The latest installment (v31) of the “What’s Interesting?” feature is here with my newest discoveries informing, educating, and relating to organizing and life balance. I’ve included unique and inspiring, clutter-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? - 5 Clutter-Related Finds

1. Interesting Read – Extreme Clutter

Are you curious about hoarding behavior, chronic disorganization, and how to help yourself or a loved one be safe in a cluttered space? In Filled Up and Overflowing – What to do when life events, chronic disorganization, or hoarding go overboard, Diane Quintana, CPO-CD® and Jonda Beattie, M.Ed, professional organizing colleagues and authors, share their and their clients’ experiences and insights through poignant stories. They describe how to distinguish hoarding behavior from other types of disorganization and clutter, describe effective strategies, and include valuable resources. Diane and Jonda write about the importance of being respectful when helping. They suggest, “Ask permission before touching anything, opening any drawer, cupboard, or closet…before moving anything – even a small piece of paper or a box that is in the way.” They explain that the movement can cause distress. “Even though it looks like random stacks of stuff to you, they know where their possessions are and will become panicked if they cannot find them.” If you are a professional, a family member, or friend of someone challenged by hoarding behavior and want to help, this is an essential go-to guide.

2. Interesting Trend – Aesthetic Clutter

Photo by #thecluttercore (Instagram)

Have you heard of cluttercore? It is a relatively new design aesthetic trend from pop culture that first gained attention on TikTok. Cluttercore is now visible on other social media platforms, too, like Instagram and Twitter. Search #cluttercore to see a variety of visuals. You’ve heard of the minimalist aesthetic and movement. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Marianne Eloise describes cluttercore as maximalist, a “messy, actually lived-in lifestyle.” It’s a rejection of minimalism. Eloise says, “it’s a stuff-centric aesthetic however, it has little in common with careless hoarding.” Cluttercore rooms look cozy, lived in, and filled with lots of “artfully arranged,” carefully chosen things. As the enthusiast Micah describes, “Cluttercore is in no way a promotion of unhealthy hoarding of material objects and garbage, but rather an appreciation of things we can call our own.”

“Spring is a great season to declutter the extraneous.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO™

3. Interesting Podcast  – Thing Clutter

In this podcast episode “Things,” WNYC’s Radiolab hosts Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich (since retired) discuss “things you can hold and things that can take hold of you.”  During this personal conversation, they talk about objects, their relationship to them, and the thought process for keeping or letting them go. The dialogue is reminiscent of the decision-making conversations I’ve had with clients as they talk and decide about the clutter in their lives.

4. Interesting Season – Declutter Clutter

With temperatures warming, thinner layers of clothing, and flowers blooming, this is an inspirational moment to let go, de-stress, and get organized. Spring is a great season 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 and why my clients love it so much. Let’s talk. Call 914-271-5673 or email me at linda@ohsoorganized.com.

5. Interesting Thought – Mind Clutter

Clutter isn’t just reserved for the physical stuff we own. We can also experience mind clutter, which makes it hard to think clearly and focus. Some of my favorite mind decluttering strategies include:

• Doing a brain download with a pen and paper

• Taking a walk in nature

• Practicing mindfulness meditation

• Organizing a small space or area. The reduction of physical clutter can result in less mental clutter.

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.

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.

When it comes to habits, we have some keepers, our good practices, and those less desirable or bad ones we’d like to see gone. Maintaining good ones and altering bad ones can be challenging. However, with some help and understanding about the science of habit formation and habit loops, it’s possible to make the changes you want.  When I think about my positive habits, they include meditating daily, walking in nature, and staying organized. Some of my less desirable habits are not getting enough exercise, eating too many sweets, and not planning meals. Can you relate to any of these?

There are two authors I’ve featured on the blog who wrote insightful and inspiring books about habit change. To learn more, click on the links below:

• The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

• Atomic Habits by James Clear

If you need help letting go of your bad habits, begin here. The folks at Quill just released an easy-to-understand infographic How to Reframe Bad Habits to Boost Your Productivity (see below) based on Charles Duhigg’s book The Power of Habit. The graphic concisely explains habit formation, habit change, and the three habit loop components- cue, routine, and reward. It also highlights the most common habits that can negatively affect your productivity and what to do about them. 

