Unlock Happiness: Organize Your LIfe Now!

September 23, 2025/Julie Stobbe/

An organizing post on happiness, why would she talk about that? One of the services I provide is building habits and routines. It is usually around mornings, evenings, laundry, meal planning, and groceries etc. Why not build a happiness routine? It can help protect you from the winter blahs.

What does happiness mean to you? It might have a very different definition if you ask people. That’s because it’s entirely objective. Your happiness depends on your personal values, belief systems, and dreams. Almost everyone has goals attached to what they believe will make them happy. Let’s look at 6 things you can do now to start feeling happier. My next blog will talk about long-term happiness.

1 – Step Away from the Plastic

You might think a shopping binge makes you happy, but it doesn’t. Shopping is never the answer if you want to be happier. That’s because it’s something that exists outside of your mind and your emotions.

Happiness is inside you. You need to bring it out.

You can’t improve your happiness by giving in to a shopping addiction. Quite to the contrary, spending money can cause stress and strife when that credit card bill rolls around at the end of the month.

2 – Start Journaling

You can call it your Journal of Joy or Delightful Diary. The idea is to record positive feelings. What gave you happiness, joy, and contentment throughout the day? Keep it with you, and write down your positive experiences as they happen.

Don’t just get them down on paper and forget them. Begin each day by reading the previous day’s entries, and you’ll start every morning with a smile.

3 – Get up an Hour Earlier Every Day

You may have heard that many successful people get up early in the morning. Why not copy their habits of success? Get up one hour earlier than you usually do. Make this a habit. It allows you to take your time in the morning so you don’t rush. You can plan your day and easily start it with less stress and more calm, focused energy.

4 – Have a Plan B in Place

If you aren’t planning your day, you should be. You can create more of the outcomes you want when creating game plans. For more happiness, always have a secondary plan in place. Plan A won’t always work out, and if you have a Plan B ready to save the day, that means more smiles and fewer frowns.

5 – Focus on What You Can Control

Wouldn’t it be great to be in control of everything all the time? Imagine that it’s raining. You are playing golf with some friends, and the rain comes out of nowhere. Your local weatherperson said there wouldn’t be a drop of rain all day, and now you have a torrential downpour. You and your friends are getting soaking wet as you run for shelter.

You can't control what you can't control. Share on X

Trying to influence people, places, and things you have little to no control over is frustrating. It’s also pointless. You have no chance of success. You get nothing but negative emotions as a reward for trying to change something you can’t influence in any way.

This is what truly happy people do.

They don’t go out of their way to try to pound a square peg into a round hole. That’s asking for unhappiness, frustration, and other negative emotions to come calling. Instead, look for what you can control, even in a negative situation. If you want to, you can always find the silver lining in the cloud, the controllable aspect of a tough experience. That mindset will lead to a lot more happiness in your life and less stress and anxiety.

6 – Be Careful about Who You Spend Your Time With

When free time presents itself, there is a simple social habit that can boost your feelings of joy, contentment, and satisfaction. Socialize with the right people. Goal-achieving experts will tell you that the five people you associate with the most will be like you.

This means your social circle influences your emotions, good or bad.

You might think it’s pretty simple advice to tell you to spend time with people who make you laugh. If this is such entry-level advice for happiness, why aren’t you doing it more frequently? There are probably times in your life when you consciously choose to be around people who don’t promote positive feelings.

Instead, even if you only have a few minutes, invest that social time with people who make you feel confident and positive. They are probably positive, confident people themselves. Texting your best friend only takes a minute or two. Even better, call them so you can hear their voice.

If you spend too much time around people who bring you down, look at your relationships. It might be difficult, but you may have to spend less time with emotional vampires who steal your happiness, even if they are your close friends.

Prioritize spending time with people who make you feel upbeat, positive, and happy. The result is experiencing those feelings. Choose physical, person-to-person interaction when you can because physical socializing has been proven to reduce stress and promote feelings of happiness.

If you would like to improve the odds that your life has more happiness and less sadness, more fulfillment, and less frustration, I’ve compiled a short list of a few things you can start doing right now, this very minute, to be a more content, happy and satisfied person.

What would you add to this list? Let me know in the comments.

Julie Stobbe is the 2024-2025 winner of the Harold Taylor Award for outstanding contributions to the organizing industry and Professional Organizers in Canada. As a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach, she brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides, mentors and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and to reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.