We’re in the thick of the holiday season. Holiday music permeates the background as you stroll through stores, restaurants, and grocery stores. Is it just me, or do you catch yourself singing along? I can’t help it. The music is contagious. Your balance might be excellent right now. You feel unencumbered, giddy, and joyful with the glitter and whimsy of the holiday season. Or, you might feel overwhelmed by your physical or mind clutter. The overwhelm makes it challenging to focus on twinkling lights, time with loved ones, and feeling at ease.

Finding balance is a constantly moving pursuit. When your balance wanders too far in one direction, it’s time to adjust. It’s an excellent season to make some changes. It will set you up for a happier, more peaceful holiday time. No one wants to be preoccupied with clutter at the expense of enjoying celebrations, cozy time around the fire with family and friends, and quiet moments of relaxation or reflection.

My clients have been especially motivated and focused on recalibrating their balance in the past several weeks. Their physical and mental clutter reached a tipping point, encouraging them to edit, let go, and organize. It’s been exciting to help them make the changes they desire. Enlisting my help enabled them to clarify and recommit to their goals, get unstuck, reduce overwhelm, and feel energized with hope. Making small steps, taking action, and experiencing progress are the secret ingredients to finding your desired balance.

While there are many potential areas to balance, I’ll share five common ones that can inspire positive changes for you.  

5 Positive Benefits of Creating More Balance for Happy Holidays

1. Balance Clothing Clutter

Are you familiar with the One-in, One-Out Rule, a commonly used organizing principle? This encourages you to release one equivalent-type item you no longer want, like a pair of pants or a sweater, when you bring in something new. This concept helps you maintain your current space and organization.

A more substantial edit is helpful if your clothing closets are already tight or overflowing. Especially at this time of year when we are gifted things, including clothing, it’s beneficial to do some closet and dresser editing now. I encourage you to release those items that no longer fit, you don’t like, are worn or stained beyond repair, and are never selected to wear. Let those go. Create visual and physical space for your clothing. You’ll be able to get dressed more easily and know that you love wearing what remains.

2. Balance Mind Clutter

What thoughts are swirling around in your brain? Are your tasks, projects, and decisions to make preoccupying your thoughts? You may have one particularly significant project that is shouting the loudest and making it challenging to focus on other commitments. It’s time to rebalance with the Brain Dump.

An excellent first step is releasing your thoughts from your head and capturing them on paper, a digital document, or a voice recording. Let them out! What happens when we keep them in? The mind clutter continues to swirl around. It keeps us stuck and preventing us from taking action. You can get easily fooled when thinking overtakes doing. It might seem like you’re accomplishing something because that ‘thing’ is all you think about. But you aren’t doing, you’re ruminating.

Action, which brings about progress, is the key to reducing your mind clutter. Select one tiny task from your list. It can be the next step in moving forward on that big project or a single one-and-done-type task. Continue to select something from your list and turn your tasks into small, doable actions.

3. Balance Desk Clutter

Often, my clients tell me they can't think or work when their desks are out of balance and cluttered. Paying bills, writing, scheduling, making calls, or responding to emails can be challenging when your desk surfaces contain visual and physical clutter. The items that collect over time onto your surfaces are waiting for decisions. The objective is to remove things you don’t need visible or belong elsewhere, like

• Old or fileable papers

• Extra office supplies

• Random items that ‘landed’ there or

• Other people’s stuff

When your desk balance is off, invest time to recalibrate. This doesn’t mean it needs to be completely empty. Find a balance between what you need to be immediately visible and accessible and those things that can be stored or moved elsewhere.

Edit, let go, reroute, and breathe. Can you feel a sense of relief?

“When your balance wanders too far in one direction, it’s time to adjust.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

4. Balance Pile Clutter

Are you a piler? You might see stacks of books, magazines, gifts, toiletries, craft supplies, and more. Guess what happens when a pile gets too big? It becomes off balance with the potential to tip. The tipping can cause a tripping hazard. Who needs that during the holiday or any season?

Here’s the good news about these piles containing larger physical objects. Each item takes up a significant volume of space. That means your editing and decision-making power creates visible results more quickly. Here are some examples:

• A one-foot pile of sweaters to edit = about 5 decisions

• A one-foot pile of books to edit = about 18 decisions

• A one-foot pile of magazines to edit = about 36 decisions

Compare these to:

• A one-foot pile of papers to edit = about 240 decisions

If you want quicker progress on your piles, focus on editing the objects that take up more space and require fewer decisions. You’ll be less likely to experience decision fatigue.

