As I began writing about fresh starts and the New Year, I thought about how life changed significantly for me 30 years ago. With two babies and a regular commute to New York City for my job in the computer graphics industry, I dreamed of starting my own business. This month marks my 30th anniversary of launching Oh, So Organized!

When I was a young mom juggling work, family life, and two young kids, I recognized that my organizational abilities helped me navigate life with less stress. Other moms often asked, “How are you managing everything?” While I was ‘born organized,’ I realized organizing was a teachable skill I could share with other parents.

After much deliberation, I left my computer graphics career and combined my visual arts expertise, business background, love of helping people, and organizing abilities to launch Oh, So Organized! It was a risky decision, yet I’m happy I took it.

Taking Risks

I’m reminded of a story one of my clients shared about taking risks. Especially if you’re thinking about change as you enter this new year, I hope you find encouragement in this story.

When lobsters grow to be about one pound, they instinctively know they are facing a crisis. They have lived in a shell that protects them but inhibits their growth.

To mature, the lobsters must shed their old shells and grow new ones, which takes about two days. This isn’t long, but they are left naked and vulnerable during that time.

Other sea creatures may eat the naked lobster, or waves may slam it against a rock and damage it. Yet there is no alternative. The lobster must endure two days of risk to grow a new shell and become mature.

Humans often have to do that too.

Celebrating 30 Years

I had no idea what an amazing journey I would have when I left the security of a job with medical benefits and a steady paycheck. Talk about shedding my old shell to grow a new one. Wow! In these past three decades, I’ve continued to shed and grow. Each transition and change I was willing to make opened doors for new experiences, clients, learning, growth, and opportunities.

I remember when being in business meant you needed at least a business card, phone, and fax number. That morphed into adding an email address. After that, having a website was a cornerstone of any business. My first website was launched in 2001 and was redesigned several times, with the most recent revamp in 2020.

The business has several aspects to it. There is the business of running a business, organizing work with clients, and being a participant, resource, and volunteer in the organizing industry. In each of these areas, I experienced tremendous opportunities for growth, learning, and giving. There are too many highlights to include (or remember,) but here are several:

• 1993- Gave my first newspaper interview in December 1993, which connected me with new clients for years and taught me the value of PR. Since then, I’ve been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, Westchester Magazine, and many more media outlets.

• 1994- Wrote and mailed out my first ‘snail mail’ quarterly newsletter, which I still send to a selective group.

• 1995- Presented at the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) conference in Dallas, met industry expert and thought leader Judith Kolberg, and learned about chronic disorganization.

• 1999- Asked to launch and lead the NAPO-NY area Golden Circle group for veteran organizers, which I ran for 8 years.

• 2002-2021- Was featured in several books about professional organizing, including Organizing Plain & Simple by Donna Smallin, The ICD Guide to Challenging Disorganization for Professional Organizers edited by Kate Varness, Junk – Digging Through America’s Love Affair With Stuff by Alison Stewart, and, I’m Right Here – 10 Ways to Get Help for Hoarding and Chronic Disorganization by Jill B. Yesko.

• 2006- Became Westchester’s first Certified Professional Organizer in Chronic Disorganization (CPO-CD®) after three years of training and study through the Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD).

• 2008- Became an ICD Program Mentor. Since then, I’ve mentored many students through a credentialing process to get their CPO-CD® certification.

• 2009- Became an ICD Master Trainer, a credential held by less than 12 professionals in the organizing industry.

“Let your past experiences fuel your fresh start.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

• 2010- Wrote and published my book The Other Side of Organized – Finding Balance Between Chaos and Perfection.

• 2010- Launched my blog, The Other Side of Organized, and started blogging about organizing and life balance. I have written almost 500 posts to date.

• 2013- Completed the foundation courses through Coach Approach for Organizers.

• 2014-2016- Was President of the Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD).

• 2014-2020- Was interviewed for many Smead podcasts by host John Hunt.

• 2014- Presented at the Japan Association of Life Organizers (JALO) conference in Yokohama, Japan.

• 2019- Was interviewed on several of WNYC’s “All Of It” shows by host Alison Stewart.

• 2020- Became a Certified Virtual Professional Organizer (CVOP™) and pivoted my business to working with clients worldwide.

• 2020- Joined The Nest by Revel, an Executive Coaching company, as their Professional Organizer Advisor.

• 2022- Presented at the International Virtual Organizers Summit for Virtual Organizers.

• 2022- Hosted my first Oh, So Organized! virtual workshop on “How to Conquer Clutter.”

• 2023- These past 30 years, I’ve been joyfully working with hundreds of clients in-person and virtually. I’ve presented at various public and private conferences and events, attended dozens of conferences, taken hundreds of classes, and volunteered in the organizing industry locally, nationally, and internationally for an array of short to long-term projects.

Gratitude & Fresh Starts

None of this would have been possible without the love, support, guidance, and trust of my family, friends, clients, colleagues, mentors, teachers, and guides. While 30 years is a milestone, it’s not an end. It’s the beginning of this year and many more to come.

My deepest gratitude to all the incredible people I’ve developed relationships with and met along the way. To my clients, I thank you for your ongoing trust in allowing me into your lives and being part of your organizing journey. I love helping and supporting you. To my colleagues, I am grateful for your wisdom, generosity, friendship, and guidance. To my family and friends, your ongoing encouragement, support, and love has helped me grow and thrive. I wouldn’t be here without all of you.

How will you make the most of your fresh start as you dive into this New Year? What are you excited about? What will you let go of? Where do you want to give your time and attention? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

During a local errand run, I came across a luggage tag that grabbed my attention. Written in bold, clear lettering it said,

“Collect moments NOT things.” 

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a collector of things. I derive pleasure in looking at and playing with fun, colorful objects like my floating pens, Pez dispensers and miniatures. But what I am a deeply appreciative of are the brilliant moments that life offers us at every turn.

The key is allowing the time to pause and acknowledge what we’re seeing, hearing, feeling, or noticing. Maybe the moment is the slight breeze cooling you off on a hot day, the scent of the rich, brown earth after a heavy rain, hearing the soothing voice of a loved one, the taste of that first morning sip of coffee, or sensation of your body exhaling as you lay down to relax after a long day. The list of wonderful moments goes on. Which moments fill your time? Which moments are there to appreciate?

While some moments are solitary, we also have shared ones with our friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances, and strangers. Who are the people that you share your time with?

Linda Goldfarb and Linda Samuels - ICD 2009

Our time is limited. This was made all too clear as I mourn the recent loss of my friend and colleague, Linda Goldfarb. She passed away this week and will be deeply missed. Over the last fifteen years, our paths crossed many times at NAPO-NY, NAPO National and ICD events. I had the great pleasure of working with her on several projects for ICD. She was a woman of her word, creative, patient, focused, and always delivered on her promises. Linda was passionate about traveling, spending time with her husband, Bob and being a foster parent to dogs waiting to be adopted. She was a giver. Her moments counted.

While I’ll continue to collect a Pez dispenser here or a miniature there, the larger focus will be on collecting and appreciating amazing moments both simple and deep, solo and shared, because life is made up of those tiny instances. Time goes all too quickly. These moments are waiting for us to embrace.

Amazing moments are the ones we notice. Which moments fill your time? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation. 

The popular “Ask the Expert” interview series connects you with dynamic industry thought leaders. This year we’ve spoken with Erin Rooney Doland about clutter, Francine Jay about letting go, Todd Henry about next steps, Dr. Debbie Grove about change, and Joshua Becker about fresh starts. For June, I’m thrilled to have with us prolific writer, speaker, and time management guru, Harold Taylor to share his expertise about time.

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Harold for many years through one of our industry associations, the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO.) He’s been a frequent speaker and exhibitor at the annual conference. In 2002, I remember when he came to New York and presented his “Making Time Work for You” workshop for the NAPO-NY chapter professional development series. I still have the fabulous handouts with a great Harold quote that says,

“You cannot manage time; but if you manage yourself wisely in the time at your disposal,
time will work for you.”

— Harold Taylor

Tonight I'm looking forward to attending the teleclass "Sleep as a Time Management Strategy fot he CD Client" that he's presenting to the Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD.) My deepest gratitude goes to Harold for taking the time to join us. Before we begin, here’s more about him.

Harold Taylor,CEO ofHarold Taylor Time Consultants Ltd., has been speaking, writing and conducting training programs on the topic of effective time management for over 35 years. He has written 18 books and has presented over 2,000 workshops, speeches and keynotes on the topic of time and life management. You can connect with Harold on Twitter, blog or website.

Linda Samuels: As time management consultant, speaker, author, and trainer, you’ve been helping others manage their time and lives for almost 40 years. In what ways do the time challenges we had decades ago differ from now?

Harold Taylor:  There is a greater need than ever for time management because of the increasing speed, complexity and distractions of today’s environment. We are working faster, driving faster, communicating faster, eating faster – in short, we’re living faster.

In addition to time problems introduced by the latest technology, such as increased choices, incessant interruptions, unrealistic expectations and concomitant stress, our bodies are not designed to operate at warp speed and we are faced with a variety of ailments to the point that “keeping well” has become another time consumer.

We now have a longer lifespan than any previous generation, yet about a third of us claim we do not have enough time. Technology allows us to quickly dispense with trivial and low-priority activities so we are able to take on more trivial and low-priority activities. The emphasis has been on doing things faster but relatively little emphasis on working smarter.

For example, email is faster than writing or typing letters but we send and receive more messages. Some people in my workshops claim to receive hundreds of emails in a day. Since the line between work and personal time has been eliminated, people answer email and phone calls during lunch hours, text message while driving and watch videos during a son’s baseball game. We are allowing technology to control us rather than the other way around.

Linda:  For those that are especially challenged with time management, what strategies are most effective?

Harold: The most effective strategies in this digital age of speed are to work with purpose, plans and priorities. Most people resist prioritizing because they want to do it all. The consequences include unhealthy and inefficient attempts at multitasking, working longer hours, and cutting back on sleep.

We have to accept the fact that we can’t do everything, and establish a set of personal policies (which identify our values), set specific goals, and schedule appointments with ourselves to actually get the work done. This requires the use of an appropriate planner, a lot of self-discipline, and the commitment to regain control of our time.

Linda:  Can you describe your “holistic time management” approach to living and some of the benefits?

Harold:  I define holistic time management as “applying the strategies necessary to lead a happier, healthier, longer, more productive and fulfilling life.”  It is based on my belief that rather than trying to get more things done in our lifetime through efficiency, it would be more rewarding to focus on extending our lifetime. Not only would we get more done (even if we did nothing to increase our efficiency) we would have more time to enjoy whatever life had to offer.

The major topics covered in a workshop on holistic time management fall neatly into an acronym that spells out the word HOLISTIC – Health;Organization; Lifestyle; Internal body time;Spirituality; Time use; Interpersonal relationships and Cognitive skills. These all impact our longevity as well as our time management.

Linda:  What has been your toughest personal time management challenge?

Harold: My toughest personal time management challenge as I get older is not to become an “activity packrat,” crowding more activities into an already busy schedule without getting rid of other activities in the process. I think this is more difficult as you age since you can finally see the top surface of the sand in the hourglass.

Linda:  Do you have a time management philosophy or mantra?

Harold: I’m not sure if it’s a philosophy or mantra, but I do believe we should never regret having squandered time in the past; because even squandering can be enjoyable, and there are lessons learned, personal growth or other value in everything we have done or not done in the past. And we can’t change it anyway.

Linda:  If you found yourself with an unexpected extra hour on a particular day, how would you spend that time?

Harold: If I found myself with an unexpected hour on a particular day, I hope I would either spend the time doing more of whatever I was doing at the time - or wondering whether I had missed putting the clock ahead in the spring.

Harold, there are so many ideas here that resonate with me like the effect technology has had- how we manage or don’t manage our time. I love the clarity of your message that we need to “accept the fact that we can’t do everything, ” and the that “squandering [time] can be enjoyable.” I also never heard the term “activity packrat.” It’s an interesting concept to consider that our schedules can become just as cluttered as our spaces if we’re not aware.

Please join Harold and me as we continue the conversation. Share your ideas about time management, favorite strategies, and the role technology plays. What are your thoughts?

Navigating Choices & DecisionsChoices are all around us. The small and large decisions we make are influenced by our perspective, experiences, and way our brain processes. The complexity of how our minds work means that some decisions we make are logical and some are not. Some are healthy and some are anything but.

Decisions can be made boldly, carelessly, doggedly, creatively, emotionally, logically, laboriously, or freely. We can toss a coin or spend days deliberating about options. Decisions can be made in solitude or collaboratively. Simple choices like, “What color shirt am I going to wear?” are juxtaposed by more challenging questions such as, “Which room should I organize first?”

According to the Time article, “Making Choices: How Your Brain Decides,” neuroscience journalist, Maia Szalazvitz, said that each day we’re asked to make thousands of small and large decisions. She refers to a California Institute of Technology study that examined how the brain decides. The study indicated that there are two distinct networks for decision-making. One network analyzes the overall value, the risk versus the reward of a specific choice. The other network guides behavior.

Sometimes the decisions we make are obvious and sometimes quite gray. This past weekend, I had the honor of being on a “Professional Ethics” panel, sponsored by the NAPO-NY chapter. We talked about the NAPO Code of Ethics and also shared various scenarios and sticky situations, which required discussing the ethical choices we might make. It was fascinating to hear the diversity of ideas, perspectives, agreements, and disagreements. But again, it all came back to choice. Do we take action, and if so, what? Or, are there times when it’s appropriate to do nothing, and taking no action is the choice?

What I love most is that we have the ability to choose. These choices are available to us at every moment. Our yeses, nos, and maybes of today, define our tomorrows.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. How do you decide? What allows you to be comfortable or satisfied with your decisions? What have you learned from making decisions? Come join the conversation.