One of the meaningful qualities we share as humans is the capacity to feel grateful. Yet how often do you notice and acknowledge the people, resources, and experiences you are grateful for?

Think about that for a moment. What have you noticed? Have you been focused on gratitude, or on what’s stressful, not working, or overwhelming you?

This isn’t a judgment. It’s an observation that you can make space for gratitude even during difficult times. And when things are going smoothly, practicing gratitude can make moments feel more joyful.

The holidays can bring a spectrum of emotions, from uplifting ones like wonder, happiness, love, and hope to more difficult ones such as worry, grief, loneliness, and sadness.

No matter what you’re going through right now, practicing gratitude can bring more happiness and ease to your holidays. Gratitude won’t solve all your challenges or make them disappear. However, expressing gratitude can offer a welcome perspective.

5 Gratitude Quotes to Enhance Your Holiday Season

As you read the gratitude quotes, notice which one resonates most with you. Consider selecting just that one message to guide you through the holiday season. Capture it. Write it down and keep it where you can see it.

Gratitude can enhance and transform how you experience life.

1. Happiness Enhancer

“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.”

— Brené Brown

2. The Brain Knows

“Regularly practicing gratitude can rewire our brains to become more optimistic.”

— Michelle Gielan

3. A Beautiful Feeling

“Gratitude is the closest thing to beauty manifested in an emotion.”

— Mindy Kaling

4. Just One Thing

“Focusing on one thing that you are grateful for increases the energy of gratitude and rises the joy inside yourself.”

— Oprah Winfrey

5. Take a Pause

“There are so many things in the world that could be invisible to the material eye, and when you take a moment to stop, to pause, to be present and notice them – that’s gratitude.”

— Jay Shetty

Where Is Gratitude Showing Up for You?

After exploring gratitude, are you thinking about what you’re thankful for right now? From something simple, like enjoying a sip of hot tea that warms you inside and out, to the profound, like being grateful to be alive, gratitude can show up in so many ways. What kinds of things are you noticing?

How would things change if you infused this season with more gratitude? Which quote resonates most with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts and 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! Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward—with a local feel and a global reach.

Getting organized, making progress, and feeling less overwhelmed are possible, especially with support.

Let’s talk! I’m easy to reach.

• Schedule a discovery call

• Fill out the contact form

• Email me at linda@ohsoorganized.com

• Call 914-271-5673

Are you excited about the holiday season or already feeling overwhelmed? You might feel both. Mixed emotions are normal. Perhaps you’re feeling positive anticipation because you’ll get to spend more time with your family and friends. At the same time, you might also feel overwhelmed by everything you have to prepare.

I’ve been there, and so have many of my clients. I always look forward to extra time with loved ones, whether we’re hosting or visiting. Yet I also recognize that without self-compassion and planning, I can easily become overwhelmed. My goal each holiday season is to lean into the beauty of the holidays while doing ‘just enough’ planning to experience all the love and joy, too.

If you want more joy and less stress this holiday season, consider focusing on three areas that can help: thoughts, time, and things. If working on all three feels like too much, choose just one. Even one small shift can make a positive difference.

How to Easily Prepare Yourself for the Holiday Season

1. Your Thoughts Matter

The mind is powerful, and what you feed it matters. What thoughts are you focusing on?

Are your thoughts:

• Nourishing or negative?

• Making you feel more anxious or more self-compassionate?

• Tearing yourself down or reminding yourself, “You’ve got this”?

• Keeping you stuck in the past or helping you focus on the present?

• Focusing on everything that could go wrong or imagining what will work out?

• Stressing over the details or reminding yourself that you can ask for help?

We’re human, and we’re not perfect. I understand that it takes work to feed the brain positive thoughts, especially when you’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed. However, during those times, it becomes even more essential to speak to yourself with kindness, compassion, and positivity.

When you catch yourself heading down the path that fuels distress and overwhelm, stop, breathe, and notice. Then reframe. Just as the body needs nourishment to thrive, so does your brain. In this case, the nourishment your brain needs includes thoughts that lift you up, boost your agency, and foster compassion.

Focus on positive thoughts that resonate with you. Or try saying one of these sentences out loud or in your head:

• Just take the next small step.

• Take a breath.

• I will ask for help.

• I can work through this.

• I’ve got this!

What helps you refocus your mindset on the positive?

2. Your Time is Limited

One interesting aspect of the holiday season is that it has a distinct start and end. Honestly, that’s a good thing. It doesn’t go on indefinitely. If it helps, imagine the holiday season contained in a not-too-big bucket that holds a few months.

How will you fill your bucket? Will you:

• Overfill it until it spills over?

• Fill it comfortably, leaving a little room?

• Fill it only slightly, leaving plenty of free space?

It’s worth thinking about how you want your holidays to feel. It’s easy to get swept up in saying “yes” to every invite and doing more than you have time, capacity, or energy for. Think of your ‘time bucket’ as a visual boundary. Let’s extend that idea and consider your personal boundaries and how they shape your time.

When thinking about how you want to spend your time during the holidays, what do you want to invite in? Do you want:

• A lot of unplanned downtime

• Many parties and gatherings

• Quiet time with family and friends

• Travel time

• Time to make progress on special projects

• Time for yourself

The wonderful part is that you get to decide. It’s not too late to think about what you want first. That way, when an invite or request arrives, it's easier to say “yes” or “no.”

Here’s the most important part: Once you decide on your ideal holiday time mix, embrace it fully. You can adjust your plans and be flexible when needed. However, planning ahead can bring more ease and reduce decision fatigue.

What will your holiday time bucket include?

“We’re human, and we’re not perfect.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

3. Your Things Don’t Have to Overwhelm You

Have you noticed how the volume of stuff in your space seems to increase during the holidays? More belongings mean more to manage, and additional clutter can increase feelings of overwhelm.

Holiday thing-overwhelm can include:

• Gift buying and receiving

• Decorating and putting things away

• Preparing food and cleaning up

• Cards and other papers piling up

• Guests’ belongings ‘living’ in your space

• More recycling than usual

• Existing household stuff and clutter

If your goal is to have more ease and less overwhelm, editing and decluttering before the holidays helps tremendously. This might be the point where you start to panic at the thought of decluttering and letting go. I understand. However, acknowledging some uncomfortable thoughts and taking action anyway can make a meaningful difference.

If decluttering your entire home isn't realistic in the time you have, focus on one to three key areas that will have the biggest impact.

Areas that tend to get the most use during the holidays include:

• Kitchen

• Living room

• Dining room

• Guest bathroom

• Entryway

• Guest bedroom

To make decluttering less complicated, consider these ideas:

• Determine how much time you have to focus on decluttering.

• Select only one to three areas to declutter.

• Schedule ‘decluttering time’ on your calendar.

• Focus on a decluttering sprint (15–45 minutes per area) rather than a deep dive.

• Prioritize clearing surfaces and floor space.

• Start with one area, such as the kitchen.

• Relocate anything that belongs elsewhere.

• Box or bag items for donation.

• Put other items in the trash or recycling.

• If you get stuck deciding, give yourself a pass for now and move on to the next thing.

• After you complete your sprint, take a break. Return when you’re ready to declutter the next area.

• Repeat until you’ve decluttered the areas you chose.

If you run out of time or energy, that’s OK, too. Even if you only get to one area, this is still a win. You can always reset and return to decluttering after the holidays.

Which area or areas would you most like to declutter before the holidays?

What Will a Compassionate, Human Approach to the Holidays Look Like to You?

Invite more ease, joy, and compassion this holiday season. Choose progress, not perfection. Give your attention to these three areas:

• Focus on reframing your thoughts.

• Decide what deserves your time.

• Make your physical spaces easier to manage.

Which ideas resonate with you? What will make the holidays less stressful and more joyful? 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 feeling less overwhelmed are possible, especially with support.

Let’s talk! I’m easy to reach.

• Schedule a discovery call

• Fill out the contact form

• Email me at linda@ohsoorganized.com

• Call 914-271-5673

During the long holiday and very hot weekend (heat wave, folks), I made a fascinating discovery about motivation and goals. The funny thing was that I hadn’t been searching for this insight, but when the light bulb turned on, I knew I had to share it with you.

Here is the backstory. This past weekend, many people gathered with family and friends to celebrate July 4th, honor the United States’ 250th Anniversary, watch fireworks, or go to BBQs. My husband and I didn’t do those things. Instead, we sought relief from the heat and opted to go somewhere we could submerge ourselves in water. We had several ideas and chose a local outdoor town pool we hadn’t visited in decades. 

After securing our passes and paying the entrance fees, we set up our chairs and towels, lathered on sunscreen, and headed into the pool. The water’s temperature was perfect and a welcome relief from the sun and heat.

Now that you have the context, I’ll explain what happened and how you can apply this approach to achieve your goals and sustain your motivation.

The Pool-Inspired Motivation Approach

I love most things water-related! This includes swimming, kayaking, going to the beach, washing dishes, taking showers or baths, looking at water, listening to water sounds, watering plants, and much more.

Swimming is one of my favorite water activities, especially in a pool. There are no fish or other sea creatures to contend with. It’s just pure, clear water to swim in.

I sloshed and swam for hours. I cannot express how much I enjoyed swimming, treading water, and going from one end of the pool to the other. I wasn’t trying to go quickly, but I was aware of reaching the end, touching the ‘goal,’ and turning around to do it again.

Even though reaching the far end of the pool was my goal, the journey was the most joyful part. I swam slowly, luxuriating in the feel of the water, the motion of my arms and legs pulling me forward, and the pleasure of cooling off from the summer heat. I was so happy that I couldn’t stop smiling.

Then it hit me. How often do you get so focused on your goal that you rush through the doing? Instead of enjoying the actions that move you from where you are to where you want to be, you neglect to delight in the process.

While reaching the end of the pool, turning around, and heading for the other end was the goal, it wasn’t what propelled me forward. It was the joy of the doing, the immersive, gleeful swimming experience, that kept me going. Hours went by without my realizing how much time had passed.

The fun of doing (not thinking about swimming, but actually swimming) became a natural motivator, overshadowing the goal.

“How often do you get so focused on your goal that you rush through the doing?”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

How Can I Apply This Motivation Approach to My Goals?

What goals do you have for the next month or the upcoming quarter?

Do you want to:

• Organize your closets

• Downsize or move

• Create more flow in your spaces

• Design a better schedule

• Work on your finances

• Release things you don’t use, like, or need

Think about ways to infuse more joy and fun into the organizing process. While it probably won’t involve swimming, one of these options might work, such as:

• Develop a more positive mindset. Shift from “I have to do this” to “I get to do this.”

• Find an organizing buddy (a friend, family member, or a professional organizer like me) you enjoy working with. My clients often tell me they enjoy the organizing process more when I’m helping them. One client said, “Linda’s joy and energy are so infectious. Who knew organizing could be so fun?!!!”

• Activate your senses. Being more mindful and aware of what you are doing can make the experience more pleasurable. Feel the objects as you edit them. Make your environment more uplifting by playing your favorite music, opening a window to let in fresh air, or lighting a scented candle. 

Motivation often comes after action. Making actions more enjoyable will naturally boost motivation. ‘Swim’ your way forward.

Fun Is the Natural Motivator

Goals can feel achievable or lofty. Either way, you can get stuck, deflated, or demotivated. However, when you make the journey more enjoyable, motivation will grow exponentially.

What nurtures your motivation? How could you benefit from the pool-inspired motivational approach? Which goals could you apply this strategy to? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

How Can I Help?

Do you feel overwhelmed, disorganized, and stuck? Are you struggling with a lack of motivation? 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.

