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.

The idea of ‘out with the old, in with the new’ is a phrase I remember hearing from when I was very young. I heard it most frequently around New Year’s. At first glance, it makes sense until we look a bit more closely. The New Year allows us to pause, reflect, and decide how we’ll make the next year ‘better’ than the one that just ended. We lean into the fresh start and the hope a clean slate brings.

Recently, a few things happened that made me question the ‘old/new’ saying. As we plan and decide how we want 2022 to be, I propose we don’t completely abandon the old in favor of the new. Instead, gather from the past and the present as you move towards the future. Consider the positive energy from revisiting ‘something old’ and embracing ‘something new.’ Not an either-or situation, but a richness that comes from including both. This can apply to all aspects of your life, be it getting organized, nurturing relationships, decluttering belongings, changing habits, and so much more.

A Case for ‘Something Old’

One of the things I love doing but haven’t done for a long time is baking. Why is that? Well, the positive thing about baking is how yummy it tastes. The challenging part is controlling my portions of freshly baked, hot-out-of-the-oven treats. In the past, the goods were baked and gone within hours and sometimes minutes. Since one of the things I’ve been working on as of late 2021 is eating more healthfully, along with losing weight (thank you, Noom), baking took a back seat.

But then something happened. Last week, we expected a big snowstorm. I don’t know about you, but baking and snowstorms are a perfect pair for me. I felt inspired and decided to bake banana bread with walnuts and dried cranberries and make chicken vegetable soup. It felt wonderful to create deliciousness in the kitchen and bake again. And while I ate a bit more banana bread than I planned, I managed to only eat one (generous) piece and freeze the rest.

The point is that even when you choose to change your habits and not engage in activities you used to enjoy, it’s possible to revisit those older joys and incorporate them in an energizing and healthy way.  Reframing and setting boundaries are your friends! I encourage you not to give up on all the old with the New Year.

A Case for ‘Something New’

We all know the exciting feeling of doing or learning something new. I might fail or do it poorly, but the thrill of ‘new’ gets my adrenaline flowing. Aliveness pulsates throughout my mind and body when I experiment, remain curious, and push myself beyond what I know. Something about the New Year encourages us to think out of the box or comfort zone. 

This month, some things happened or will happen that fit the ‘new’ category. The first one was a cooking experiment I did last week. Yes, it’s another food story. I don’t know about you, but my husband and I love Dave’s Organic Killer Bread Thin Sliced with 21 Whole Grains and Seeds. It’s so good for sandwiches! However, we don’t like the ends. They are small and a bit tough. We also don’t like wasting food. When each loaf was almost finished, I’d buy a new one. I saved the ends hoping that someone (my husband) would eat them. That strategy wasn’t working, as evident by the growing bag of ends collecting in the refrigerator. Then, one day I had an idea. What if I made croutons from the unwanted pieces? How hard could that be?

It turns out it’s easy. I had fun finding a recipe and modifying it. I cut the bread into cubes, tossed it with olive oil and some seasonings like salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, red pepper flakes, laid them out on a parchment-covered baking sheet at 400 degrees for 10-17 minutes, and flipped them when halfway baked. Now I have a new recipe, a way to handle those ‘ends,’ and something crunchy to add to our salads and soups.

“Gather from the past and present as you move toward the future.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO™

The other ‘new’ things coming up are two speaking engagements this week. Speaking isn’t new. I’ve been doing that for decades. But the two situations are unique for me, and I’m excited about both. 

I’ll be giving my virtual workshop, How to Conquer Clutter, for a corporation as part of their Lunch & Learn series. Not the workshop, but the setting is a first for me. I’m grateful to Marcy Stoudt, founder of the Executive Mom Nest, for making this incredible connection.

The other new gig, a virtual Zoom event on January 15th, is open to the public. I’ll be on a panel with eight industry experts who will share tips and strategies for From Staged to Sold in 90 Days! Get Your Home (and Yourself!) Ready for the Spring Market.

I’ve been on many panels before, but never one focused exclusively on preparing your home for sale. I am grateful to realtor Jenifer Ross for putting this event together and inviting me to participate. If you are interested in attending or know someone who will benefit, click here to register for free.

As you lean into your fresh start, what will you carry forward or introduce to 2022? Energy comes from revisiting things we enjoyed in the past and pursuing new paths. You have so many resources to draw from as you plan and create your best year ever. What are you excited about? How will you make the most of your fresh start? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

Isn’t time interesting in that we identify it using certain markers? Our markers can include annual traditions like the arrival of birthday cards or preparing supplies for the new school year. Time markers can be from big life events like births, graduations, or moves. Time markers can even include things like our daily wake-up alarms or buzzers ringing when the cookies are done baking.

One of the time markers that have delighted me for the past several years is the blooming of the hydrangeas. They are the visual punctuation, which lets me know that my special vacation at the beach with my girlfriends has arrived. It’s a time to relax, to reconnect, and to enjoy doing and not doing. It’s a time to have fun, to be silly, and also engage in reflective thoughts and conversations.

There are many different types of time markers and ways to honor or recognize the passage and meaning of time. There are also ways that we purposefully want to lose track of time like when we sleep or when we’re on vacation.

My husband recently shared with me an interesting tool from timeanddate.com that helps you measure time from when something happened to a certain date (like today.) I can see this being useful in many instances, especially because we often forget things like how long we’ve been married or lived in our homes or have been at a job or in business. I don’t know about you, but the longer I live, the harder it is to fathom how long I’ve been doing certain things. Using the tool, I confirmed that . . .

• 33 years and 10 days ago I was married
• 26 years, 1 month, and 28 days ago I became a mom
• 23 years, 5 months, and 28 days ago I launched Oh, So Organized!
• 1 year, 11 months, and 28 days ago I became President of ICD (Institute for Challenging Disorganization)
• 3 days from now I’ll become Immediate Past President of ICD

What I do know is that time goes all too quickly. It’s important to savor the moments, to celebrate the markers, to be mindful of the present. Before you know it days will pass, then years, then decades. Life is a wonderful journey with many bumps along the way. Enjoy the joys and the challenges.

What time markers have you noticed? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation!