This is the newest release (v42) of the “What’s Interesting?” feature, with my latest finds that inform, educate, and relate to organizing and life balance. These unique, inspiring, possibility discoveries reflect this month’s blog theme.

You are a passionate, generous, and engaged group. I am deeply grateful for your ongoing presence, positive energy, and contributions to this community. I look forward to your participation and additions to the collection I’ve sourced.

What do you find interesting?

What’s Interesting? – 5 Best Possibility Discoveries

1. Interesting Workshop – Mindful Organizing Possibilities

Are you tired of feeling disorganized and overwhelmed by the clutter in your life? If you answered “yes,”you’re not alone. Various studies suggest a significant connection between cluttered living spaces and feelings of depression, fatigue, stress, anxiety, or cognitive overload. But there’s good news - help is here.

If you are ready to see what’s possible, join me, Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™, Professional Organizer, for an engaging, transformative workshop – 7 Easy Ways to Practice Mindful Organizing: Discovering a Gentle Path Forward, on Thursday, October 19th, from 7:00-8:00pm Eastern. Together, we’ll delve into the world of mindful organizing and uncover the secrets of seven powerful organizing practices that have the potential to change your life.

During this one-hour Zoom workshop, you’ll come away with at least one practical strategy you can immediately implement to create a positive shift in your daily routine. Reserve your spot and register now!

2. Interesting Research – Better Sleep Possibilities

There is a lot of research about the benefits of getting quality sleep (between seven to eight hours a night) and the implications of chronic lack of sleep. Insufficient sleep can cause premature aging and health problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, stroke, obesity, and heart disease. During a good night’s sleep, the body heals itself while improving cellular and tissue health, cognitive function, immunity, and energy levels.

Neil Paulvin, a longevity and regenerative medicine doctor, helps patients improve extrinsic aging through better lifestyle choices such as management of alcohol consumption, smoking, diet, exercise, stress, and sleep. He attributes the number one cause of aging faster to inadequate sleep. His suggestions for improved sleep include having a consistent sleep schedule, creating a relaxing bedtime routine, and making your bedroom a sanctuary.

In the article, “Why Are You So Tired? Your Sleep Schedule Needs a Reset,” Dr. M. Safwan Badr, professor and chair of the internal medicine department at Wayne State University, suggests the “3-2-1 rule.” He says to stop:

• eating three hours before bedtime

• working two hours before bedtime

• using electronics one hour before bedtime.

Dr. Emerson M. Wickwire, professor and head of sleep medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, says that clearing your bedroom of physical clutter can also improve the quality of your sleep.

What would be possible if you started your day refreshed after a great night’s sleep?

“Shifting your perspective from a fixed to a growth mindset will open up possibilities.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

3. Interesting Read – Boundary-Creating Possibilities

Do you feel pulled in multiple directions, overwhelmed by choices, or have difficulty moving forward? Do you find it challenging to set boundaries? When that happens, your possibilities perspective is inaccessible. My friend, Kara Cutruzzula, who recently interviewed me on her fabulous “Do It Today” podcast, has an excellent solution for you.

Hot off the press, her new Do It (or Don’t): A Boundary-Creating Journal helps you create and maintain clear boundaries, learn how to say “no,” and release those obligations and projects that feel oppressive. You will feel encouraged to write, clarify your thoughts, and flourish while appreciating Kara’s gentle support as she shares her wisdom with you. She says, “Our time is limited. Do you want to spend yours in a clear and intentional way?” If you do, learn more about her journal here: Do It (or Don’t).

4. Interesting Product – List-Making Possibilities

Do you have many tiny scraps of paper, partially filled notebooks, and random notes scribbled on documents? Are these calls, errands, purchases, and email reminders cluttering your desk, bags, and other surfaces? Are those working for you? If not, create better possibilities and outcomes with this terrific list-making tool.

My inventive frolleagues, Diana Quintana and Jonda Beattie, created My List Simplified, an 8-1/2” x 11” paper spiral-bound organization journal. It will help you easily capture your lists, plans, ideas, tasks, and appointments. It’s undated, so you can organize the journal by the day, week, or an extended period. For further details, click here: My List Simplified.

5. Interesting Thought – Positive Possibilities

Is your internal dialogue working for or against you? Do you focus on the negative? Are you consumed by what could go wrong or think in terms of what you can’t do? We’ve all been there. What happens when you reframe negativity with a simple, powerful phrase? Instead of thinking, “I can’t do this,” ask, “Why not?” How will that change your outlook and outcomes? Shifting your perspective from a fixed to a growth mindset will open up possibilities.

Do you have an interesting possibility-related discovery? Which of these resonates with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

Resistance is something we’ve all experienced at one time or another. Resistance can be an indicator or an internal alert system to stop you from doing something harmful. However, it can also prevent you from growing, learning, and embracing something extraordinary, like the fresh start a new month or year brings.

Do you remember when you pulled back instead of leaning into an idea, opportunity, or suggestion? Maybe you encountered an external or internal “should” statement that elicited the response, “No way am I going to do that!” Or, perhaps fear showed up when a significant opportunity presented itself. Instead of embracing the unknown, you retreated.

One of the weekly emails I enjoy receiving is from my business and website consultant, Tanya Moushi. Recently, she mentioned writer Steven Pressfield’s characterization of resistance as “the artful insidious feeling that holds us back from doing the things that are meaningful to us.” What a powerful force when resistance prevents us from doing what we truly desire.

I personally experience and also frequently observe resistance with my virtual organizing clients. There can be a disconnect between the work and habit changes needed to achieve desired goals. That disconnect can show up as resistance. My clients might want to live with less clutter, yet they resist letting go. They might wish to clear living and working spaces, but they continue purchasing more to fill those areas.

Acknowledging resistance is part of the work we do together. We notice when it appears and talk about what it indicates and how to work with it.

I’m still in the vision board-creating process and will share more about it in the coming weeks. However, I chose my theme for the year: “What would it take?” In Zoe Chance’s Influence is Your Superpower, she writes about how this is the magic question that cuts excuses and respectfully opens the door for “surprising answers that you would never have expected.”

The question, “What would it take?” acts as my resistance melter. I’ve been actively experimenting with that question to help me when I encounter resistance to:

• Letting go of unhelpful thoughts

• Getting unstuck when the next step isn’t clear

• Shifting my perspective

• Making complicated plans

• Getting out of my own way

“What would it take?”

— Zoe Chance

With the start of this year, you have an opportunity to embrace the motivation a new beginning brings. If you resist the changes you want to make, it’s worth exploring what that’s about. Is it indicating there is something you, in fact, don’t want to change? Or is fear or uncertainty blocking you? What would it take to move forward? If you need clarity to figure it out, please reach out. I’m ready to help.

How are you making the most of your fresh start? Where have you encountered resistance? What has helped you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

Having an array of emotions is part of being human. There are no good or bad ones. However, at times, our strong emotions can make clear thoughts challenging. In fact, some emotions like anxiety, sadness, or fear can cause procrastination or completely zap our motivation.

When the amygdala, the primitive, emotional region of the brain, becomes the boss, it creates a cycle that activates the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight.) The good news is many self-help strategies are available to help switch your internal gears from fight or flight to the rest and digest, parasympathetic nervous system mode.

When calmer, you can more readily access the pre-frontal cortex, a part of the brain that helps with decision-making, organization, attention, planning, emotional regulation, and impulse control. In this more relaxed state, you can reset and access the motivation to move forward.

Recently, I attended a meeting with fellow Nest Advisor, Monica Moore, a health and fertility coach. She led a workshop on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT.) The four-step process is helpful when making behavioral changes. ACT encourages working towards a value rather than avoiding something. In other words, focus your energy on something positive you want to be or do instead of on something negative you wish to avoid.

The ACT process:

1. Identify a value. Who or what do I want to be?

2. Identify feelings. What “yucky” feelings get in the way?

3. Identify relief valves. When you feel these things, what behaviors occur?

4. Create a nourishment menu. What behaviors will feel helpful, sustainable, and give perspective when experiencing the “yucky” feelings?

Your nourishment menu is where self-help strategies thrive. For example, when feeling anxious, you might engage in negative self-talk, binge-watching, or eating sugar-heavy snacks. What if you acknowledged and noticed those feelings when you felt anxious and instead, engaged in more helpful behaviors from the nourishment menu? Below are some suggestions. I’d love to know which of these or other ones work best for you.

20 Self-Help Strategies - Nourishment Menu

• Journal

• Meditate

• Take a walk

• Change your setting

• Organize or clean

• Create boundaries

• Breathe slowly

• Get a massage

• Hug a loved one for at least 20 seconds

• Run or exercise

• Watch leaves flutter

• Light a scented candle

• Use humor

• Rest

• Read

• Pet your dog or cat

• Listen to or play music

• Take a shower or bath

• Help someone else

• Talk with a friend, family member, or professional

I had a recent anxiety-inducing experience when I inadvertently deleted the most current 45 days of emails from my inbox. After long calls with tech support at Apple and Carbonite, it became clear that the emails might be retrieved, but not without many more hours spent with tech support and possibly worse complications.

A tech hiccup is never convenient. My plans to accomplish a lot that day were derailed because of the anxiety inability to focus. At a point, I decided to let it go and not retrieve the emails. However, I was still anxious and not functioning well. My emotions were in high gear, and my brain was foggy. So what did I do?

“Your ‘nourishment menu’ is where self-help strategies thrive.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO™

I grabbed my journal and wrote. As the inky pen glided along the smooth paper, my heart beat rapidly, and my stomach was in knots. I wrote about the ‘gone’ emails, my anxious feelings, the power they had to deactivate my motivation, the shift in my emotional state of feeling calmer as I wrote, and the choice to let this go and move on. I noticed my environment (birds chirping, trees swaying), took several deep breaths, and shifted gears to write about positive memories from the mini vacation we just had.

After journaling, I met a dear friend for a walk along the river. We talked, laughed, and I shared the email saga with her. Not knowing about the nourishment menu at the time, I realized after how I had used several of these strategies to calm my anxiety, let go, and reset.

What self-help strategies work for you when your strong emotions take over? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

It can feel challenging to get motivated when you’re experiencing a transition and even when you’re not. Overwhelm, or exhaustion can take over. When it does, do you find it difficult to access your motivation for things like organizing your home, making plans, writing a blog post, reaching out for help, or handling routine tasks? Does that sound familiar? No one is motivated 100% of the time. But that can be problematic when it’s getting in the way of focusing on things you want and need to do.

There are many ways to get motivated, but for today, I’ll keep it simple with this one helpful secret so as not to add to your overwhelm. OK. It’s no longer a secret because I’m about to share it with you.

I came across a quote from writer Anne Lamott relevant to the how to get motivated challenge many of you encounter. Anne said . . .

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”

— Anne Lamott

Let’s take a breath and digest this. When stressed, overwhelmed, and fuzzy-brained, instead of taking a beneficial break, we often do the opposite and continue pushing beyond depleted. How does that work for you?

I’ve noticed that while it seems like a good idea at the time to “just finish one more thing” or “push past my fatigue,” that’s a much more challenging way to go. When you overextend regularly, you can experience the law of diminishing returns, which works against being motivated, productive, and happy.

Instead, just stop. Yes. I said stop. As Anne suggests, things (and you) will work better when you unplug for even a few minutes.

What could this mean for you? What would a brief stop to unplug look like? It’s worth coming up with your own list of possibilities. You can pull it out of your back pocket when your motivation diminishes.

My unplugging to get motivated list includes:

• Dipping my toes in the Croton River

• Listening to the trickling water sounds in our birdbath fountain

• Watching the leaves ‘wave’ as the wind blows

• Taking a walk in the woods

• Sipping leisurely a glass of iced tea

• Lying down with my shoes off and eyes closed for 15 minutes

• Looking at the gorgeous colors of the beautiful summer blooms

• Stepping away from my tech tools

• Meditating

• Sweeping the front path

• Sitting outside while eating a slice of juicy watermelon

• Doing some slow, intentional breathing

After engaging in one of these nurturing, restorative activities for a brief time, I feel energized and ready for the next. And for a super dose of motivation, try grouping several of your preferred items back-to-back. Before writing this post, I walked in the woods, dipped my toes in the river, and meditated. Afterward, I was motivated, rested, and ready to write.

Are you struggling with getting motivated? What would unplugging for a few minutes or more do for you? What would that look like? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.