• Schedule a Discovery Call

• Fill out the Contact Form

• Email me at linda@ohsoorganized.com or

• Call 914-271-5673

Getting organized, staying motivated, and reaching your goals are possible, especially with support.

What are you holding onto that’s getting in your way? Are there physical things, like clothing that no longer fits, stacks of magazines you’ll never read, or expired food and medicine? Are there habits that don’t serve you, such as not getting enough sleep, doomscrolling on your devices, or acquiring things without ever editing them? Are there behaviors that create more stress, such as constantly berating yourself, ruminating on interactions, or not taking time for play or joy?

Are these things holding you back from living the life you want? Do you want more calm, joy, or ease?

What happens, though, when you begin to let go of clutter and the things that create blockages and stress? What happens when you approach them in a new way? It’s not that challenges won’t appear or that stress triggers will disappear. However, when you begin to work with them differently and let go, you will have more bandwidth to embrace the good stuff.

A Tiny Shifts Learning Journey

21 Days

For the past few months, I’ve been learning from clinical psychologist and author Dr. Elisha Goldstein. Although he’s been on my radar for years, I signed up for a 21-Day Tiny Shifts Experience in January.

The program featured short, daily practices designed to help you better manage stress by supporting your nervous system. By the end of the course, I was better able to regulate my emotions through simple, intentional breathing practices.

6 Weeks

The experience was so wonderful that I wanted to learn more. Next, I registered for Elisha’s 6-Week Tiny Shifts Emotional Longevity course. It included two live sessions each week: one led by Elisha and the other an Integration Lab led by mindfulness teacher Susan Beckman Reagan.

There were simple, doable practices to work on between sessions, along with a virtual platform for communication. We learned more about emotional loops, supporting the nervous system, and the 4Rs: Recognize, Release, Refocus, and Reinforce.

The Book

Simultaneously, Elisha released his new book, Tiny Shifts – How Emotional Health Transforms Stress, Relationships, and Longevity. While I was taking the courses, I read it, which helped me better assimilate what I was learning.

Elisha says, “Real change doesn’t come from doing more. Feel free to let go of that burden. It comes from shifting how we relate to what’s already here-one tiny emotional pivot at a time.”

If you haven’t read Tiny Shifts yet, I highly recommend it. Elisha presents his research-backed, doable strategies clearly and compassionately while sharing captivating stories.

The Retreat

The next part of my learning journey took place last weekend. Elisha offered a three-day Emotional Longevity Retreat at Kripalu in the Berkshires. It was especially meaningful to attend in person, since the previous courses were online. My husband, Steve, went, too.

What I had learned before was clarified or reinforced during the retreat. It was an emotional weekend—lots of crying, smiling, laughing, meditating, and pausing. While the strategies are simple, applying them in the moment takes practice. I’m still working on it and remain hopeful. I can see my progress.

“What would it feel like to let go and embrace more joy and ease in your life?”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

Embracing the Good Stuff

In these chaotic, uncertain times, there is no shortage of things beyond our control or that make us anxious. We can dwell there or let go. Elisha’s practices help tremendously with letting go. When you do, you will have more capacity to

• Embrace joy, play, fun, and quiet.

• Be present and available for the people and relationships in your life.

• Have more ease.

• Regroup more quickly from stressful situations.

• Engage in better self-care and compassion.

• Release the things, thoughts, habits, and behaviors that no longer serve you.

• Be available for all the good stuff in your life.

What does the “good stuff” look like to you? A few years ago, I created my own list, which you can find here: Are You Making Time for ‘The Good Stuff?’ What’s one thing on your list?

Letting Go to Live with More Joy and Ease

What are you holding on to that causes you stress? What is keeping you from moving forward? What would it feel like to let go and embrace more joy and ease in your life?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

How Can I Help?

Do you feel overwhelmed or disorganized? Do you want to let go of what’s holding you back but feel stuck or unsure where to start? 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.

• Schedule a Discovery Call

• Fill out the Contact Form

• Email me at linda@ohsoorganized.com or

• Call 914-271-5673

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