Making a change in your life can be challenging. Have you ever wondered why? Here are some common obstacles you might encounter:

• Feeling unsure about how to create the change you desire

• Feeling defeated as the change you desire appears unattainable

• Feeling a lack of energy or resources to manifest the change

• Feeling overwhelmed by other responsibilities in your life makes focusing on intentional change seem unrealistic right now

• Feeling frustrated by the time needed to create change

• Feeling unclear about the change you want to make

• Feeling resentful that you want to make a change but would rather focus on less stressful activities

• Feeling the absence of a support system

Yet, despite these potential difficulties, you still want to make a change. Change is possible when you’re in a negative, stress-filled state, but it’s more challenging. What if you could create a starting point that is more conducive and encouraging?

I recently discovered something that could be a game-changer (no pun intended).

The Value of a Morning Activation Ritual

In Joseph Nguyen’s book Don’t Believe Everything You Think – Why Your Thinking is the Beginning & End of Suffering, I read a passage about developing an “activation ritual.” While Nguyen applied this concept to reduce stressful thoughts, I can see how the idea of rituals could be useful for facilitating change.

Nguyen says, “Most of us are used to spending the majority of our day in a state of stress (thinking).” However, when you stop thinking and stressing, that energy can be redirected elsewhere. Without channeling it elsewhere, you will likely revert to a thinking and stressful state.

He suggests creating a morning activation ritual that helps you “get back into a state of non-thinking and flow. It can be an activity that helps you feel grounded and allows you to practice getting into a state of non-thinking.”

Consider centering activities such as meditating, exercising, journaling, or making tea. “An activation ritual enables you to build momentum in a positive direction immediately when you wake up so that it’s easier to stay in that state of non-thinking for the rest of the day.” Nguyen suggests that it’s possible to “channel the newfound energy into our goals of inspiration.”

“An activation ritual enables you to build momentum in a positive direction . . .”

— Joseph Nguyen

Create Your Activation Ritual

Do you start your day gently with a nourishing and grounding routine? Or are your mornings often rushed and chaotic?

You have the opportunity to create a centering morning ritual that will energize you, reduce stress, and enhance your ability to make the change you desire.

Here is one approach to creating an activation ritual:

• Establish a consistent wake-up time.

• Select one grounding activity before beginning your day, such as exercising, meditating, or journaling.

• Do this for one week.

• Observe what happened.

• Depending on what you discovered, continue or alter your activation ritual.

Beginning the day feeling grounded and nourished will cultivate an internal state that promotes the change you want.

What change would you like to make? How can a morning activation ritual benefit you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

How Can I Help?

Do you want support creating routines, organizing, planning, or inviting positive change? 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. Change is possible, especially with support.

This is the newest release (v48) of the “What’s Interesting?” feature, with my latest finds that inform, educate, and relate to organizing and life balance. These unique, inspiring change 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 additions to the collection I’ve sourced.

What do you find interesting?

What’s Interesting? – 5 Best Change Discoveries

1. Interesting Read – Liberating Change

Taking inventory of where you are right now, you might have a mile-long list of all the changes you’d like to make. Overwhelm most likely accompanies that list. After all, it’s nearly impossible to successfully pursue multiple changes simultaneously.

Meditations for Mortals – Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts by best-selling author Oliver Burkeman is not about being more productive but selective.

Burkeman says, “The list of worthwhile things you could in principle do with your time will always be vastly longer than the list of things for which you’ll have time.”

Additionally, “when you give up the unwinnable struggle to do everything, that’s when you can start pouring your finite time and attention into a handful of things that truly count.”

The four themed weeks (Being Finite, Taking Action, Letting Go, and Showing Up) include twenty-eight short chapters intended to be read one day at a time. These chapters are digestible and inspiring, encouraging small, achievable changes in perspective and action. By embracing imperfection, accepting limitations, combating distractions, and more, you will learn how to live with less stress and more purpose.

2. Interesting Trend – Emotional Change

Have you ever noticed something that makes you do a double-take? Recently, I saw a Tiny Buddha post on Instagram that made me do just that. It took me a few moments to sound out the word exhausterwhelmulated and digest what it meant.

This adjective is “the feeling of being exhausted, overwhelmed, and overstimulated all at once.” Does this sound familiar? Have you felt this way lately?

With all that’s happening in the world, many of us feel exhausterwhelmulated. If this describes your experience, embrace the changes you have agency over.

• If you’re exhausted, prioritize your sleep hygiene.

• If you’re overwhelmed, remove or delegate some tasks.

• If you’re overstimulated, take a hiatus from social media and news scrolling.

Embrace the changes that will bring you energy, clarity, and calm.

3. Interesting Resource – Change

How are your decluttering and organizing goals coming along? Are you filling bags with clothing, home goods, and books to donate? Or are you thinking about taking action but haven’t begun yet?

Making a change by curating your environment can yield energizing results for you and others. Being intentional by keeping your most valued and useful items and releasing what has overstayed its welcome brings many positives.

First, your environment will better support who you are, what you use, and what you treasure. Second, donating items and letting go of what you no longer need will allow someone else to enjoy them.

One of the easiest-to-use donation sources is GreenDrop®. You can schedule a pick-up online or visit a donation center. I use them, as do many of my clients. GreenDrop® accepts books, clothing, electronics, linens, games, housewares, small appliances, small furniture, and more.

This resource makes the exit strategy for your things so much simpler.

“Embrace the changes that will bring you energy, clarity, and calm.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

4. Interesting Product – Joyful Change

Living in the digital age, we spend a lot of our time interacting with technology. Sometimes, I wonder if pens and paper will become obsolete. I sure hope not. As someone who receives immense tactile pleasure from using such implements, I thought you might feel similarly.

Don’t get me wrong. I also enjoy using my tech tools, like my keyboard to write blog posts or my voice to ask Siri questions. However, there are many situations when pen and paper are my preferred tools.

I discovered Karst’s Stone Paper™ journals. The paper is made from “100% recycled stone and without any trees, bleaches or acids.”  It’s “durable, more sustainable, and infinitely smoother to write, scribble, doodle or draw on.” The paper is also waterproof and tear-resistant.

My newest meditation journal has stone paper. It’s a beautiful writing experience that allows my thoughts to flow and my pen to glide one word at a time. What a simple way to bring about a joyful change.

5. Interesting Thought – Positive Change

Have you noticed that change takes time? Whether making intentional positive changes or navigating unexpected ones, time and patience are essential ingredients.

The most frequent emotion I notice when making changes is feeling impatient. You want what’s on the other side, yet sustaining the effort to get there can be challenging.

This simple yet powerful phrase, “I am in the process of positive changes,” reminds us of the patience piece while also nurturing confidence and proactive participation.

You can do this. You are doing this!

Can you share one change-related discovery? Which of these resonates with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts and invite you to join the conversation.

Do you want help getting unstuck, reducing overwhelm, getting organized, and making changes? If so, I’m here for you. Contact me, Linda, at linda@ohsorganized.com, call 914-271-5673, or schedule a Discovery Call. Change is possible, especially with support.

When you think about change, which emotions bubble up? As someone who has observed, experienced, and helped others make changes, I’ve noticed many reactions. When anticipating change, we can experience mixed emotions, including fear, frustration, anxiety, doubt, overwhelm, sadness, ambivalence, excitement, relief, and hope.

Emotions are powerful. They can paralyze or propel us, depending on which ones are in play.

• What if you could stack the deck in your favor?

• What if you could shift your perspective to encourage a more joyful experience for your desired changes?

• How would that alter your journey?

When you think about making a change, it can feel enormous, confusing, and unreachable. For example, let’s say you feel overwhelmed and frustrated by the clutter and disorganization in your life. You want things to change but don’t know what to do or how to begin. As a result, you do nothing.

A common organizing philosophy encourages breaking down large projects or goals into small, doable parts or tasks. Using this strategy is an effective path forward. You keep the larger goal in mind while focusing your effort on tiny, baby steps. This process reduces overwhelm and facilitates forward movement.

Encourage Change by Shifting Your Perspective

During a recent meditation and writing retreat led by my friend and colleague, Yota Schneider, she shared an insightful question. We considered it in a particular context around focusing.

However, the more I thought about it, the more I recognized how you could use the question to encourage change through a lens of positive expectations.

The question Yota shared was from neuropsychologist and author Dr. Rick Hanson. He asked,

“What will I be glad I did today?”

I appreciate the question’s simplicity and graciousness. What will I be glad I did today? The question has several fascinating effects.

• Contemplate – It invites you to consider joy, happiness, gratification, or satisfaction as the driving force. In other words, you are taking action inspired by this positive perspective.

• Strengthen – It offers a nonjudgmental inquiry while strengthening activation confidence. You imagine this positive change or task as if you have already accomplished it. The question boosts agency.

• Reduce – While it doesn’t overtly state this, the question implies a narrower, singular focus. Dialing down the possibilities to something smaller can reduce or eliminate overwhelm.

• Imagine – It merges present action with positive, immediate future results. You are doing something now that you will be happy you did later today.

