In the northeast, the leaves are changing, and it’s a season of transition. Is fall the unofficial moving season? It seems so, especially since many of my clients and kiddos are in the process of moving, downsizing, right-sizing, or transitioning.

Moving involves many decisions and plans, which can be overwhelming. The good news is you don’t have to do it alone. Reduce your stress and enjoy the benefits of getting help from a virtual professional organizer like me.

Depending on your stage in the moving process, motivation can vary significantly. For example, if you're moving within a month because your lease is ending or your house was just sold, the limited time creates pressure that boosts motivation. However, if you're planning to move years from now or moved several years ago but haven't fully unpacked or settled, your motivation might feel important but less urgent.

No matter what stage of moving you’re in—pre-move, during, or post-move—having the right support makes an enormous difference. Whether you hire a professional organizer or ask family and friends for help, creating your team will help things go more smoothly and reduce stress.

Because you know what they say—moving is one of the top ten most stressful things we do in life.

• In a 2020 survey by OnePoll for North American Van Lines, 64% of respondents said that their recent move was one of the most stressful experiences they ever had.

• In a 2022 Move.org survey, 38% of respondents said moving was more stressful than parting with a significant other.

• In a 2025 survey by HireAHelper, 29% of participants said they’d rather get a divorce than move again. 55% of participants rated moving as highly stressful.

5 Ways a Virtual Professional Organizer Helps You Navigate a Move

1. Clarify Your Why

Your reasons for moving might seem obvious. However, an organizer can help you clarify these reasons and keep them relevant as you make decisions. There are many choices to consider, and decision fatigue can set in. Keeping your ‘why’ visible helps you stay focused, encourages the right actions, and boosts your motivation. 

Maybe your why is to:

• Simplify life—own less, manage less, and reduce your financial obligations.

• Consider the future—downsize and organize your belongings now so your family won’t have the burden of doing it after you’re gone.

• Get more space—Your current living situation is too cramped, and you need extra room for your growing family.

• Relocate temporarily—A family or work situation requires you to move, even if it’s not an ideal scenario.

• Reimagine life—You’ve experienced a major life change, like losing a loved one, starting a new job, becoming an empty nester, or retiring. Now you want a fresh start in a new place.

2. Establish Timeline and Pace

As an organizer, I enter someone’s life at a particular moment in time. Sometimes, I’m contacted well in advance of a move, giving enough time to plan and edit. Other times, I engaged right before or after a move. Every scenario requires a different timeline to help someone go from where they are to where they want to be.

Working together, we can create a schedule, even a loose one, to put a reality check on what’s possible to accomplish within a certain timeframe. Many considerations will affect your timing, including:

• Budget

• Urgency

• Time available to focus on the project

• Life demands more than just moving

• Support team you have or need to assemble

Pacing is just as essential as understanding the overall timeline. If you're years away from moving, you can proceed at a slower, steady pace. However, if you're moving this month, the pace needs to be much faster. You might need extra help to finish your move.

3. Edit and Organize Your Stuff

Even if you don’t see yourself as a ‘collector,’ you probably have plenty of things to edit before and even after your move. You know how it goes, right? As humans, we accumulate a lot of stuff. And if you’ve been in your home for a long time, you likely have even more stuff.

Enlisting help from a virtual professional organizer during the editing phase is invaluable. I can support that process in various ways, including:

• Asking good questions

• Weighing your options

• Providing focus as you sort through your things

• Establishing decision-making parameters

• Sharing letting go strategies

• Helping determine which category something belongs to: Keep, Toss, Donate, Sell, Route to storage, or Give to a specific person

While it’s best to edit your belongings before moving, that’s not always possible. Letting go often continues after the move, even if you edited beforehand. If you’ve already moved, I can help you with ongoing editing, decluttering, refining, space planning, organizing, and deciding about the last 10% of items that haven’t been unpacked.

“Even if you don’t see yourself as a ‘collector,’ you probably have plenty of things to edit before and even after your move.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

4. Have Access to Trusted Resources

Throughout every stage of a move, you’ll need various resources for donating, selling, recycling, or disposing of items. You might also need referrals for vendors like movers, junk haulers, or suggestions for organizing products.

With over 30 years in the organizing industry, I’ve gathered hundreds of resources to share with my clients. I also have a network of industry colleagues who generously share their resources whenever I need a referral for something or someone I don’t already have.

5. Collaborate with a Thought Partner

Moving can feel like a huge jumble of puzzle pieces. Although the pieces will eventually fit together to create a new, beautiful picture, it currently feels chaotic and overwhelming. Moves and related tasks can be emotionally draining.

However, working with a thought partner helps you make sense of those pieces more quickly and feel supported throughout the process.

A thought partner can help you:

• Get unstuck

• Reduce overwhelm

• Identify your next step

• Brainstorm solutions to obstacles

• Develop checklists

• Encourage action

• Discuss your choices and options

• Provide accountability

• Boost motivation

Can You Benefit from Virtual Organizing Help?

While physical tasks like packing and unpacking are not things I assist with as a virtual professional organizer, there are many other areas, as discussed, that I can help with.

Location isn’t a barrier. Virtual organizing lets me work globally. Even though I’m based in New York, I can help whether you’re in California, Canada, or somewhere else.

Virtual organizing sessions are focused and short, lasting 60 to 90 minutes each. We’ll work together on your goals, then you’ll have time afterward to work independently, with ongoing support to repeat that process.

Are you moving right now? If so, how can you benefit from enlisting help from a virtual professional organizer? 

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.

• Schedule a Discovery Call

• Fill out the Contact form

• Email me at linda@ohsoorganized.com or

• Call 914-271-5673

Getting organized is possible, especially with support.

The newest release (v39) of the “What’s Interesting?” feature has my latest finds, which inform, educate, and relate to organizing and life balance. These unique, inspiring, embracing change 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 Embracing Change Discoveries

1. Interesting Read – Life Change

Do you want more happiness in your life? In The Fun Habit – How the Pursuit of Joy and Wonder Can Change Your Life, behavioral scientist, organizational psychologist, and author Mike Rucker, Ph.D., shares how happiness is a state of mind which can feel elusive and dependent upon your circumstance. Yet fun is action-oriented and something within your control. He says, “In contrast to happiness, I’ve come to learn fun is less think and more do. You’re either having fun or you’re not.”

Backed by research and personal experiences, Mike shares ways to be intentional about fun. While he is not opposed to striving, he says, “instead of auditing your calendar for productivity, audit it for fun.” Use the PLAY model to identify and sort activities based on their level of challenge and degree of fun. Create your “fun file” to document and prioritize your fun habit. This book is for you if you’re ready to change and add more delight to your life. Mike says, “We don’t get through life without enduring periods of disappointment, pain, and loss. Fun is the magical balm that makes the slings and arrows bearable.”

2. Interesting Perspective - Slow Change

Change can happen quickly, but more often, it occurs slowly after percolation and transition. During a recent talk, Todd Henry, author, speaker, and creative thinker, described “how ideas tend to come in seasons, not moments.” He started to say, “there is a slow emergence.” Instead, he accidentally combined the words and said, “there is a slowmergence.” A new phrase was born.

Todd further described slowmergence and said, “We tend to think that ideas are sudden clicks, or a-ha’s, but they more often emerge as networks and patterns over time until one inciting incident illuminates what’s been developing for days or weeks.”

I often see this with my clients when they are seeking change. While it might appear as if a change is happening suddenly, it usually has been simmering for a long time. There can be an “inciting incident,” as Todd mentions, that brings clarity and action.

“Fun is the magical balm that makes the slings and arrows bearable.”

— Mike Rucker, Ph.D.

3. Interesting Film – Navigate Change

Recently, I had the joy of privately screening Kate Schermerhorn’s incredible award-winning documentary film, Do I Need This? The film is about “American excess and the stuff from which happiness is truly made.” While the stats are compelling, with American homes containing an average of 300,000 objects, or 93% of Americans using their garages for storage, this film explores so much more.

Kate shares about the environmental impact of our stuff while weaving in her family’s story and personal experiences of acquiring and letting go. These themes are supported by interviews including the leading expert in Hoarding Disorder, Dr. Randy Frost, Plentitude author and economist Juliet Schor, and artists and environmental activists Judith Selby Lang and Richard Lang.

Change is another theme in the film. We witness shifts in relationships with people and their stuff. Dr. Frost recognizes how “possessions often have an essence for us.”  That “essence” can make it challenging to release. Kate said, “I just want to hold onto the past while simultaneously letting go.” This film is an honest, beautiful journey about openings for change and the impact of stuff on our lives and the planet.

4. Interesting Product – Easy Change

There are times while going through a change when you wish it were “easy” or “done already.” There’s nothing like adding some humor to a stressful situation. Knock Knock has a great way of infusing playfulness into their organizing products.

The I Just Want It All pad brings whimsy and order to task and change management. You can select the options quoted above along with the third choice, “dipped in chocolate,” and then list your things to do below. The bottom of the pad asks, “Is that so wrong?” I think not. Change can be challenging, but with this list, you’ll be able to focus with a smile.

5. Interesting Thought – Accept Change

Change can be messy and challenging. It involves doing new things, altering habits, reframing perspectives, and stepping outside your comfort zone. You will make mistakes, experience adversity, feel vulnerable, practice new skills, and test your patience. It’s normal to have some “oops” moments along the way. In fact, it’s a great sign which is a change indicator. Embrace the mistakes. They will bring growth, learning, and the changes you seek.

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