Posts tagged attention
3 Helpful Ideas to Inspire More Action and Explore Possibilities

Possibilities aren’t only about imagining what could be. They’re also about choosing what deserves your energy and recognizing when it’s time to act.

You can feel overwhelmed, stuck, or disorganized and still have options. This is good news, especially if you’re struggling. Things don’t have to stay the same. You don’t have to change everything at once or set a specific timeline.

I chose three ideas to help you:

  • Harness the power of the present

  • Embrace your season of change

  • Remain open to what’s possible

If you feel stuck, struggle to imagine what’s possible, or aren't sure where to begin, try one of these ideas. It might help you see a way forward.

 

 

3 Helpful Ideas to Inspire More Action and Explore Possibilities

1. Notice Energy

Recently, I read Michelle Gielan’s new book, Resilient Optimism, which is filled with strategies for embracing what’s possible. I love reading physical books and using my yellow highlighter to capture ideas I want to revisit.

One was a question Michelle posed:

“What is actually worth my energy today?”

This question gets to the heart of things, especially when you have lots of options and are trying to figure out what is possible. After all, on any given day, you have many choices about what you:

  • Want to do

  • Must do

  • ‘Should’ do

  • Intend to do

  • Love to do

  • Hope to do

Some of those tasks and pursuits originate with you, while others come from people in your life, such as family, friends, bosses, or colleagues.

Michelle’s question offers a useful way to evaluate these choices. Like time, your energy isn’t limitless. You have only so many hours and so much energy to pursue what you want, need, and hope to do in this precious life.

Your energy is valuable. It has worth, as the question suggests. When considering what is possible today, factor in the energy you have right now. Which tasks align with your current capacity? Which ones deserve your attention and effort today?

 

 

  

2. Recognize Timing

An inciting incident, season, or time of year can inspire action. Perhaps you’ve wondered how different life would feel if you sorted through the piles of paper, organized your closets, decluttered your schedule, changed careers, or moved somewhere else. As you’ve considered various changes, have you delayed taking action, waiting for the ‘right’ time? I see this frequently.

You might be waiting for a particular season, ideal circumstances, or a sense of readiness that may never arrive. Sometimes the reasons for delaying action sound like this:

  • “I’ll wait until winter to start.”

  • “I just need to finish the school year.”

  • “I have to get through this busy period before doing anything else.”

  • “I’ll start when things settle down.”

  • “I need a full day to get started.”

  • “I’m waiting until I feel ready.”

  • “After the holidays, things will be less hectic.”

  • “I’ll start when I can give it my full attention.”

  • “I don’t know what to do next.”

  • “I want things to be different, but I don’t know if I have the energy to do the work.”

  • “I don’t have the time. I never do.”

In a recent conversation with my virtual organizing colleagues, we explored when people are most likely to get organized and how marketing messages tie that process to the seasons. As someone who lives in the Northeast, I am deeply influenced by the changing seasons. I often use nature’s seasonal cadence to review and reset each quarter.

You’ve heard phrases like:

  • “Fresh Start for the New Year” (winter)

  • “Spring Cleaning” (spring)

  • “Summer Refresh” (summer)

  • “Get Organized Before the Holidays” (fall)

But changing seasons and their accompanying marketing messages aren’t the only cues. Instead of waiting for a particular season to pursue possibilities, what if you considered the Now Season? Thinking of this as your Now Season shifts the focus from waiting for the right time to considering what you can do now. You don’t need to wait one more day, focus on one more obstacle, or delay any more.

Make this your season of change as you journey toward what’s possible. Obstacles will come, but don’t let them stop you. Face them head-on. Reach out for help if needed. Take the next tiny step.

This is the Now Season. Make this your season.

 

 

 

3. Imagine Possibilities

This idea comes from a quote shared with me by my good friend, Yota Schneider, a life coach, women’s circle facilitator, and meditation guide. The quote captures the natural push-and-pull between life as we know it and what might be possible.

Robin Wall Kimmerer said,

“We live in the tension between what is and what is possible.”