• Build – Using this question to navigate change gently promotes a repeat-and-build pattern versus a one-and-done method.

• Act – The question is non-confrontational. It’s even kind of fun. You’re focusing on how good you’ll feel or “glad” you are when you do that thing today. 

“Encourage change through a lens of positive expectations.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

Work the Present and the Future

Once you gear your mind toward a “glad I did today” focus, you will experience many positive changes that connect with your larger goals. Here are several of the positives I’ve experienced recently and the change categories they influenced. I am glad I:

Relationships – Nurture and Strengthen

• Celebrated my husband’s birthday

• Cooked with my daughter

• Sent packages and notes to our kiddos in advance of Valentine’s Day

• Had assorted conversations with friends, family, and colleagues, including a friend I hadn’t spoken with in way too many years

Professional – Lead and Learn

• Completed the edits and returned my chapter for a new ICD book on chronic disorganization

• Led a planning meeting for my organizing colleagues for NAPO Westchester

• Had virtual organizing sessions with my clients

• Wrote my blog

Finances – Manage and Build

• Gave our accountant a preliminary tax summary

• Paid bills

• Reconciled accounts

Household – Maintain and Edit

• Cleared out the 2024 files and set up the 2025 files

• Did laundry

• Added a few clothing items to the donation bag

Well-Being – Calm and Care

• Scheduled vaccines

• Didn’t eat that extra piece of cake

• Took a walk along the river even though it was cold

• Slept later than usual

• Went to yoga class

• Meditated

It’s Your Turn to Invite Change

Which categories in your life are you looking to change? What is one thing you can do today that will bring you closer to that goal? With this in mind, what will you be glad you did today? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

How Can I Help?

Do you want support organizing, planning, or inviting positive change? I’d love to help! Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – local feel with a global reach.

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

How is it already February? The past few months have been intense, and time has flown by. Based on recent conversations and my own experience, many people want to make changes but feel stuck.

Conflicting emotions include an urgency for change, confusion about what to change or how to move forward, and exhaustion even before starting. Additionally, the desire for change and the fear of the unknown can create further paralysis.

These feelings can show up in many ways, including:

• You are dissatisfied with the status quo.

• You want to make a shift but don’t know how to go about it.

• You’re exhausted from the news, endless possibilities, and uncertainty.

• You are unable to focus.

• You feel overwhelmed.

• You feel stuck and can’t figure out how to move forward.

• You want things to change but have no energy to make it happen.

• You want to press pause and postpone change.

• You want to take action but are afraid of doing it wrong.

• You don’t want to live this way anymore but lack clarity about changing things.

The Clarifying Question

Before making any change, selecting one area to focus on is essential. It can be tempting when pursuing change to get overly ambitious. There is nothing wrong with that. However, dividing your attention in too many directions can be overwhelming.

In The Power of Letting Go by John Purkiss, he poses this powerful and clarifying question:

“What do you want to change in your life?”

While you may have a long list of items, I encourage you to choose only one thing at a time. Don’t worry about what change to make or how or when you’ll make it. Release that noise. Begin with the question.

Which Change Will You Pursue?

You might want to pursue changes in several of the categories below. However, as mentioned, focusing on one area and one specific change at a time is most effective.

Change categories include:

• Career and Work

• Family and Relationships

• Finances

• Fun and Recreation

• Health and Wellness

• Personal Growth

• Physical Environment

• Spirituality

Here are some examples:

• If Fun and Recreation is the first category you focus on, you might add one fun activity each month, such as going to a movie, ice skating, or having a pizza and game night.

• If Health and Wellness is the first category you focus on, you might establish better sleep hygiene over several months. Establish consistent bedtime, reduce the ambient light, put away digital devices a few hours before bed, and take a warm bath.

• If Physical Environment is the first category you focus on, you might declutter and organize one area each month, such as the kitchen, clothing closet, or bathroom.

Integrate one change before pursuing additional ones.

“Integrate one change before pursuing additional ones.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

How to Work with the Clarifying Question

You know the clarifying question. Here’s one way to work with it:

• Find a quiet place to reflect.

• Close your eyes if that helps.

• Sit with John’s question: What do you want to change in your life?

• Notice what arises.

• Capture your thoughts.

• Scan your list.

• Note which categories your changes are in.

• Select one category and one specific change from that category to focus on first.

• Allow the other ideas and chatter to recede into the background for now.

• Once the change is well established, revisit your list to select the next change you want to pursue.

Do you feel more prepared to embrace change? Was the clarifying question helpful? What are you considering? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

How Can I Help?

Do you want support organizing, planning, or clarifying changes to pursue? I’d love to help! Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – A local feel with a global reach.

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