On a recent family beach vacation in the Outer Banks, I was lying in the sand, looking up at the clouds. They were slowly shifting. The clouds weren’t moving quickly but undulating and reshaping themselves ever so slightly. As I watched them, my thoughts felt connected to their movement. It was the beginning of the vacation. I wasn’t relaxed yet. I, too, was slowly adjusting. I was attempting to let my motor slow down and just be. Like the clouds, I was in a transition.

Transitions can be easy or difficult. Many factors influence how we process them, such as temperament and attitude. Transitions can be successful, painful, or somewhere in between. While the transition I just described was about shifting from being in the busy mode to a relaxed state, we often find ourselves in other kinds of transitions. They include getting organized, having children, moving, changing jobs, becoming empty nesters, losing loved ones, and many other significant times.

Transitions usually make me uncomfortable. With my most recent, launching our youngest off to college, I’ve used many strategies to help me through this time of different. These concepts can be helpful for all types of transitions, and I’m happy to share them with you.

10 Ways to Navigate Successful Transitions

• Floating – Allow yourself time to wander without any pressure. Don’t make any radical decisions while in transition.

• Thinking – Indulge in your thoughts. Reminisce, future think, and go where the mind wants to go. It’s all about processing your thoughts, the positive and the negative.

• Feeling – Allow yourself to feel. Cry if you need to. Laugh if you want to. Don’t deny or hold back your feelings.

• Connecting – Communicate with others. Use all possible outlets such as email, telephone, texting, old-fashioned letter writing, or face-to-face contact. Extend yourself so that you’re not alone.

• Writing – I’ve always been a journal writer and am now a blogger. If you’re inclined, writing is another helpful way to process and document your thoughts.

• Being – It’s OK to just be without doing. Get rid of the “shoulds.” If you need a nap, take one. If you need fresh air, go for a walk. If you want quiet, sit. Remove any pressure. Listen to what feels right for you.

• Gathering – There’s nothing like spending time with the people you love. So, instead of retreating, get together with friends and family. Be around others, whether sharing a meal, listening to music, or dancing. Strengthen your relationships.

• Traveling – Getting away from your familiar environment, even briefly, is valuable on many levels. Travel experiences spark new ideas and remove us from the familiar. Allowing ourselves to enjoy these new environments and sights strengthens our confidence and sense of well-being.

• Thanking – Gratitude for what was and what can be is essential. Acknowledge all that there is to be thankful for – the people, places, and things.

• Opening – Be open to the possibilities. The life you knew has been altered by choice or the natural course of things. Life is now different. Keep your mind open to what might be and what you might want to invite into your life.

Are you in transition now? What strategies help you?

Many years ago, I developed my list of Top 10 Organizing Success Secrets as a way to help others think about the ingredients needed to successfully integrate organizing into their lives. Most lists are flexible in nature. In the spirit of flexibility, I’d like to add another item to the Success Secrets list.

This next secret was inspired by an email I recently received from someone I love dearly. Without naming names, she shared with me a very funny story. She had been extremely busy between family, work and preparing for several trips. She exclaimed that even her “lists have lists!” So many things were going on that she wasn’t feeling her normal, on-top-of-things self. Feeling frazzled, she accidentally packed her sneakers in the freezer. As the freezer door closed, she realized what she had just done and stopped to have a good laugh.

The 11th Organizing Success Secret is Slow Down. Pay attention to the indicators along the way. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in having to do everything now. We live in a fast food, fast paced world. But when the sneakers end up in the freezer, the car keys can’t be found anywhere and we don’t know if we’re coming or going, it’s time to take things down a notch. One of the best blog posts I’ve read in a while is “The Elegance of Slow.” DeeAnne White writes about how slowing down helps us appreciate what is around us and truly focus on the moment.

So if you discover your possessions in unlikely places or can’t find them at all, it might be time for you to slow down long enough to catch your breath, regroup, have a good laugh and move ahead at a more reasonable pace.

Have you experienced any indicators lately that you’d like to share?

Three enticing words: organizing, success and secrets. Individually they conjure up many interesting thoughts. Organizing makes us think about order, action or calm. Success brings ideas of triumph, completion and achievement. Secrets connote information, privilege or mystery. Strung together as a phrase, these words present the promise of something extraordinary.

Many of us would love to know organizing success secrets so that we can magically transform our lives. You’ll notice that secrets are plural because there are as many ways to view organizing success as there are ways to achieve it.

Here are my Top 10 Organizing Success Secrets:

• Develop a positive attitude

• Visualize the results of your organizing efforts

• Prepare

• Use lists

• Take action

• Enlist help

• Lessen the clutter

• Master the minutes

• Delegate

• Rejuvenate

You many already be incorporating some of these core concepts into your life. As you begin to combine all the ideas, your potential for achieving your organizational goals increases dramatically.

While I subscribe to many of these items, most recently I’ve focused on rejuvenation. The last part of the summer has been filled with days for not doing much. I’ve managed to catch up on sleep, have days absent of any specific plans, spend time in the sun and various water bodies, read a lot and enjoy hanging out with family and friends.

What organizing success secrets work for you?

There are many success secrets for life, feeling balanced and getting organized. Success is defined differently for each of us. This new month, a transition month marks the end of summer and the beginning of the school year. It’s a chance to start over and think about the successes we want to chase. In my book, The Other Side of Organized, chapter nine is exclusively about success secrets. One secret seems particularly pertinent right now. That is preparation.

Why is that on my mind? I’m thinking about how we just returned from dropping our youngest child off at college. Physical and emotional preparation was needed to get her there. Both were key in helping her have a successful launch and transition.

The preparation began early. From day one, we knew that our job as parents was to teach her what we could and simultaneously let go enough for her to learn on her own. We knew that the delicate balance between those was essential preparation for success in life.

Fast-forward 18 years and it was time for college. We researched, visited and discussed options. From there came her essay writing, applications and interviews. Each one of these helped prepare her for the next phase and create an environment for success.

After the acceptance letters arrived and she made her choice, the physical preparation began.  The past month was spent organizing, making lists, shopping and packing. All the while, we imagined and prepared ourselves emotionally for the next phase.

As we said our teary good-byes and I pulled tissues out of my bag, we knew that preparation eased the arrival of this juncture. Our hearts were full with emotions and pride in knowing our girl was ready. The stage has been set for a successful transition. The next part of our journey begins.

How are you preparing for success?