5. Balance Paper Clutter

Why does paper collect? There are several reasons, such as

• It needs to be filed

• It is out as a visual cue

• Belongs to someone else

• Requires a decision

• Is pending

• Is part of an active project

• It needs to be routed elsewhere

• It needs to be shredded, tossed, recycled, or digitized

While the reasons are valid, the paper clutter often seems to multiply when we’re sleeping. Getting papers into a manageable balance hinges on your paper management system. This will include an area to

• Store frequently referenced files

• Organize current action items

• Archive less frequently accessed files

• Recycling container

• Garbage container

• Shredder or container to collect shredding

Investing in your paper management system will create flow, reduce paper clutter, and increase productivity. What a beautiful gift to give yourself in preparation for the holidays. And if you can’t focus on this before the season, why not set it as a goal for the New Year?

As you navigate the fullness of the holiday season, what will help you recalibrate your balance? Let me know how I can help with editing, decluttering, and organizing. I’m here for you. Schedule your virtual organizing session today. Reach me, Linda, at 914-271-5637, linda@ohsoorganized.com, or through my contact form.

I wish you a happy, joyful, and organized holiday season!

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.

As a professional organizer and coach, my work centers around helping people facilitate the changes they want in their lives. Change doesn’t just happen in one quick moment. It takes time, contemplation, and bravery to get to the point of action. It’s at that time when I’m usually contacted. My clients’ desire for change related to organizing issues has been percolating for some time. They got to a certain point on their own, and they want my help to continue. They might feel overwhelmed, stuck, afraid, or unsure of how to get from where they are to where they’d like to be.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with many new and long-time clients. While each person and their situation are different, there are certain similarities with how we work together. Understanding these could be useful for you as you pursue the changes you seek.

So where do we start? . . .

1. Acknowledge Thoughts and Feelings

When we face things that are challenging for us, we think and feel a variety of ways. We might feel like we’re going to fail, especially if we’ve had a history of unsuccessful attempts. We might feel anxious that we are beyond help. We might feel scared to let go of stuff, thoughts, and feelings even if they are no longer serving us well. We might feel overwhelmed because there’s so much to do and we can’t imagine that we will ever get everything done. We might be ruminating about the negative comments other people have said to us. We might be generating our own negative thoughts and beating ourselves up for what we didn’t do in the past.

Guess what? This is all completely normal. It’s helpful to say these things out loud and just let them land. It’s OK. It’s part of the process. We all come to the table with “stuff.” We bring positive and negative stuff.

We give space for these thoughts and feelings to be heard. We acknowledge them without dwelling on them. I listen for the forward-moving ideas to help us shift the energy and perspective to the next stage.

2. Get Clarity

Notice that we’re still talking here. This is an essential part of the change (and organizing) process. We’re in the curiosity and discovery phase. I keep listening and asking questions. We’re learning new things that will inform what happens next. We’re digging down to what the client wants to accomplish in a more significant way and also during that particular session. We talk about expectations and outcomes. We get on the same page with where we are heading. We’re building trust.

3. Prepare Tools

Once we’ve discussed thoughts, expectations, and direction, we gather the tools necessary to do the work. If needed, we set up recycling, trash, donation and shredding bins or bags. We gather markers, tape, sticky notes, folders, or a pad of paper for making notes. We make the supplies easily accessible, so they’ll enhance the flow of the action phase. It’s OK if along the way you need to grab additional items. That can happen. We don’t always anticipate everything in advance. Organizing is a fluid process. However, if you can begin with the basics as you set-up, it will make the decision-making process more efficient.

4. Dive In

It’s time. We talked. We outfitted the physical space with the tools we’ll need. Now it’s time to make decisions that align with the changes you want. Where you start isn’t as important as the questions that get asked. What stays? What goes? What is useful? What has overstayed its welcome? It helps to set a few decision-making boundaries. These can expand as you work. For instance, you might decide that all of the empty shopping bags can go without looking at each one. You might opt to recycle magazines that are older than two years without looking at every issue or page. You might decide that small size clothes that no longer fit can be donated without trying on each piece. These types of parameters help things move along more quickly. It allows you to make some global decisions without having to look at every, single thing.

