When you feel disorganized, stuck, and overwhelmed, reaching out for help is beneficial. Getting support from a Virtual Professional Organizer can be the secret sauce for moving forward and living the life you crave.

You might be curious about:

• How does virtual organizing work?

• What is a typical virtual organizing session like?

• Will virtual organizing benefit me?

This guide to virtual organizing will help you discover the answers. If you have additional questions, contact me, Linda, anytime by email at linda@ohsoorganized.com or by phone at 914-271-5673.

Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward. My clients love working this way. One client recently said, “It’s like putting a needle on a compass. Now I can navigate.”

How Does Virtual Organizing Work?

Session Length & Frequency

• Typically, VO sessions are 60 minutes, although sometimes clients prefer 90-minute sessions.

• Meeting once per week is beneficial. However, the scheduling can be customized according to your preferences.

Platform Used

• Zoom is the preferred platform. However, FaceTime or the phone are alternative options.

• Calendly is used to schedule VO sessions. After scheduling, Calendly emails you a Zoom link and email and text reminders before each session.

• Have your phone, tablet, or laptop set up so we can see each other.

VO Rates

• Clients advance purchase single hours or packages of hours.

• The VO packages are beneficial because they offer savings on the hourly rate. Three, five, and twenty-hour packages are available.

• Credit cards, Zelle, or Venmo are accepted.

• Contact linda@ohsorganized.com for current rates.

Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™ - Virtual Organizing Session Ready

What is a Typical Virtual Organizing Session Like?

Session Description

• Virtual organizing is a flexible, creative, collaborative process. The objective for each session is to help you make progress on your goals with compassionate, non-judgmental support.

• Sessions begin by clarifying your goal for that session and reviewing how things went between sessions.

• The main part of the session can include planning, assessing, decluttering, organizing, overcoming obstacles, brainstorming, supporting decision-making, or many other options.

• At the end of each session, we do a quick wrap-up, discuss the “field work” you want to work on and schedule our next VO.

Pre-Session Prep

• Remove as many distractions as possible- phone calls, emails, pets, and people.

• Care for your personal needs before the session- hydrate, eat, and be well-rested.

• Set up your digital device (laptop, phone, or tablet) so I can see you and the area we’ll work on. You’ll want to be hands-free. A stand or tripod works well.

• If we are going to work on physical organizing, have some organizing supplies such as markers, sticky notes, masking tape, trash bags, bins, or boxes. These will help with sorting, donating, recycling, or re-routing.

• Think about what you want to accomplish by the end of the session. Do you want help with planning, working on a project you’re stuck on, or choosing a focus? My support can vary from brainstorming to planning to “sitting” with you as a body double while you process a challenging pile. There are many possibilities.

In Between and Post Sessions

• We can text or email between sessions to enhance progress and add accountability.

• With VO packages of three or more hours, I create a Project Session Journal (PSJ) for both of us to reference. After each session, you receive the updated PSJ, an ongoing record of your successes, challenges, discoveries, resources, and more. It helps reinforce the changes you are making, including building new neural pathways as you establish new habits.

• There will be doable, agreed-upon “field work” between sessions, enabling you to progress beyond our sessions.

“Virtual organizing is a flexible, creative, collaborative process.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

Will Virtual Organizing Benefit Me?

Client Loyalty Program (CLP)

• This program benefits loyal clients.

• The CLP is ongoing, and I manage the program for you.

• After every 10 VO sessions, you will automatically receive $25 off your next session or package.

More Virtual Organizing Benefits

• Client Favorites – How to Know If Virtual Organizing Will Benefit You

• Shorter Sessions – Virtual Organizing Clients Make Positive Change in About One Hour

• Decisive Next Steps – What Does Your Next Step Look Like During a Virtual Organizing Session?

• Life Transitions – 9 Marvelous Ways Virtual Professional Organizers Can Help with Transitions

• Positive Changes – What’s the Value of Enlisting Help As You Make a Positive Change?

• Less Clutter – Are You Curious What’s Possible When You Hire a Professional Organizer?

• Eliminate Overwhelm – How to Ask for Help and See Proven Benefits When Stuck and Overwhelmed

Help is Here

How have you benefitted from working with a Virtual Professional Organizer? What did you like about it? Did you experience any challenges? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

I'm here for you. Do you need help getting unstuck, making a plan, decluttering, or organizing? Please email me at linda@ohsorganized.com, call 914-271-5673, or schedule a Discovery Call. Moving forward is possible, especially with support.

The newest release (v37) of the “What’s Interesting?” feature has my latest finds, which inform, educate, and relate to organizing and life balance. These unique, inspiring, possibility-thinking discoveries reflect this month’s blog theme.

You are a generous, communicative, and engaged 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 Possibility-Thinking Discoveries

1. Interesting Workshop – Conquering Clutter Possibilities

Are you overwhelmed by clutter? If so, you’re not alone. One in four people have challenges with clutter, which can affect their anxiety levels, relationships, sleep, and ability to focus. Help is here.

I’m so excited to offer a lively one-hour online workshop – How to Conquer Clutter, on October 20th @7:00-8:00pm EST. You’ll discover where clutter comes from, why it’s so hard to let go, and what you can do about it. Come away with energizing possibilities, manageable clutter-reducing strategies, and powerful insights. Register now!

2. Interesting Perspective – Reframing Possibilities

I frequently hum and sing. The funny thing is I don’t realize I’m doing it. In addition, I often unknowingly sing the incorrect lyrics. Recently, I learned a word for that. Mondegreen is a misheard word, phrase, saying, lyric, or slogan that makes sense in your head, but is entirely incorrect. Check out this infographic with some commonly miss-sung lyrics for a good laugh.

What does mondegreen have to do with possibility thinking? Let’s revisit the mondegreen definition of words, which make “sense in your head, but…are entirely incorrect.” How often have you repeated a negative message to yourself that is no longer true? You get stuck in old thought patterns or beliefs and forget to change the script. Clients often share these negative messages with me, which sometimes were ingrained since childhood.  A parent might have said, “You are like a tornado leaving stuff everywhere you go.” However, they learned organizational strategies over time and are no longer “messy” or “disorganized” kids. They didn’t adjust the lyrics.

Singing the wrong words to songs is harmless, but repeating negative, untrue messages about yourself is damaging. What possibilities become visible when you change the script?

“When you imagine possibilities, your thinking becomes open and expansive. ”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

3. Interesting Read – Grounding Possibilities

In The Practice of Groundedness – A Transformative Path to Success That Feeds – Not Crushes – Your Soul, author, researcher, and coach Brad Stulberg rejects conventional measures of success, which he says do not support long-term happiness. As an alternative to feeling like “you are never enough” or having “a compulsion to keep chasing the next thing,” Stulberg draws from modern science and lessons from ancient wisdom traditions to encourage the cultivation of habits and practices to live a more grounded life.

Stulberg says, “Groundedness is unwavering internal strength and self-confidence that sustains you through ups and downs.” His six principles of groundedness are acceptance, presence, patience, vulnerability, community, and movement. Sharing specific practices and new ways of thinking, Stulberg inspires us to choose “acceptance over delusion and wishful thinking…presence over distraction…patience over speed…vulnerability over invincibility…community over isolation…movement over sitting still.” How will grounding yourself influence what’s possible?

4. Interesting Product – Capturing Possibilities

Have you noticed when you shower, ideas, to-dos, and possibilities start to flow? The relaxing effect of water stimulates your thoughts. Do you easily forget those brilliant ideas you had in the shower? It used to happen to me, but not anymore. One of my favorite products is AquaNotes waterproof notepad. Their tagline says, “Never let another great idea go down the drain!” When a shower-inspired thought pops into my head, I make a note on the pad with their special pencil. Post-shower, I transfer the idea to the appropriate list. The notepad is also an excellent place to exchange messages with my husband.

5. Interesting Thought – Welcoming Possibilities

When you imagine possibilities, your mind goes into an open, expansive growth mode. When you say the word problem, your thoughts constrict and bring a negative focus to the situation. You can get stuck in the problem’s details. Challenges definitely exist. However, if you shift your thinking towards possibilities, you will find a more productive, positive path when you encounter issues.

Do you have an interesting possibility-thinking discovery? Which of these resonates with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

Do you feel challenged by the physical and emotional clutter in your life? Does your clutter overwhelm and bother you? You are not alone. Imagine what it would feel like to become the “boss of my clutter,” as the fabulous psychologist and procrastination coach Dr. Christine Li said to me recently. When we address and enlist support for our challenges, it’s incredible what becomes possible.  If you’re feeling stuck, overwhelmed, disorganized, and cluttered, do not despair. There is hope. If you’re curious how a professional organizer like me can help and what it’s like to work together, keep reading (and listening.) Settle in, grab a cup of your favorite hot beverage, and get ready for a great surprise.

A few months back, Christine reached out to invite me as a guest on her insightful podcast, Make Time for Success. If you’re not familiar with her podcast, add it right now to your listening cue. Christine has a calm, warm way of normalizing challenges and sharing ways to overcome them. She’s authentic, brave, and asks excellent questions. You come away feeling inspired along with simple strategies for change.

Christine and I met several years ago and have remained in touch. For the podcast, Christine asked me to share some ideas for managing clutter. She also said she’d like to hire me to help her address the clutter in her home office, kitchen, and main bedroom. Then she asked if I would be willing to do a second podcast after our three virtual organizing sessions to talk about our work together- a debrief. The work I do with clients is confidential. Christine’s client-initiated offer to speak publicly about her organizing challenges, successes, and experience of working together was rare.

It was extraordinary having the podcast conversations, working with Christine, and listening to the thoughtful way she talked about her clutter, discoveries, and habit changes. I am deeply grateful to her for inviting me to be a guest, hiring me to work with her, and sharing her heart and insights. She breathes what’s possible.

“When we address and enlist support for our challenges, it’s incredible what becomes possible.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO™

Make Time for Success Podcasts

Listen to our conversations by clicking on the players below.

Part 1:  5 Types of Clutter You Can Get Organized Now with Linda Samuels

In this episode, you will discover:

• My passion for working with people challenged by disorganization

• How I started my business, Oh, So Organized!

• The emotional attachment we have to our stuff

• Ideas about creating supportive environments

• How to start decluttering

• The five most common areas of clutter and strategies to help

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Part 2:  Here’s What Happened When I Worked with a Professional Organizer with Linda Samuels

In this episode, you will discover:

• Christine’s lessons learned

• How I listen for what my clients need and wish for

• Why clutter often leads to feelings of paralysis and procrastination

• What success looks and feels like

The podcasts cover a broad scope of ideas including, clutter, emotional attachments, procrastination, working with a professional organizer, and discovering what’s possible. What resonated with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

If you want support and are ready to figure out how to, as Christine says, “live peacefully with our stuff,” I’m here. Please email me, linda@ohsoorganized.com or call 914-271-5673. I’m ready to help.

For almost three decades, I’ve enthusiastically helped people edit and get organized. Recently, I’ve become my own client and leaned into some organizing self-help. My motivation to let go of the extraneous was partially influenced by this summer’s tiny house vacation. While I no longer am obsessed with moving into a tiny house, I want to live in our right-sized house, but with less stuff.

Our home isn’t disorganized or cluttered. Things have a place. My husband, Steve, and I can easily retrieve and return items to their designated ‘homes.’  However, there are belongings that have overstayed their welcome. Those are the things that have been stored for a long time and are no longer used, needed, or wanted. They are taking up physical and emotional space. Their time has come to move on.

After returning from vacation, I set a long-term goal to reduce the amount of stuff I own. My plan isn’t a detailed room-by-room-do-this-by-x-date proposition. It’s a low-pressure, loose plan. I added one simple daily repeat on my to-do list that says, “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.

In the last two weeks, I edited and organized clothing, shoes, handbags, toiletries, cleaning products, paper goods, dishes, and glasses. Additional edits included candles, vases, office supplies, books, photos, cards, letters, memorabilia, personal and business files, and email inbox. These items were from the dining room, entryway, laundry room, kitchen, office, main bedroom, and bathrooms.

I let go of

• Five 13-gallon bags of trash

• Two 30-gallon bags of trash

• Two 30-gallon bags of clothing and home goods for donations

• One bag of books for donations

• One bag of paper for recycling

• One bag of paper for shredding

• One container of pens for a friend

Like with all experiments, come learning. My ‘edit & release some stuff’ plan is no exception. There will be more insights, but here are seven discoveries I made so far.

7 Best Organizing Self-Help Discoveries Made With My New Simple Plan

1. Track Your Progress

There are many ways to enjoy progress, but for me, tracking with a simple chart helps me review and acknowledge my accomplishments. I created a Word document with three columns- date, area worked on, and result. Taking photos or journaling can also be helpful.

2. Respect Random Approach

Typical organizing wisdom encourages us to organize one area before moving on to the next. I’ve shared that advice with many clients. However, as logical as that sounds, it’s not always possible or desirable. Clients sometimes get bored working in one area or encounter emotionally charged belongings they are not ready to organize. With my approach, I gifted myself the option for randomness. Instead of a specific plan of what to edit each day, I let myself choose more intuitively. Which area do I feel like working on today? It keeps the pressure low and the satisfaction high.

3. Honor Your Emotions

Is organizing emotional? It can be. While editing, I experienced a range of feelings like happiness, joy, sadness, ambivalence, resistance, frustration, annoyance, guilt, exhaustion, satisfaction, and love. I let my emotions have the space to surface. When editing my cards, I found a beautiful, love-filled note written by my mom for my 40th birthday. I felt sad that she is gone and simultaneously felt her love and encouragement. 

4. Trust the Exit

Honestly, if I wasn’t logging my progress and noting the stuff I said goodbye to, I wouldn’t remember what was gone. I have no regrets and don’t miss anything that I released. It feels good.

“It’s liberating to live with less.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO™

5. Live With Less

As each area or space is edited, I appreciate having less. For example, when I open the sticky note drawer, only my favorites are there, and the never-used ones are gone. When I get dressed, the clothes I like and wear most are in my closets and drawers. They have space to breathe, and it makes it easier for me to select what I’m going to wear. It’s liberating to live with less.

6. Rethink Your Space

One of the benefits of letting go is the opportunity to rethink your space. Having less visual and physical clutter makes it easier to improve flow and organization.  As I released stuff, I cleaned and asked a few questions. Is the space working as is? Or, could it use a slight tweak? Some areas were set. However, for others, I made improvements. For example, after the kitchen edit, I inserted freestanding cabinet shelves. This made use of wasted vertical space and also improved access to frequently used dishes.

7. Engage Self or Outside Help

While I’m making progress, I recognize the value of enlisting help. While I have released a lot, I’m pretty sure if someone supported and asked me questions as I edited, I’d let go of more. Help with facilitating decision-making is invaluable. For now, I continue to go it alone, coaching myself through the process. I will leave the door open to reach out for help if needed.

Have you been editing and organizing? Are you doing it on your own or did you get help? What did you learn? Did any of my discoveries resonate with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.