The latest installment (v11) of the “What’s Interesting?” feature is here with my newest discoveries that inform, educate, and relate to organizing and life balance. I’ve included unique and inspiring enlisting help-related finds, which reflect this month’s blog theme. You’re a fantastically engaged group. I look forward to your participation and additions to the collection I’ve sourced for you. What do you find interesting?

What’s Interesting? . . .

1. Interesting Read – Decision-Making Help

Living requires us to make millions of decisions. Are you overwhelmed by choice? If so, you’re not alone. Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice – Why More is Less, sheds light on how the abundance in our culture has made us become less satisfied and more stressed about our daily decisions. He says that while choice improves the quality of our lives, helps us control our future, and is essential to autonomy, the overload of choice comes at a price. Schwartz explains why this has happened and suggests ways to overcome it. He concludes with, “Choice within constraints, freedom within limits, is what enables [us] to imagine a host of marvelous possibilities.”

2. Interesting Study – Productivity Help

While traveling on one of my favorite airlines, Southwest, I read about an interesting piece in their onboard magazine. The University of British Columbia did a study where the results determined that desk clutter lowered your attention span. Interpreted another way, an organized desk increased your attention span by 167%. A different experiment concluded that study participants in a cluttered workspace took 10 percent longer to complete a quiz than the participants situated in a neat workspace.

3. Interesting Conference – Disorganization Help

The Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD) will have its’ annual conference in Portland, Oregon, September 22-24, 2016. Organizers and related professionals will convene from all over the globe to learn about aging, ADHD, productivity, mental illness, hoarding, time management, and the latest research on chronic disorganization. I’m looking forward to attending and learning from the experts so that I can better help my clients. Are you going? I’d love to see you there!

4. Interesting Product – Paper Organizing Help

Have you noticed the adult coloring book craze? They are in bookstores, conferences, airports, hospitals and everywhere. They’re even on file folders. One of Smead’s clever new products is the coloring file folder, great for organizing your papers.  Available at myOrganized.life, you no longer need an excuse to doodle on your files. Get out your colored pencils and have fun while you’re organizing your paper piles.

5. Interesting Resource – Repair Help

I’m all for letting go of things that no longer serve a purpose, are beyond repair, or have overstayed their welcome. However, what about those finer shoes or handbags that could be repaired, but they sit around waiting for a way to get that done. Cobblerconcierge.com is a convenient service that meshes the skill and traditions of expert cobblers with the ease of using the Internet. The process is easy. Fill out an online form, receive a shipping box, and your shoes or handbags will be quickly refurbished and returned right back to your home.

6. Interesting Thought – Exclamatory Help

We all do it, don't we? Swearing that is. Especially when we need help, those expletives can arrive fast and furiously. However, they only go so far for handling a moment of frustration. If you’re struggling with overwhelm, with a challenge that seems unsolvable, or with figuring out how you’re going to move forward, it’s probably time to reach out for help. Be brave enough to ask.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. What are your interesting finds? Do any of these resonate with you?  Come join the conversation!