5. Check-In

Guess what? Making decisions can be exhausting and emotionally draining. Check-in occasionally is important. I watch for decision-fatigue. When the quality of the choices start to deteriorate (as in keeping everything or letting go of everything), the client is probably experiencing decision-fatigue. At this point, I’ll suggest a short break. Maybe they need some fresh air, a quick stretch, a snack, a cup of coffee, or bio break. It’s also an excellent time to assess where we are, check on our timing, and see how they’re doing overall.

There are other aspects of changing and the organizing process such as reviewing and relishing in your accomplishments and determining next steps. However, they aren’t as relevant to getting started, so I’m not going to elaborate on those now.

Change can be energizing, but starting can be scary. Some of the ideas that I shared can help you move past the challenges so that you can create the changes that you want. If you’re having difficulty on your own, reaching out for help when you’re stuck, afraid, or overwhelmed is an excellent choice to make. 

When fear inhibits the change process, where do you begin? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Join the conversation!

If you’re anything like me, you might be thinking, “There’s no possible way I’ll ever get to inbox zero.”  Over the years I’ve read tons of articles, books and even attended seminars with advice about the value of having zero emails in your inbox. I’ve commented on many posts about how “I have great admiration for your ability to get to zero and would love to do it myself, but don’t see how I can realistically get there…ever!” I’ve imagined how it might feel to be unencumbered by old emails and an inbox that felt more like a “to do someday list.”

While I haven’t set all of my 2018 goals in motion, or even decided what they will be, one of the goals I committed to this year was my project “inbox zero.” I wanted a fresh start and clean slate to grow from. With this new goal of “zero” in mind, I was curious if it was possible for me to achieve. I also wondered how to make it happen.

So I set a simple plan in motion. I remembered some of the advice I learned and it helped me to create a doable plan. Using the breaking-down-large-projects-into-small-parts thought process, I set up a few basic rules.

Linda’s Rules for Project Inbox Zero:

Set a completion date. I opted to have this done by January 1^st. Guess what? That didn’t happen, but it did happen a week later. It’s good to remember that deadlines are great motivators, but be flexible. As it turns out, I needed that extra time to complete my goal. And if I needed more time, I would have made another adjustment.

Create some parameters. With hundreds of emails and decisions to process, I knew that I’d need more than a day to get through them. I used small time blocks each day to process the old emails while keeping up with the new emails. The beauty of doing a little bit each day was that decision-making wasn’t overwhelming. If I experienced decision fatigue, I stopped. I aimed for progress, not completion. That kept me motivated and ready for the next email session.

Establish the “dump” buckets. That may seem like an odd term, but it’s what it felt like. As I reviewed each email, I decided which “bucket” to “dump” the email or information into. My favorite bucket was the trash. If the email was no longer relevant, I let it go. Another bucket was my “to do” list. Anything that required action or follow-up got assigned a date on my list to review later. A third bucket was contacts. Some emails required transferring stats or information to my contact system. The other types of emails related to current or past projects. Those went into archive buckets. These archives are digital folders with specific project or topic category names.

Be Realistic. The hardest emails to decide about were the ones that I hoped to have done something with someday, but hadn’t. I used the “how long I’ve been ignoring this email factor” as my indicator for determining the likelihood of ever attending to that thing. In most cases, those emails ended up in the “trash” bucket. A few were archived or added to my to do list. However, before they were kept, I tried to be as realistic as possible. The point of achieving inbox zero wasn’t just to empty the box, but also to make realistic assessments about the contents.

Do it now. Some emails required more immediate action, like signing up for ICD’s new teleclasses. The time needed to complete those tasks was minimal. However, once the task was completed, the email could be deleted. So any quick action emails I opted to handle right away rather than adding them to my to do list.

As you’ve figured out by now, with these simple rules in place, within a few weeks, I got through hundreds of emails, routed them to their buckets, and have arrived at inbox zero. It’s a little strange to see my empty inbox. It looks kind of lonely. I’m still expecting hundreds of messages every time I open the program. Along with the strangeness, I do feel liberated with a positive feeling that fresh starts often bring. There’s a certain clarity and focus with being able to attend to the few new ones that pop in.

I’m looking forward to other types of letting go in the coming months. There are papers to shred, files to clear out, and general “stuff” to release. Emails were just the beginning.

What is your relationship to your inbox? Have you struggled with managing email? What works or doesn't work for you? What has your experience been with inbox zero or fresh starts for this year? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation!