to move away from our screens and are sitting too long without a break. Worry, stress or fear can manifest itself physically in our bodies. This happens to me. However, I have four regular habits that help me return and attend to my body in a caring way. They are my body decluttering practices- mindfulness meditation, yoga, walking, and showering. Each of these encourages awareness of physical conditions and sensations. They remind me to soften, adjust, and attend.

5. Declutter Soul By Engaging

One of the ways I declutter my being is by soaking in nature’s beauty. Each season is magnificent, but there is something downright magical about spring. If you followed me on one of my walks, you’d catch me sneaking up on some flowers. You would see me lower my mask and stick my nose in the lilacs, viburnum, and other blooms to take in their sweet scents. You would find me outside digging in the dirt and planting colorful flowers in our ceramic pots. If you followed me on a walk, you’d find me meandering in the woods, walking along the river, or being still as I listened to the birds singing or watched the water flow. Engaging with nature declutters the deepest corners of my soul. I am enveloped by lightness and calm after spending time outdoors.

There are many ways to declutter your stuff, space, mind, body, and soul. Are there any areas that want your attention? What is one of your go-to decluttering strategies? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

Success is such a personal thing, even when it comes to organizing success. We view and define it differently. Some of us are excessively hard on ourselves and barely allow any acknowledgment of success or progress.

Sometimes we’re so focused on our goal that we rush through the tiny successes along the way, barely noticing them. What I see most often with clients is how overwhelmed, especially at the beginning of a large organizing project, can color their definition and expectation of success. In those situations, “completely done” is what success means to them, and until that happens, they remain in a very negative place. As I said, success is personal. We experience it differently.

What does organizing success look and feel like for you?

While I recognize that we each define organizing success differently, when working with clients, I help them celebrate and acknowledge the small successes along the way. Because let’s be honest. No project gets done in one simple stroke. Projects only get done by working consistently over time, piece by piece, and by changing some habits and behaviors in the process. It’s essential to cheer yourself on, do a happy dance, or shout out some “woohoos!” with each small success. These will help you relive the success and propel you forward for more success. You’ve heard this before, and it’s worth repeating: Success breeds more success.

Remember that organizing success has a range in what it looks like. Here are some recent client and personal organizing successes that have brought about high fives, big sighs, and huge smiles:

• Editing a box of old papers

• Labeling toy bins

• Deciding to let go

• Creating a resource list for an organizing project

• Decluttering the corner of a living room

• Clearing and organizing papers and “stuff” from kitchen surfaces

• Packing for an upcoming trip

• Preparing tax information for accountant

• Unpacking and organizing the last few boxes from a recent move

• Editing and organizing child’s clothing closet

• Handling daily incoming mail

• Hiring an onsite shredding company to shred decades worth of papers

• Organizing a pile of papers from the office desk

• Making a to-do list for a massive organizing project

• Organizing past event papers into accessible files

• Seeing donates, trash, and recycling taken away by hauling company

• Hiring professional organizer to help with an organizing project

What does organizing success look and feel like for you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation.