Time passes with the ticking of the clock. We measure our lives in seconds, hours, years, and decades. We also feel the passage of time by marking life’s milestones. Where does our time go? More importantly, what are you doing with the time you have? We prioritize our lives intentionally through what we choose to do or not do. When you think about how you prioritize your days, what comes up?

Are you spending time with people who make you happy? Are you working on projects that fulfill you? Are you caring for others and neglecting your self-care? Are you making time to reflect, learn, and grow? Are you organizing the aspects of your life that prevent you from living your best self?

As a professional organizer, I help my clients work through their organizational challenges and hiccups to get unstuck and create a better flow. Getting organized isn’t their end goal. Being organized creates a smooth base, so they have more time to focus on what is truly important to them. We remove the organizational chaos to make space for life’s joys.

In the process of becoming organized, life doesn’t stop. There will be many significant moments to celebrate. Lean into the joys life offers. Take time for the quiet moments of beauty, like when the sun first rises in the morning or the colorful pops of summer flowers grace the landscape. Appreciate life’s significant milestones like graduations, weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries. Celebrate and treasure them.

“We prioritize our lives intentionally through what we choose to do or not do.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

Feeling so grateful today for this celebratory weekend. Our youngest daughter turned 30. My husband, Steve, and I are celebrating our 39th anniversary. And to all the wonderful dads, here’s to the vital role you play in our children’s lives. Wishing you a Happy Father’s Day!

Time passes. Notice moments, celebrate milestones, and embrace all life’s love, happiness, and joy.

How do you spend your time? What are you celebrating now? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

It’s a transition time as we shift from spring to summer. While it’s officially not summer yet, school has ended or is about to. Graduation parties and celebrations are in full swing, vacation plans, and summer camp arrangements are happening, and many of us want a change of pace. Life is full. There are times when days fly by with one thing after the next. No breaks, just a continual tempo of go, go, going. Does that sound familiar?

I strike a reasonable balance between doing and not doing on most days. However, my strong internal motivation makes it challenging to feel OK with not achieving, accomplishing, or moving the newest project forward. I recognize the importance of rest. I’m not talking about sleep. We definitely need sleep to function well. The rest I’m referring to is a pause or break. Taking a short time away from your schedule can significantly improve your state of mind. Meditate, sit in the sun, listen to the fountain water flowing, or watch the grasses moving in the breeze. If you continually go without stopping, you’ll burn out. What’s the point of that? Is it time for a pause?

This transition period can cause overwhelm and stress from the demands of your to-do lists, commitments, and lack of time. I’m sharing a personal journal entry I wrote recently about the value of the pause. During a retreat led by my wonderful friend and colleague, Yota Schneider, she guided us in a group meditation and offered a prompt about “What does your ship need?” We did a ‘free write,’ reflecting on what came up during the quiet.

LINDA’S JOURNAL ENTRY

A few thoughts were prompted by these things- my ‘wander’ coffee mug, being on the water in a kyack without my life preserver, and the desire to float.

Leaving the port or landing, I headed up the river in the bright fuschia-colored kyack. Low to the water, I paddled upstream and noticed I had no life preserver. I always wear one, but not this time.

I kept paddling and then stopped to float. The sun warmed me as the gentle breeze created a beautiful counterbalance- keeping my skin at a ‘just right’ temperature.

I was there on the river as I floated, doing nothing, going nowhere in particular. Enjoying the being-ness of being. I thought of my ‘wander’ mug that I love sipping my morning coffee from on certain days. The cup isn’t picked on the highly scheduled days. On those days, it's likely the ‘be curious’ mug I choose. But on my float days, ‘wander’ is the cup of choice.

So as I drifted without paddling, feeling the warm sun and the gentle breeze, I knew deep within my soul that it was my desire, my intense desire not only to NOT do but to be completely content not doing or accomplishing or seeking.

It was a float day. It was a time of wander, a time to just be present as my kyack, this soothing vessel helped me journey on this much-needed pause.

“If you continually go without stopping, you’ll burn out.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO

Is it time for a break? What value would that have? What does a great pause feel like to you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

It’s fascinating how big changes are made. They start with small, almost unnoticeable habit shifts. On your journey to be free of clutter, you donate a bag of rarely worn clothes or edit and clear the pile of unsorted mail from your kitchen counter. These tiny, single actions can bring about significant changes when consistency and support are added to your effort. 

The other aspect of making meaningful changes is the need for time and mental energy to make them happen. When you’re preoccupied, running as fast as you can to keep up, or emotionally exhausted, change is the last thing on your mind. You can’t stop your life to make a change. Instead, to integrate new habits, it’s essential to create space in your life for prioritizing the change you desire. 

In the last several years, I’ve experienced many emotional energy pulls. These included taking care of my mom with dementia, saying my final good-byes to her last March, grieving, navigating the pandemic’s effects on my organizing business, and preparing for and having our youngest daughter’s wedding at our home during the pandemic. Despite these emotional highs and lows, I’ve found focused intervals to bring about changes in my life. Admittedly, many of these changes came into being when I had more mental energy to give them.

Coincidentally, the three anchors/words, which rhyme, kept me motivated and focused on my desired changes. They are Zoom, Noom, and Room.

While these specific ideas might not be on your change radar, I encourage you to consider which words are. Which anchors will help you pursue the changes you seek? How will you make the space and time for change to flourish?

3 Hopeful Ideas Motivated Big Changes in My Life Which Can Help You Too

1. Zoom

Communication, relationships, and community are some of my treasured values. When the pandemic arrived, many communication networks halted. Most in-person contact was suspended. I couldn’t visit with family, friends, colleagues, or clients. Sure I still had the phone, text, and email, but physical contact was limited and non-existent for extended periods.

Using Zoom became an incredible go-to tool that helped me slowly change and think about how I interacted, did business, and stayed socially active. I’m guessing that many of you are Zoomed-out, but for me, Zoom continues to be a viable way for navigating life and keeping connected with people. 

I embraced communication changes and used Zoom to-

• Have bimonthly family meetings aka ‘SamFam Zoom’

• Host parties and gatherings for cocktails, New Year’s Eve, and Thanksgiving

• Attend comedy events, yoga class, Shivas, Seders, religious services, retreats, cook-offs, bonfires, and breakfasts

• Enjoy virtual ‘coffee dates’ with family and friends

• Continue my professional development

• Add to my certifications becoming a Certified Virtual Professional Organizer (CVPO™)

• Engage in organizing conferences, business meetings, and networking

• Present organizing workshops

• Pivot my business and help clients through virtual organizing

Zoom provided a channel to nurture and develop relationships, shift my organizing business, learn, and teach. While most in-person activities are now possible as many pandemic restrictions lift, Zoom still remains a viable way for me to stay connected. The platform allowed me to be flexible during these last few years, quickly embrace change, and support what I value most.

2.  Noom

Being healthy is a top priority for me. While I had some healthy practices like meditating daily and eating lots of fruits and vegetables, I wanted to change other habits. For what seems like a bazillion years, one of my goals has been to ‘lose 10 pounds.’ I’ve never been a dieter and didn’t like the idea of going on a diet. Instead, about five years ago, I saw a tremendously helpful nutritionist. She gave me a better understanding of what foods and portions were best for me. Over eight months, I lost 15 pounds. But then, in time, I gained it back and more.  The ongoing support was vital, and the difference was noticeable when I stopped seeing her.

Do you remember how I spoke about having the time and mental energy to bring about change? It takes focused effort to make eating and other lifestyle changes. When my mom died, I was emotionally exhausted. It took me months to get my energy back. When it returned, I felt ready to refocus on my health and make some changes.

In September, I signed up for Noom. It’s a weight loss app with a psychology-based approach to “help you change not just how you eat, but how you think.” It’s well-designed and simple to use. The app with built-in accountability helps me keep daily food logs, understand my calorie budget, track water intake, daily exercise, and weight. You are assigned a personal Coach and receive short articles every day, which encourage, motivate, and explain the psychology of habits.

While I’m still working towards my target goal, in five months, I have lost 18.5 pounds, I’m drinking 9 glasses of water a day, and walking an average of 10,000 steps a day. There have been other changes such as losing many inches around my body, clothing fitting better, feeling more energetic, learning new skills, and knowing I have a doable life-changing plan that’s working.

A bonus surprise was my husband signed up for Noom with me. He’s made incredible changes, and I’m so proud of him. We support one another, which is invaluable.

With any significant life change, it’s essential to have ongoing support, whether an app, person, Coach or all of those. If you’re curious about Noom, click here to learn more.

What do you need to bring about the habit changes you desire?

“Big changes start with small actions.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO™

3. Room

This last idea is about creating both physical and mental space in your life to feel calm, have room to think, and live with less stress. These changes were worth pursuing, and I have worked years to get there. For me, there is the physical manifestation, which comes in the form of an uncluttered home filled with colors, textures, and scents that soothe and delight. 

One of the goals I worked on last summer into fall, inspired by our vacation staying in a tiny house, was my ‘live with less’ project. While I had lots of stuff, I recognized I didn’t need or want it all. I started randomly going through drawers, closets, and files to let go of unnecessary things. It was cathartic and surprising how much stuff exited. I don’t miss anything.

The other part of ‘room’ is making space for your mental well-being. For me, that’s having quiet time, finding cozy spots to write, journal, or read, spending time in nature, exploring and photographing, meditating, or doing yoga. It’s making room for self-care and carving out time to feed my soul.

Especially with all that has happened in the world and the ongoing challenges, making time to replenish yourself is critical. It’s all too easy to get derailed by a crisis near or far. Our bodies are not designed to sustain continual stress.

What would it take to make room for you? What changes will help make room and space for your physical and emotional well-being?

Big changes start with small actions. What will be your anchors for change? What will provide motivation and support for the changes you desire? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

Last week I introduced you to my simple organizing plan experiment. I continue to let go and learn with five more discoveries to share. This low-pressure, loose plan will help me reduce the amount of stuff I own. A daily repeat on my to-do list cues me to ‘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.

Even though our house isn’t cluttered and items have a ‘home,’ I own things that have overstayed their welcome and are no longer used, needed, or wanted. They are taking up physical and emotional space. It’s time to let them go.

This past week, my adventure continued. I edited and organized plastic containers, tea, the cobalt blue glass collection, office and school supplies, wrapping paper, personal and business papers from files and notebooks, medicine cabinets, toiletries, personal care products, and my email inbox. These items were from the kitchen, pantry, dining room, office, guest and main bathrooms, linen closet, and computer.

I let go of . . .

• Four 13-gallon bags of trash

• Three bags of paper for recycling

• One bag of paper for shredding

• One bag of school supplies for a friend

• Hundreds of emails with inbox now hovering at around 35

This low-pressure do-something-every-day-plan is working well. I previously shared seven lessons learned. My discoveries continue, and I added five new ones.

5 More Discoveries I Made With My Simple Organizing Plan

1. Find the Treasures

I didn’t set out for the decluttering process to be a treasure hunt. My focus was on finding the things I no longer wanted. To my delight, I found some jewels. No. They weren’t precious stones but were messages and remembrances from other stages. These papers affirmed the time and energy investments in my family, business, and professional development. My favorite find was from notes I wrote during a family meeting with my mom before her dementia diagnosis. She said,

“There isn’t a thing, a book, an anything I need beyond you guys and Daddy.” 

Mom valued time over stuff and people over things. What beautiful thoughts to discover at that moment. On my letting go quest, I felt my mom’s love, clarity, and encouraging support. As you edit, be on the lookout for your treasures.

2. Embrace the Easy

When you edit, some categories will be a challenge. I’ll explore more about those soon. However, other items will be effortless to decide about. They are the no-brainers. When editing the bathrooms, I found expired over-the-counter medicines. The decision to toss them was simple. Out they went. In my office, I found my old Rolodex. I hadn’t referenced it in over 15 years, and the contacts had been transferred to my digital system. It was easy and only a little painful to say “Good-bye, friend.” When I sorted the bazillion tea bags and discovered ones that no one will ever use, I let them go with no deliberation.

All of these categories were non-controversial and not emotional. And you know what? I embraced the simplicity of those choices. There was no guilt, no second-guessing, just this beautiful ease in letting go.

“There was no guilt, no second-guessing, just this beautiful ease in letting go.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO™

3. Allow for Space

While I let go of stuff every day, the physical volume that left this past week was less than the prior weeks. I’m getting to the more complicated, time-intensive things like papers and items with stronger emotional attachments. For example, it was difficult going through my mom’s papers since she died just four months ago. I let go of some things in my “first pass.” I gifted myself space to create some distance. When I’m ready, I’ll return at a future time for the second and possibly third round of letting go. 

I recognize that while I want to let go of many things, I may not be ready to let go of everything at once. And that’s OK. In fact, making several passes supports the low-pressure nature of the ‘Edit & release some stuff’ plan.

4. Just Show Up

Every day is different, with some more full or demanding of my energy. Despite the variables, I remain committed to editing and releasing every day. During one recent full-plate day, I had twenty minutes before I had to pick up our take-out order. Instead of starting my writing project, I used that time to work on my organizing plan. In twenty minutes, I edited and shredded a stack of papers. I checked off the task on my to-do list and felt the endorphin ping. It was a win. 

5. Inspire and Be Inspired

Inspiring cues with summer changing to fall are all around- a cooler day here, a yellow leaf there. Over these weeks, as I’ve shared my organizing process with others, something else extraordinary is happening. Clients, friends, family, and colleagues are supportive and feel inspired by my plan. They recognize that it’s doable and straightforward. How exciting to encourage and inspire people to engage in living with less.

People are also telling me about their completed or ongoing letting go experiences. They’re sharing their successes and challenges. This inspires me to keep going. I’m not alone in my quest for less. We’re in this together.

Do you have an editing story? Are you working on living with less? What helps you? Which discoveries resonate with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.