What a beautiful truth to recognize. Perhaps more than anything, this idea acknowledges that you live as you do now. It’s what you know and what you’re used to. It’s a safe place to be.

At the same time, whether you are happy with life as you know it or not, you can imagine other possibilities. Those could be major changes or tiny tweaks. Perhaps that tension between “what is and what is possible” creates the opening for change.

What else might be possible? What would you like to pursue?

 

 

 

 

What Can Exploring Possibilities Look Like?

Be mindful of your present capacity, consider the “Now Season” your time for change, and stay open to what’s possible. These ideas can help you get unstuck and move forward in a compassionate, inspired way.

Which ideas resonate with you? What feels more possible now? I’d love to hear your thoughts, and I invite you to join the conversation.

 

 

 

 

How Can I Help?

Do you feel overwhelmed, stuck, or disorganized? You don't have to face this alone. I’m here to help! Get unstuck and make progress. Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward—with a local feel and a global reach.

Getting organized, making progress, and pursuing what’s possible are all doable, especially with support.

Let’s talk! I’m easy to reach.

 
 
3 Fantastic Reasons to Declutter Now Instead of One Day

Is your life overflowing with stuff? Even if your belongings have ‘homes’ and you know where to find them, does the sheer volume feel overwhelming? Drawing on more than thirty years of working with clients and my own life experience, I’ve seen how the accumulation of stuff happens. It’s a slow (and sometimes not-so-slow) creep of collecting. 

One day, you look around and wonder:

  • Where did all this stuff come from?

  • Do I still need these things?

  • Are they taking up too much space, management time, and mental energy?

  • Is all this stuff necessary for the life I’m living now?

  • What will happen to my belongings when I’m gone?

  • What would life feel like with less?

  • What would it feel like to align what I own with the life I’m living?

There are many ways to think about clutter and the physical items that accompany your life. Let’s look at three reasons why decluttering sooner rather than later could benefit you. If even one idea resonates with you, it could be the cue and motivation you need to begin the decluttering process.

 

 

 

3 Compelling Reasons to Declutter Now Instead of Waiting

1. 300,000!

A frequently cited statistic in the organizing industry and media is the number of things we accumulate. Estimates suggest that the average American household may contain hundreds of thousands of items. The number often cited is 300,000. That’s a lot of stuff!

Whether that’s your number is a separate question. I don’t know what our household number is. Out of curiosity, I counted some objects in a few areas, and I was surprised by what I found:

  • 778 – Number of items in the bedroom clothing closet, including clothes, hangers, shoes, shoe boxes, and some accessories. We have additional clothes and shoes in the dressers and other areas.

  • 289 – Number of items in the dining room china cabinet. We have more dishes in the kitchen.

  • 49 – Number of items in the desk pen cup. I have many more writing instruments in other areas and in the supply cabinet.

The 1,116 items counted so far represent only a tiny portion of what we have in our household. I'm not sure whether we actually own 300,000 items. The idea is to recognize what you have and align it with what you want, need, and use.

By focusing on specific areas and doing a quick count, I spotted several things that could go. For instance, I don’t like all the pens that have landed in the pen cup—time to declutter. Even in the china cabinet, there are several dishes I don’t want that could go. While I regularly go through my clothing closet, more could be edited out.

Being aware of how much you have will help you declutter the things that no longer matter or are not useful to you.

 

 

2. Yikes!

Clutter can cause stress and affect your ability to focus. My clients have described how clutter affects them as,

  • “I have so much clutter I can’t even think.”

  • “I don’t want to feel overwhelmed by my stuff.”

  • “The clutter is distracting, and I can’t focus.”

  • “Clutter makes me feel agitated and angry.”

  • “I don’t want to feel clutter-related stress and anxiety.”

Research backs up the experience my clients describe. UCLA Center on Everyday Lives of Families (CELF) conducted research and discovered that “cluttered home environments were associated with elevated cortisol levels – especially among women who described their homes as chaotic or stressful.” Cortisol is the hormone produced as part of the body’s stress response.

Neuroscience research on cognitive overload and attention, including Princeton University’s work, shows that visual clutter, or “competing visual stimuli,” reduces the brain’s ability to focus and process information efficiently.

Knowing how clutter can affect your stress, attention, and functioning makes a compelling case for decluttering sooner rather than later.

“Clutter can cause stress and affect your ability to focus.”
— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

3. For love.

Recently, I came across an Instagram video featuring Alice D’Antoni Phillips, a psychologist-turned-chef. She discussed the emotional struggle of letting go of sentimental items while downsizing. Alice also described letting go as “an act of care.” She didn’t want to burden her loved ones with decisions about her stuff after she’s gone.

Then she said a beautiful phrase that stuck with me. It’s so gentle, compassionate, and loving. Alice said, “Easing the path of life for the people you love.” In that, she acknowledged that we’re all going to be gone at some point. We are born. We live. We die. That’s the reality.

The other part was about making it easier for the people you love by handling your stuff before you go. Making decisions and decluttering now are expressions of love.

It’s never too soon to start decluttering. Your loved ones will thank you.

 

 

 

 

Why Declutter Now?

There are countless reasons to declutter now, without delay. Some might be:

  • Your clutter is causing undue stress.

  • You have more things than you use, need, or want.

  • You want to make decisions about your belongings so your loved ones don’t have to after you’re gone.

  • You want to downsize and prepare to move.

  • You’re fed up with all the stuff.

  • You want greater clarity of mind and in your space.

What are your compelling reasons to declutter? What is motivating you? Which ideas resonate most? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

 

 

 

 

How Can I Help?

Do you feel overwhelmed or disorganized? Is the clutter in your life causing stress and keeping you from living the life you want? I’m here to help! You don’t have to do this alone. Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – Local feel with a global reach.

Let’s connect! I’m easy to reach.

Decluttering, getting organized, and living with more ease are possible, especially with support.

 
 
12 Favorite Organizing Ideas of the Year That Are Unique and Hopeful

As this year comes to an end, I love reflecting on the past before planning for the future. In this part of my year-end review, I chose my favorite organizing concepts, one from each month of 2025, to share with you.

I hope you discover or rediscover a seed idea that inspires and brings balance to your New Year.

Where do you want more organization and balance? Which people and projects will receive your time, energy, and attention?

If you’re ready for a fresh start, to embrace change, take your next step, let go, declutter, enlist help, and more, this is for you.


12 Favorite Organizing Ideas of 2025

“My reset buttons are just little things.”
— Glennon Doyle
“Encourage change through a lens of positive expectation.”
— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™
“…quietly do the next most necessary thing.”
— Carl Jung
 

  

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.”
— Hans Hoffman
“Commitment is the powerhouse of the mind decluttering strategy.”
— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™
“What will my future-self thank me for doing now?”
— Stephanie Sarkis, PhD
 

 

“The smallest effort can spark the motivation you’ve been missing.”
— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™
“It’s a journey to discover what helps you feel, be, and stay organized.”
— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™
“Bring curiosity to a dilemma.”
— Cameron Gott, PCC
 

 

“The only limits to the possibilities in your life tomorrow are the ‘buts’ you use today.”
— Les Brown
“I can transform temporary chaos into an opportunity to reimagine.”
— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™
“When the mind is tense, so is the body. When the body is tense, so is the mind.”
— Meg Josephson, LCSW

 

 

Grateful for You

Thank you for being an essential part of this vibrant community. I am deeply grateful to you. We’ve had an incredible year of conversations and sharing. You bring learning, growth, support, and inspiration to every exchange. Thank you for participating and sharing the best of who you are.

What inspired you this year? Which organizing concept resonates most with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

 

 

 

How Can I Help?

Do you want help decluttering, organizing, planning, or creating more balance? I’d love to help! Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – Local feel with a global reach.

Let’s connect! I’m easy to reach.

Getting organized, finding balance, and experiencing more calm are possible, especially with support.

 
 
What Becomes Immediately Achievable When You Get Out of Your Own Way?

The things you say or think can act as possibility-blockers, preventing you from moving forward. They can be subtle or obvious. You might not notice how these phrases get in your way.

The blockers may sound like:

  • “I can’t do this.”

  • “It’s too hard.”

  • “I can’t tolerate the discomfort.”

  • “I’m just not good at this.”

  • “I’m unable to figure this out.”

  • “I don’t know where to start.”

  • “I don’t have any skills.”

  • “Nothing ever seems to work out.”

  • “I’m really frustrated, and I don’t know what to do.”

  • “I never finish anything.”

  • “It has always been like this, and I can’t change it.

  • “I’m feeling totally overwhelmed.”

  • “Nobody ever taught me how to do this.”

  • “I can barely get through today, let alone think about tomorrow.”

  • “I’m stuck where I am.”

  • “I’m too busy and don’t have time to find a solution.”

  • “I can’t imagine what’s possible because my mind and space are so cluttered.”

That’s a lot to take in. Have you noticed yourself repeating any of these phrases? Maybe you have different go-to messages that aren’t helping you. Take a moment to identify which thoughts are shutting you down.

What did you find out?

Focusing on negative messages reinforces your lack of agency. You are paying attention to defeat. While you might not be able to eliminate negativity completely, there is hope. In fact, here is a three-step approach that can help. It consists of awareness, reframing, and action.

 

 

A Three-Step Approach: Transform the Impossible into Possible

Step 1: Develop Awareness

“The only limits to the possibilities in your life tomorrow are the ‘buts’ you use today.”
— Les Brown

Notice the messages that aren’t serving you. Each time you repeat them, those neural pathways in your brain become stronger. The applies to positive messages, too. Becoming aware of your thoughts is the first step in changing them.

  • Observe and record.

  • Write down your negative thoughts and messages without judgment.

  • Make a note of how frequently they ‘visit’ you.

 

 

Step 2: Experiment with Reframing

“Take your mind off the problems for a moment, and focus on the positive possibilities. Consider how very much you are able to do.”
— Ralph Marston

Once you recognize which negative messages appear and how often they do, you’re ready for this next step.

When you notice yourself repeating the undesired words, use that as a cue to reframe them. Make a mental or written note. Intentionally craft a statement that reduces the power of negative thoughts and promotes healthier, more proactive messages.

Reframing examples:

  •  “I can’t do this,” can become “I’m learning to do this.”

  • “I don’t know where to start,” can become “Just start anywhere.”

  • “Nobody ever taught me how to do this,” can become “I can learn and will ask for help.”

  • “Nothing ever seems to work out,” can become “The past doesn’t have a hold over my future.”

 

  

Step 3: Do Something

“The possibilities are numerous once we decide to act and not react.”
— George Bernard Shaw

Negative messages can cause doubt and inaction. One way to overcome them is by taking action. After trying out the reframes, you’re ready to move on to this last step.

Ask yourself, “What tiny action can I take to move this project or situation forward?”

Make the action as small and simple as possible. That’s where the real change begins. By doing something, you shift from “I can’t” to “I can.”

Taking action changes your thinking and behavior. It helps you move from feeling stuck to being proactive.

Action also helps you to:

  • Be more creative when facing challenges,

  • Build momentum,

  • Foster a sense of agency,

  • Achieve your goals, and

  • Nourish hope.

 

 

 

 

What Is Possible When You Change Your Message?

You’re human. You’ll have internal and external messages that are negative and unhelpful. However, by learning to acknowledge, reframe, and take action, you can change the course of today and the future. Words and thoughts matter. Are yours supporting or hindering your growth? Change the messages so you can thrive.

Which ideas resonate most with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

 

 

 

 

How Can I Help?

Do you feel overwhelmed, stuck, or disorganized? I’m here to help! Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – Local feel with a global reach.

Let’s talk. I’m easy to reach.

 

Getting organized and making progress is possible, especially with support.