How to Reframe Bad Habits to Boost Your Productivity | Quill.com

As Charles Duhigg says,

“Transforming a habit isn’t necessarily easy or quick. It isn’t always simple. But it is possible. And now we understand how.”

Have you had success or challenges with habit change? Have you ever enlisted help to change a habit? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

For my clients, the most challenging aspect of the organizing process is letting go. The desire for organization, calm, peace, and having less stuff is real. But the process for getting “there,” especially during the editing phase can cause strong emotions like fear, anxiety, or paralysis. Have you or someone you know encountered this?

Why is it so hard to let go? How can we make the process less painful and more positive?

Our stuff represents many things including:

• Who I once was

• Who I hope to be

• Places I’ve been

• People I’ve loved

• Projects I want to do

• Projects I’ll never do

• Things I love

• Things received and never looked at again

• Right purchases

• Wrong purchases

• Gifts received

• Gifts to be given

• Broken parts waiting to be repaired

• Unidentified parts

• Clothing I wear

• Clothing I’ll never wear

The list goes on and on. 

So when we begin to face our stuff and decide what is essential to keep like the “spark joy” and practical items and let go of the things that have overstayed their welcome, choosing can be more difficult than we anticipated. You might experience heightened emotions, resistance, or avoidance. All of these are entirely normal.

Just because it’s hard, doesn’t mean you can’t let go. It only indicates that you might need some strategies for navigating the turbulent waters. 

8 Helpful Tips for Letting Go More Easily

1. Clarify Why 

As I mentioned above, emotions can hijack our decision-making ability, so having a clear picture of why we want to let go is crucial. Are you downsizing? Are you about to welcome a new family member to your home? Is your clutter preventing you from inviting people over? Get clear around your why.  When you’re feeling challenged with letting go, revisit your why. It will keep you motivated and focused.

2. Reach Out

Sometimes it’s better not to go it alone. If you’re struggling, it can be beneficial to enlist help from a friend, family member, or professional organizer like me. Look for someone who is nonjudgmental, compassionate, energetic, and can keep you focused on your objectives.

3. Pace Yourself

Recognize that making decisions takes mental and physical energy. Too many decisions can cause decision fatigue, which can deteriorate the quality of your choices. Be mindful of how you’re feeling. Take breaks as needed by getting some fresh air, having a snack, sipping a drink, or taking a bio break. Remove yourself from the area and then come back refreshed.

4. Set Boundaries

If you have a lot of editing to do, especially if you’re preparing for a move or rightsizing, set goals for how much time you want to spend editing and letting go each day. Experiment with what works best for you. Use a timer and stop when it dings. At the next session either reduce or add time considering how that previous letting go sitting went.

5. Prepare Setting

Make letting go as easy as possible by making your supplies readily accessible. Have bags, boxes, bins, tape, sticky notes, markers, pens, a pad of paper available to contain and label the items that will be donated, sold, or discarded. The key is to have things exit quickly, ideally the same day if that’s realistic. If the same day is not an option, set up a waiting area for the items that will be leaving. 

6. Safe Passage

Being able to donate or give your belongings to a person or resource that will appreciate and benefit from them can ease the letting go stress. This gives your things an easier exit or safe passage. It’s worth making a list of resources that you will feel good giving things away to. The list can include friends, family, local or national charities. I am a resource collector. Sharing these with my clients is involved in the organizing services that I provide. If you need a specific type of donation resource, let me know. I’m happy to help.

7. Just Do It

I know that Nike coined that phrase, but it’s a good one to keep in mind especially when your resistance surfaces. The amazing thing is that the more you exercise your letting go muscles, the more relaxed and less painful the process becomes. Action breeds success. Success encourages progress. Progress gets you from where you are to where you want to be. Trust the power of action, even if it’s one small step. Don’t deliberate. Do.

8. Be Patient

It’s easy to get discouraged when you spent three hours sorting and editing, yet there’s still so much more to do. This is how it is. Be patient with the process. You collected your things over a lifetime. Editing them won’t take a lifetime, but it will take some time. Keep your big goal in mind, be kind to yourself along the way, release the “coulda, woulda, shoulda” and continue on until you’ve let go of enough. You determine what enough looks like.

What have you encountered with letting go? Do you have a favorite strategy that’s helpful? Do any of these resonate with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.