Yes. It’s still officially winter, and our recent run of several warm days has reverted to colder temperatures. Despite the fluctuating thermometer, I notice hopeful signs of spring as nature begins its blooming ritual. Frequent sightings of green plants push through the ground to greet the blue sun-filled sky. They don’t hesitate. After being dormant for months, rejoining life with gusto is their next step.

Nature’s confident growth got me thinking about things that prevent us from moving forward.

• How about the mile-long to-do list?

• Is yours dormant and paralyzing?

• Or are you actively working on it?

• Is your list meaningful and necessary?

• Or is it filled with tasks that aren’t essential and you don’t care about?

• Is your list so daunting that it brings up negative feelings, regret, and disappointment?

• Or instead does it inspire you to act?

If you are struggling to determine your next step, here is a novel idea: Lose your ‘negative list.’ Crumple it up, let it go, and say buh-bye! That might sound radical, and perhaps it is. But can you imagine doing it anyway? And if you did, what might happen?

What’s On Your Negative List

Things holding you back can be concrete or emotional. They might include things like:

• Thought loops with messages such as “I can’t” or “I’m not good enough”

• Projects that would be nice to do, but realistically you’ll never get to

• Thank you notes that are years overdue

• Plans you wanted to make with friends or family, but never did

• Piles of magazines with articles to clip and file

• Stuff inherited from other people’s lives to sort and edit

• Papers and objects representing previous careers or life stages to curate and edit

Without realizing it, I had a negative list. It included feeling bad about not yet:

• Finishing my 2024 review or 2025 plan (and it’s already March!)

• Selecting my 2025 word or motto

• Choosing the topic and scheduling my next workshop

• Creating a video about virtual organizing

Make Your Next Step Easier

It may sound too simplistic to lose or release your negative list. However, recognizing how it might be holding you back makes it worth trying.

Maybe you’ll decide you still want to attend to some things on that list. And if so, perhaps a reframe of how you think about that ‘thing’ will make the difference. For example, instead of the projects you’ll never get to demotivating you, celebrate the ones you have accomplished. Review the remaining ones to decide if one is worth pursuing. If so, think about it as a project you get to, not have to do. Release the rest.

As Oliver Burkeman says in Four Thousand Weeks, our time is limited. “The average human lifespan is absurdly, terrifyingly, insultingly short.” We will never get everything done or be able to pursue every possibility that exists. Burkeman says, “we’ve been granted the mental capacities to make almost infinitely ambitious plans, yet practically no time at all to put them into action.”

Recognizing these limitations can be freeing. Don’t try to do everything. Instead, let go of what is holding you back and pursue what’s most meaningful and necessary.

Selecting next will become easier. Guilt will be gone. Action and intention will rule the day. What comes next will be joyfully embraced once you are unencumbered by the lingering tasks you’ve chosen to release from your list.

“The average human lifespan is absurdly, terrifyingly, insultingly short.”

— Oliver Burkeman

What’s Next?

I might forgo choosing a new word and motto this year and even skip a deeper review of 2024. Just considering that option makes me feel lighter and more energetic. After all, I imposed these things on myself, and I can just as quickly release them from my list.

My next steps will prioritize energizing and nourishing actions, projects, and ideas. What will be next for you? What can you release that is holding you back? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

How Can I Help?

Do you want support organizing, planning, or figuring out your next step? I’d love to help! Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – local feel with a global reach.

Please schedule a Discovery Call, email me at linda@ohsorganized.com, or call 914-271-5673. Change is possible, especially with support.

Are you feeling exhausted after meeting a deadline or finishing a project? While hyper-drive may be necessary to reach completion, downshifting is essential afterward.

Over the past month, I worked hard on the chapter I wrote for the new ICD (Institute for Challenging Disorganization) book to meet their short, time-sensitive deadline. I am excited to have written the chapter on client support and look forward to sharing more once it is published later this year.

How does this relate to fresh starts? The writing deadline straddled the end of one year and the beginning of another. The time I typically take to wrap things up and reimagine what’s next was allocated to the book project. Instead of slowing down as the year closed, things sped up and kept going until earlier this week when I submitted my draft.

Completing the deadline helped reaffirm the necessity of taking a moment to breathe. This slow exhalation is the break I need to refocus my energy and plan what comes next. I identified several elements that I hope you’ll find helpful the next time you are about to switch gears.

3 Ways to Exhale & Refocus Your Energy

1. Reflect

Doing a post-deadline debrief, thinking about how I approached the book project and what I learned, was valuable and affirming.

These are some reflections:

• Clarified the chapter’s content and description with the committee

• Made time estimates for how long it would take to write the chapter

• Scheduled writing blocks on my calendar

• Said “no” to things that would distract from my objectives

• Remained flexible with scheduling and idea development

• Developed an outline of topics to cover

• Made a plan for how to approach the various sections

• Hired an accountability partner (thank you, Lana) to keep me on track

• Set weekly goals

• Logged hours and other metrics

• Journaled

Another aspect I noticed was how my weekly blog writing routine prepared me for this project. My well-established writing tools and rituals made writing easier during the scheduled “ICD Book Project” writing blocks. When things didn’t go well during a particular block, I wasn’t discouraged, as I knew it was a normal part of the writing. I had built up resiliency through experiencing similar ups and downs with blogging.

Hiring an accountability partner was incredibly beneficial for the book project, especially because of the tight deadline. It was also fascinating to experience and fully appreciate the benefits from the “lived” perspective. While I have received a lot of positive feedback from my clients, I better understand why they say having me as their accountability partner is helpful. I get it.

2. Sense

I just finished reading a wonderful book How to Winter, by Kari Leibowitz, PhD. I highly recommend it, especially if you’re interested in the far-reaching benefits of developing a “positive wintertime mindset.”

One of the things that she wrote about was how to develop an awareness of those things you love about winter, like:

• the “fresh” smell of the air that slow-moving molecules create

• the cozy warmth of being around a firepit

• the delight of sipping hot cocoa with marshmallows or

• the happy sensation of curling up with a warm blanket and book

While I engage regularly with my senses, I noticed how they were heightened during this transition time because I was reading Leibowitz’s book. When I was outside, instead of thinking about how cold I was, I breathed in the crisp air and appreciated the cyclical nature of the dormant, bare trees. Instead of feeling guilty for wanting to go to bed earlier, I recognized the value of rest and delighted in the visceral calming effects of my bedtime rituals.

Appreciating and sensing is a gentle way to experience presence and gratitude for what is here now. Lingering in this presence through my senses removes concern about what will be next and helps replenish my energy.

Of all things, as if on cue, the snow just started falling. At first, the flakes were sparse and descended slowly. Then, the flow and pace increased as the sky and landscape turned white. We’re expecting five to seven inches of snow over the following hours. I’m so excited! Perhaps there will be some hot cocoa in my future. A white covering will soon transform everything. Talk about a clean slate! It’s the perfect visual to encourage a fresh start.

“While hyper-drive may be necessary to reach completion, downshifting is essential afterward.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

3. Nourish

Engaging in nourishing activities that support your well-being is another way to slow down and refocus your energy. When you have exerted a lot of effort, balancing it with restorative practices is vital.

My supportive activities include meditation, yoga, walking, and journaling. There are others, too, like exploring new places, seeing friends and family, watching movies, eating healthfully, or getting enough sleep.

And then there’s soup—yes, soup! Making and eating soup is a thoroughly enriching activity for me. I love washing and chopping ingredients, adding them to the big pot, and creating a delicious meal with a few simple, fresh items.

After hours of simmering, my husband and I will share this hot meal as we look out the dining room window into the chilly night, watching the snow gently fall. Maybe we’ll even eat by candlelight. If that’s not cozy and nourishing, I don’t know what is.

What helps you slow down and restore energy? How can taking a restorative break energize your fresh start? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

How Can I Help?

Do you want support organizing, planning, or restoring energy? I’d love to help! Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – A local feel with a global reach.

Please schedule a Discovery Call, email me at linda@ohsorganized.com, or call 914-271-5673. Change is possible, especially with support.

What pace are you traveling as you transition seasons and greet the summer? Are you slowing down and taking time off for vacation? Or are you quickly filling your days to the point of exhaustion and overwhelm? Your pace directly correlates to how well you manage your time and enjoy life.

Whether or not you’re on vacation, you can integrate regular pauses during your week. Without breaks or stops, you become less efficient and productive. With moments to restore and refresh, the quality of your decisions improves. Pacing matters, especially if you want to let go of the extraneous and become more organized. Give yourself the best chance for success. Activate the power of lingering.

How can lingering increase happiness and make you a better time manager? While it may sound counterintuitive, lingering presents an opportunity for a mindful break while focusing on something enjoyable and restorative. Lingering lets you pause, appreciate, and slow down moments. You can then return to your day with a renewed focus on what you’re doing next.

Monthly Meditation and Writing Retreat

Most months, I participate in an inspiring virtual retreat led by my wonderful friend and Clarity Coach, Yota Schneider. She creates a safe, supportive space for women to gather, meditate, write, and share.

Several months ago, the retreat’s theme was “linger.” After our meditation, I wrote this passage during our free-write. It illustrates several ways lingering has had a positive effect on my life.

Thoughts About Lingering

Wet paws, conversations, and gelato. Those probably aren’t the first things that come to mind when you think of linger. However, as I calmed myself in the darkness, the faint sounds of train horns blowing juxtaposed with coyotes howling and the clock ticking. Wet paws, conversations, and gelato lingered in my mind.

Lingering is about time – the stretching, expanding, and slowing down of moments. While lingering can be thought of positively and negatively, happy stories and memories surfaced for me tonight.

Wet Paws

First, the wet paws. Our beautiful black lab, Norton, now long gone, loved going on forest walks with us. We often walked (the five of us – Steve, me, the girls, and Norton) down our block to the path in the woods that led to the Croton River. We’d go to this one spot where we climbed on the big flat rocks – each taking a seat.  We’d sit barefoot with feet dangling in the water as we watched the river flow and heard its thunderous sound. Sun rays coming through the canopy of trees warmed us.

Norton, like us, picked his rock and submerged his front paws in the river. We lingered – each enjoying this beautiful time with no agenda and nowhere to go as if time stood still. And then, for unknown reasons, Norton would get up and decide it was time to leave. So we did. The lingering was over.

Conversations

Second – conversations.  I’ve been missing my mom and two aunts (my mom’s younger sisters) a lot lately. We talked often. Our conversations meandered. Time felt like taffy – stretching and unending. We talked about love, family, and matters of the heart. We laughed, cried, and enjoyed our time together as we lingered leisurely and easily in free-flowing conversations.

The conversations with these three amazing women have ended—at least the out-loud ones have, as they are all gone.

“Lingering has restorative powers when you focus energy on positive moments.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

Gelato

Lastly, gelato. I recently had a gelato ice cream cone experience that I didn’t want to end. I tried to linger as long as possible while eating it. But you know how gelato goes—it melts, so my lingering time was limited.

But as I ate this delicious mocha gelato in a cone drenched in freshly dipped warm dark chocolate, I stretched out the enjoyment for as long as possible.

Linger. To linger. Lingering. The precious moments time offers. The beautiful moments I allow myself to savor.

Wet paws, conversations, and gelato.

Lingering has restorative powers when you focus energy on positive moments. Do you linger? If so, have you noticed helpful effects on your well-being or time management? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

If you want help letting go, organizing, or managing your time better so you can enjoy life more, email me at linda@ohsorganized.com, call 914-271-5673, or schedule a Discovery Call.  Change is possible, especially with support.