For almost three decades, I’ve enthusiastically helped people edit and get organized. Recently, I’ve become my own client and leaned into some organizing self-help. My motivation to let go of the extraneous was partially influenced by this summer’s tiny house vacation. While I no longer am obsessed with moving into a tiny house, I want to live in our right-sized house, but with less stuff.

Our home isn’t disorganized or cluttered. Things have a place. My husband, Steve, and I can easily retrieve and return items to their designated ‘homes.’  However, there are belongings that have overstayed their welcome. Those are the things that have been stored for a long time and are no longer used, needed, or wanted. They are taking up physical and emotional space. Their time has come to move on.

After returning from vacation, I set a long-term goal to reduce the amount of stuff I own. My plan isn’t a detailed room-by-room-do-this-by-x-date proposition. It’s a low-pressure, loose plan. I added one simple daily repeat on my to-do list that says, “Edit & release some stuff.”  There is no expectation other than to do something. I spend 15-60 minutes editing what I feel like working on that day.

In the last two weeks, I edited and organized clothing, shoes, handbags, toiletries, cleaning products, paper goods, dishes, and glasses. Additional edits included candles, vases, office supplies, books, photos, cards, letters, memorabilia, personal and business files, and email inbox. These items were from the dining room, entryway, laundry room, kitchen, office, main bedroom, and bathrooms.

I let go of

• Five 13-gallon bags of trash

• Two 30-gallon bags of trash

• Two 30-gallon bags of clothing and home goods for donations

• One bag of books for donations

• One bag of paper for recycling

• One bag of paper for shredding

• One container of pens for a friend

Like with all experiments, come learning. My ‘edit & release some stuff’ plan is no exception. There will be more insights, but here are seven discoveries I made so far.

7 Best Organizing Self-Help Discoveries Made With My New Simple Plan

1. Track Your Progress

There are many ways to enjoy progress, but for me, tracking with a simple chart helps me review and acknowledge my accomplishments. I created a Word document with three columns- date, area worked on, and result. Taking photos or journaling can also be helpful.

2. Respect Random Approach

Typical organizing wisdom encourages us to organize one area before moving on to the next. I’ve shared that advice with many clients. However, as logical as that sounds, it’s not always possible or desirable. Clients sometimes get bored working in one area or encounter emotionally charged belongings they are not ready to organize. With my approach, I gifted myself the option for randomness. Instead of a specific plan of what to edit each day, I let myself choose more intuitively. Which area do I feel like working on today? It keeps the pressure low and the satisfaction high.

3. Honor Your Emotions

Is organizing emotional? It can be. While editing, I experienced a range of feelings like happiness, joy, sadness, ambivalence, resistance, frustration, annoyance, guilt, exhaustion, satisfaction, and love. I let my emotions have the space to surface. When editing my cards, I found a beautiful, love-filled note written by my mom for my 40th birthday. I felt sad that she is gone and simultaneously felt her love and encouragement. 

4. Trust the Exit

Honestly, if I wasn’t logging my progress and noting the stuff I said goodbye to, I wouldn’t remember what was gone. I have no regrets and don’t miss anything that I released. It feels good.

“It’s liberating to live with less.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO™

5. Live With Less

As each area or space is edited, I appreciate having less. For example, when I open the sticky note drawer, only my favorites are there, and the never-used ones are gone. When I get dressed, the clothes I like and wear most are in my closets and drawers. They have space to breathe, and it makes it easier for me to select what I’m going to wear. It’s liberating to live with less.

6. Rethink Your Space

One of the benefits of letting go is the opportunity to rethink your space. Having less visual and physical clutter makes it easier to improve flow and organization.  As I released stuff, I cleaned and asked a few questions. Is the space working as is? Or, could it use a slight tweak? Some areas were set. However, for others, I made improvements. For example, after the kitchen edit, I inserted freestanding cabinet shelves. This made use of wasted vertical space and also improved access to frequently used dishes.

7. Engage Self or Outside Help

While I’m making progress, I recognize the value of enlisting help. While I have released a lot, I’m pretty sure if someone supported and asked me questions as I edited, I’d let go of more. Help with facilitating decision-making is invaluable. For now, I continue to go it alone, coaching myself through the process. I will leave the door open to reach out for help if needed.

Have you been editing and organizing? Are you doing it on your own or did you get help? What did you learn? Did any of my discoveries resonate with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

Let’s just put it out there. Right now, we are all feeling so much uncertainty, stress, and anxiety. As a world community, we are facing times like none we have ever experienced. Each day a new COVID-19 announcement arrives in my inbox, letting me know what measures a retailer, bank, religious group, small business, or government is taking to navigate the pandemic. It’s a constantly changing situation. I have great admiration for many of the leaders that are doing their best to keep our communities, workers, neighbors, and families safe. It’s no easy task to know what to do or what will happen next. Because next is a fluid situation.

Initially, I thought this week would be the ideal time to offer you organizing strategies and suggestions to help you feel more prepared for next. That was my full intention when I woke up yesterday to write this piece. However, something interesting happened during the day. Instead of sitting down to write after meditating and eating breakfast, I spent the next several hours checking in with some family and friends.

The day was sunny and warm. After getting off the calls, I wasn’t ready to sit down to write. Instead, my husband and I went out for some fresh air and took a short walk in the woods.  Surprise, surprise, but next it was time for lunch. Even after lunch, I wasn’t ready to write. Instead, I went outside again and did some leaf raking and yard cleanup. I enjoyed the physical movement and warm sun. I checked in with a few more people by phone and email, ate a Yasso frozen yogurt pop (chocolate peanut butter…yum!), made some tea, and then sat to write. 

You might be wondering what happened to my day? What happened to the list of organizing strategies I was going to share? Why did I spend my time socially engaging (from afar,) being outside, and not writing first thing as I had planned?

I realized that while I could write a list of suggestions on how to organize during this time of anxiety and uncertainty, instead, I opted to share how I coped that day. Maybe some of these will resonate with you. I spent my time connecting with loved ones, meditating, enjoying nature, doing some physical activity, hanging out with my husband, and then writing. I am guessing that for many of you, it’s a day-by-day experience with figuring out the best way for your days to flow. We are in uncharted territory.

We’ve been receiving tons of updates and notices in our inboxes about coping with the pandemic. I’m not going to add to your lists with links and more suggestions. Instead, I offer you a moment of calm during this time of anxiety. I encourage you to look for the beauty that is around you- the spring arriving, a kind gesture from a stranger, a call from a concerned friend, or the soothing sip from your hot cup of tea. Breathe in. Breathe out. Repeat.

How are you coping? What is helping you navigate the uncertainty of next? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Stay safe. Stay healthy. I invite you to join the conversation.

Have ever tried to change a habit like putting your keys in a designated spot, being punctual, eating more vegetables, cutting out sweets, reducing your digital device dependency, or pausing before saying “yes” to requests? If so, you know how hard a habit change can be. You often start out determined and mindful, yet can get quickly derailed when you’re stressed, discouraged, or distracted.  I’ve personally experienced the trials and tribulations around my own habit changes. As a professional organizer, I support my clients’ change of habits, environments, and transitions during their getting organized journeys and see firsthand how much effort lasting change takes.

When you practice and repeat the behavior you desire, it becomes a habit. Most experts agree that simple habit changes generally take 21 days to establish, while more challenging ones such as weight loss or mindfulness practice can take at least six months.

 A while ago, I took a habit change course from the insightful psychologist and author, Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. He is co-founder of the Center for Mindful Living in Los Angeles. I appreciate his direct approach. In the seminar, he described six habits that lead to lasting change, which I will share with you. 

6 Helpful Habits That Will Boost Lasting Change

1. Relax

When you are relaxed, your focus, learning, thinking, and decision-making improves. These conditions create an environment that is conducive to lasting change. Develop awareness around feeling relaxed. Notice when you brace. Does it happen at specific times of the day or when you are around certain people? When you find yourself bracing, soften your body. In turn, it will relax and soften your brain.

2. Mindfulness & Focus

Practicing mindfulness reduces mind busyness, improves the clarity of thoughts, and increases productivity and the ability to focus. One way to practice mindfulness is to single-task. If you are doing an email, just email. If you are eating, just eat. If you are exercising, only exercise. Developing mindful awareness will be a benefit to the changes you seek.

3. Trust in Yourself

Self-compassion and forgiveness grow your emotional intelligence. When you trust yourself, it will quiet your inner critic, improve your sense of self-worth, and increase your resilience when you encounter obstacles. Take self-compassion breaks. Understand what you need to self-soothe. Forgive yourself for regressions, remain curious, and invite yourself to begin again. The route to new habits is not a straight path.

4. Savor

Positive emotions like joy, gratitude, and awe increase resiliency during challenging moments, improve physical health and increase happiness. Take joy breaks by savoring the good moments. Practice gratitude by making a daily list of things like the health of your family, lying down in your cozy bed, feeling the sun warm your body, or thinking about the loved ones in your life. Practice relational joy, which is witnessing other people experiencing good moments. Mentally send encouraging thoughts to them.

5. Accept Change

There will be ups and downs when it comes to change. Accepting the undulating pattern will help you get unstuck sooner, be more grateful at the highs, and more graceful at the lows. Stay present-focused. Get perspective on what matters right now. This will help you align actions with intentions.

6. Connect

Feeling connected is often the missing piece to sustaining change. When you are connected to others, you will feel naturally inspired to change, receive more support and accountability for your habits, and learn from others. A coach, mentor, family, or friend can be in your connection circle. Increase your sense of connection and positive emotions through journaling or doing loving-kindness meditation. When you visualize the link you have with others, you actually feel the connection. Do a relationship inventory. Think about the top ten people you are in contact with most frequently and rate them from one to ten. Ask, “Does this person inspire me to make positive changes in my life?”

The hidden success driver to make lasting change comes from not going it alone. Seek regular, ongoing guidance and accountability from a group, coach, family member, or friend. What helps you create positive habits? Do any of these ideas resonate with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to leave a comment and join the conversation.

We’ve all heard of, and some of us actually use to-do lists. They help us focus on our daily priorities, better manage our time, and increase our productivity.  Using these lists gives us an added benefit. We experience an endorphin rush, a ping of happy hormones when we cross off a completed task.

To-do lists are great, but have you considered making a to-don’t  list? In the article, 12 Things to Put on Your “To-Don’t” list Today, Marina Khidekel, editorial director at Thrive Global suggests adding to this list, “what you don’t actually need in your life, and which areas you can scale back on. The items on your to-don’t list are the tasks you should avoid for the sake of your focus, performance, and well-being.” Below are several to-don’ts Marina shared from the Thrive Global community:

Thrive Global Community’s To-Don’t List

• Don’t finish a book or movie you don’t enjoy

• Don’t do tasks that can be delegated

• Don’t work late all of the time

• Don’t go to every social event you’re invited to

• Don’t spend time with negative people

While my to-don’ts still reside in my brain, there are time management and productivity to-don’ts in addition to the ones mentioned above that I have on my internal list. 

Linda’s To-Don’t List:

• Don’t check my email when I first wake up

• Don’t let my priorities always come last

• Don’t show up late without letting the person know I’m running behind schedule

• Don’t automatically say “yes” to a request without considering if it’s feasible given my current schedule and commitments

• Don’t make an appointment without entering it on my calendar

• Don’t return from vacation, shopping, or the day and not put away my things

• Don’t leave the house without my watch unless it’s a no-watch-day

• Don’t worry about things that may never happen

• Don’t work continuously without taking water, bio, nature, or snack breaks

• Don’t wish away time

• Don’t rush through life

As I develop my to-don’t list, I’ll continue to add ideas. Do you have a to-don’t list? Do you see a value to creating one? Even if you haven’t made a list yet, what single item would you include? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Join the conversation!