What is your tendency when you encounter something challenging? Your temperament or the circumstance will elicit different responses.

• Do you go it alone?

• Do you procrastinate?

• Do you reach out for help?

Challenges are opportunities. However, they can either motivate you to take action or cause you to be overwhelmed and paralyzed.

One of the things I admire about my virtual organizing clients is their willingness to seek help. They recognize that some challenges can be resolved quickly when they get the needed support. They usually know what result they want but need help figuring out the plan and steps. Or they may know what to do but want accountability and support while taking action.

When to Seek Help

When I have a challenge, I tend to go it alone first. I prefer to fix it myself, so I don’t have to bother anyone. But here’s the thing: I recognize that having agency and being able to ‘fix’ things is valuable. It’s as essential to know when to get support.

Enlist help to:

• Bounce ideas off of someone

• Make a plan

• Rely on someone else’s expertise or experience

• Delegate

• Do things you don’t want to do

• Have accountability

• Get support when you are stuck

You don’t have to do everything yourself. Build your team, your go-to people, who can help you navigate the challenges you face and the goals you seek.

“You don’t have to do everything yourself.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

Grateful for Help

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. They’ve included wonderful vacation time and celebrations with family, mixed with many things going sideways. Our home needed help with a water filter replacement project, a new chimney liner, a replacement water pressure valve, a damaged driveway by one of our vendors, and a leaky roof. Oh. The joys of home ownership!

My husband, Steve, and I tagged-teamed the challenges. Steve is handy but time-poor. He handled some of these things by doing the work himself or getting help from a vendor. I assisted Steve with one of the projects (the water filter replacement) and hired vendors to get the other projects done.

Identifying the tasks we could do ourselves, the ones that needed to be done quickly, and those that required an outside vendor was vital.

Project Sprawl

Have you ever noticed how most projects are never as simple as you think? For example, the water filter we’ve used for years stopped selling replacement filters. This should have been a simple purchase and filter replacement, but it turned into a project.

Steve researched replacement options, ordered a new unit, and was ready to install it. Unfortunately, the box didn't include all the connection pieces he needed. After several trips to Home Depot, he was prepared for installation. When I saw the old unit removed from under the kitchen sink, I wanted to replace the liner paper. That involved removing the slide-out garbage can, cleaning the area, and cutting the new liner.

It didn’t stop there. We also decided to repaint under the sink to cover up some rust stains. As I write this, the paint is drying, and everything will soon be back in place.

No Need to Struggle Alone

My point is that getting help is a good thing. Don’t struggle alone. If you can do the thing yourself, great! But if you’re procrastinating, stuck, and overwhelmed, reach out for help.

What area of your life needs support? What have you recently asked for help with? How did that go? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

I'm ready if you need help getting unstuck, making a plan, decluttering, or organizing. Please email me at linda@ohsorganized.com, call 914-271-5673, or schedule a Discovery Call. Moving forward is possible, especially with support.

There will always be tasks to do, projects to complete, and calls, texts, or emails to return. These can be motivation drivers. However, they can also derail and de-motivate. You can burn out when you’re constantly doing and striving without breaks or spaciousness.

Do you feel overwhelmed by your to-do lists, incomplete projects, and things you ‘should’ be doing?

I’ve been there, as have many of my clients, family, and friends. Surprisingly, one antidote to doing too much is to slow down. This may seem counter-intuitive and a strange way to boost motivation. However, it’s not just about taking a break from your list.

Make time to savor life and engage in restorative activities that replenish your energy.

Savoring Life

What works will be different for each person. For me, savoring and slowing down include:

• Getting enough sleep

• Meditating

• Refusing to rush

• Going away and changing my environment

• Practicing yoga

• Spending time with family and friends

• Having alone time

• Journaling

• Showering

• Being on or near water

• Getting a massage or pedicure

• Eating juicy summer fruit

• Slowing sipping an iced coffee or tea

• Sitting in the sun

• Exploring new places

• Setting boundaries

• Leaning into and being present in the moment

A Japanese Concept

Do you know about yutori? According to DailyOM™, yutori is “a Japanese concept of spaciousness. It refers to slowing down to simply breathe, and savor life – intentionally creating space to relax and reflect without being under constant pressure.”

How would integrating yutori into your life benefit you?

Motivation Cycles

I’m a doer and a completer. I love setting goals and accomplishing them. The first six months of this year were especially active. And guess what? I needed a break from that intensity, which I knew the summer would bring. My pace is slower even though I’m still actively working with organizing clients and on several projects.

This summer, I intentionally created more space for restorative, nourishing activities in addition to work. My latest motivation-restoring adventures include going to the beach, exploring new museums, listening to live music, and eating a delicious treat.  

“Make time to savor life and engage in restorative activities that replenish your energy.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

4 Ways to Restore Motivation

1. Being by the Sea

Waves in. Waves out. The sound of the ocean waves moving forward and backward along the sandy shore is soothing. The sun warms my skin as slight breezes and cool water prevent me from overheating. By the sea, there is no agenda, no lists to take care of. Time stretches as I wiggle my toes in the sand.

2. Exploring New and Old Places

My husband and I visited the Queens Museum and Flushing Meadow Corona Park this weekend.

The Queens Museum is located on the Flushing Meadow Corona Park grounds, where the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs were held. I was there 60 years ago for the World’s Fair and have spotty yet happy memories of going with my family.

Steve and I walked the grounds, marveled at the 700,000-pound stainless steel Unisphere, talked about our childhood World’s Fair memories, and were wowed by the Panorama, a scaled cityscape model of the five New York City boroughs.

The exploration didn’t end there. We ventured on to another area of Queens.

3. Learning and Listening

Our next stop was the Louis Armstrong House Museum. We had a wonderful tour of his house, explored the museum, and, in Armstrong’s garden, heard a fantastic jazz quartet with Jon-Erik Kellso playing the trumpet.

It reminded me how much I love hearing live music. I grew up in a house full of musicians. People were always playing, practicing, learning, teaching, composing, jamming, and performing. Watching and listening to musicians share their gifts is so joyful. I had a positive, visceral response to being outside and hearing live music.

Louis Armstrong lived his life with passion, purpose, and generosity. It was moving and inspiring to be in his space, hear stories about his life, and listen to musicians embodying this rich tradition of jazz music.

4. Eating a Delicious Treat

The exploratory day was completed by dinner at a fantastic local Italian restaurant in Queens. However, before dinner, we ate dessert. It’s fun to shake things up sometimes.

Steve brought me to the famous Lemon Ice King of Corona to get ices. I was so excited! What’s not to love about a cold, refreshing dessert? The hardest part was choosing which flavor to get. They have over 50 options, although lemon ice is their most popular. They don’t mix flavors but will let you try one before you decide.

I ended up choosing cantaloupe ice, which was amazing! Steve got chocolate, which was also delicious. After dinner, we almost returned for seconds but were too full. We’ll return another time.

Motivation needs to be cultivated. Slowing down, savoring life, having new experiences, and giving yourself a break from life’s pressures is a great way to do that. What helps you restore your motivation?

If you need help restoring motivation and getting organized, email me at linda@ohsorganized.com, call 914-271-5673, or schedule a Discovery Call. Reaching your goals is possible, especially with support.

Does this sound familiar? Your list of things to do is growing. It’s getting so large that you feel overwhelmed.

While you want to get things done, you’re having trouble getting started. You’re unclear where to begin, and the overwhelm squashed your motivation.

This is a normal situation. I’ve been there, and so have many of my clients. I experienced it just this week. We returned from part one of a beautiful vacation in the Finger Lakes. Our only goals were to relax, have fun, and not work. Mission accomplished.

The shorter part of the vacation was at home, where we planned to do some work around the house. Talk about many projects to attend to—it’s a never-ending list.

By the third day, it was more challenging to get motivated to start working. I kept thinking about our time away and the joy we had kayaking daily on Song Lake. I wanted to go back.

One Simple Motivating Question

This got me thinking about something the wise coach, Cameron Gott, PCC, once said. When I studied with him during my Coach Approach training, he always asked the best questions. This particular question is excellent for motivation. He asked:

“What’s a quick completion?”

— Cameron Gott, PCC

I love this question because it encourages you to:

• Reframe your overwhelm.

• Get yourself in a doing mode.

• Focus on what can easily be accomplished.

• Feel motivated to do something.

How to Use the Motivating Question

When I asked myself, “What’s a quick completion?” it immediately helped me shift my focus and give attention to something I could easily do. What did I choose? I repotted a few new plants for the greenhouse. Taking action, moving my body, playing with dirt, and caring for the plants energized me.

Once that was done, I no longer felt overwhelmed. I was motivated to do more, so I:

• Created my six-month blog calendar

• Updated my Calendly scheduler

• Emptied the dishwasher

• Wrote this post

All items were easy to accomplish and quick to complete, except for the blog post, which took more time to write, edit, and format. However, once I engaged in doing and completing simpler tasks, I was ready to do something requiring more time and deeper concentration.

Reframe Completion

The other aspect to consider is redefining completion. Specific projects require many steps, and finishing them takes time. Instead, reframe completion as accomplishing one aspect, one single step, or any progress made.

Use Cam’s question to jumpstart motivation. It will help you to:

• Get unstuck.

• Experience the satisfaction of accomplishing something.

• Motivate you to do more.

What helps you get motivated to take action? Is there a question that encourages you to start? How can the “quick completion” question work for you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

If you want to increase motivation, activate, or get organized, email me at linda@ohsorganized.com, call 914-271-5673, or schedule a Discovery Call. Getting unstuck is possible, especially with support.

When you think about how you manage time, do you consider the “happy” factor? It’s a given that you have 24 hours each day. How you use and feel about that time is where life gets interesting. With some minor tweaks, you can enhance the quality of your life by shifting your perspective and actions.

Happiness is not always considered when it comes to time management, yet it’s a powerful element to integrate.

Before I share three helpful time management strategies, let’s look at some common phrases to describe time and how you experience it.

Common Time Phrases

This first list of expressions reflects stress, frustration, and anxiety about the limitations and passage of time. Some common sayings are:

• Running late

• Behind schedule

• On the clock

• Not enough hours in the day

• Time waits for no one

• Time is of the essence

• Lost time

• Pressed for time

• Time-sensitive

• Killing time

• Wasting time

• Running out of time

• Lost track of time

• Living on borrowed time

• Out of time

This second list of phrases describes positive feelings about time, highlighting enjoyment, appreciation, and making the most of every moment. These expressions include:

• Top priority

• High on the agenda

• Time flies when you’re having fun

• In the nick of time

• All in good time

• Perfect timing

• Ahead of time

• Time out

• Time to spare

• Right on time

• Prime time

• Good times

• Quality time

• Time well spent

• The time of your life

Which phrases resonate most with you? Do you often experience stressful time-related situations, as reflected in the first list? Are more of your time-related encounters positive, like the phrases on the second list? Or are your encounters with and relationship to time somewhere between the extremes?

3 Time Management Strategies for a Happier Life

The time strategies described below can increase your happiness wherever you are in your relationship with time.

1. Happier Boundaries

What happens when you have few or no boundaries? Without boundaries, everyone else’s priorities come first. And you know what that means? Yours come last, if at all. You end up saying “yes” to things you wish you said “no” to. As a result, you might feel resentful, angry, frustrated, or annoyed.

Learning to set boundaries is a core time management skill. I continually work on boundary-setting because I didn’t understand that skill growing up. On the contrary, I learned how NOT to set boundaries. But I digress.

My insightful friend, colleague, and Professional Organizer Julie Bestry always shares excellent resources on her Paper Doll blog. She also has a great sense of humor. Her recent post, “52 Ways to Say NO to a Request So You Can Say YES to Your Priorities,” includes fabulous boundary-setting strategies.

To illustrate one of Julie’s points, she shares a 30-second YouTube clip from the TV show Friends. In the segment, Joey asks Phoebe if she wants to help assemble Ross’s furniture. Phoebe matter-of-factly says, “I wish I could, but I don’t want to.” Wow! What a clear (and hilarious) example of setting boundaries and saying no.

While Phoebe’s response to Joey’s request might not work for you, the idea behind it is worth considering. There are many ways to set boundaries, and learning to say no when you want to (whatever the reason) is essential. Knowing that skill lets you focus on your top priorities and what matters most.   

“Learning to set boundaries is a core time management skill.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

2. Happier Activation

Now that you excel at boundary setting (yes, you!), your attention can focus on your most important people, projects, and tasks. However, while you cleared your schedule and said no to several requests, you’re having difficulty beginning your work.

The project you want to do, you can’t make progress on. You might need to plan, research, enlist help, gather resources, or take other actions. You’re thinking about how much time it will take to finish. Feelings of overwhelm are taking over. It all feels too big. How are you going to complete this or get started?

Let’s say it. You can’t do it all at once, so don’t expect that you will. Instead, let small time blocks be your ‘activation’ friend. Merge the concept of small blocks of time with an actual timer, and you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.

Activation Strategy:

• Review your calendar

• Select a day that has availability

• Select a small amount of time, such as 10, 20, or 30 minutes you commit to your project

• Set the timer for those minutes

• Work until the buzzer dings

• Stop working

• Check on how you’re doing – Are you done for the day? If so, schedule another day to repeat the process. Or do you want to work for another ‘x’ number of minutes? If so, reset your timer now to continue working. When the buzzer dings, repeat the last two steps.

During the past month, I’ve been preparing my latest workshop, How to Let That Sh*t Go. The small blocks of time strategy helped me progress and prepare to lead the workshop on June 6th. If you or someone you know wants to learn more or register, click here: https://www.ohsoorganized.com/workshops.

You will feel happier attending to what’s most important and meaningful. However, progress will not happen without the ability to activate. When you use small blocks of time effectively, you’ll handle things high on your agenda.

“Let small time blocks be your ‘activation’ friend.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

 3. Happier Connections

Pausing in your day to savor one of life’s simple pleasures is an excellent time management strategy to enhance your happiness. If you are constantly on the go, consider integrating “Fika,” a Swedish practice.

Fika embodies the Swedish values of work-life balance, social interaction, and relaxation. Practicing Fika involves taking a short break, typically in the afternoon. People slow down, socialize, and build relationships. The break often includes coffee or another beverage and a small treat like pastries, cookies, or sandwiches.

The other day, I tried a variation of this with my husband. We skipped the beverage part and visited our local store, The Blue Pig. We sat, talked, and ate espresso chip ice cream cones with chocolate sprinkles. It was time well spent.

Which time management strategies bring you the most happiness? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

If you feel time-challenged, reach out to Linda, me at linda@ohsorganized.com, call 914-271-5673, or schedule a Discovery Call. A life focused on what matters most is possible, especially with support.