Is it just me, or are you also wondering, “How is it mid-year already?" As each day and week pass, the feeling that time is flying by only grows stronger. It’s no surprise. Time keeps moving on. However, the continual ticking of the clock makes me consider how intentionally I’m using my time. I like to think I’m being purposeful and conscious with my time, yet there’s always room for improvement.

Recently, I discovered some powerful questions in Jenny Blake’s book, Free Time – Lose the Busywork, Love Your Business. Jenny’s book was recommended to me by my friend, the fabulous author, podcast host, lyricist, and project coach, Kara Cutruzulla. Thank you, Kara.

The questions that Jenny poses are excellent clarifiers. I found them helpful, and I thought you would, too. While her book focuses on business, her questions can easily be applied to your personal life. I adapted several of them to make them more relevant for you.

To determine whether Jenny’s questions will be helpful for you, consider these first:

• Are you struggling to focus your time?

• Are you trying to be more intentional about how you spend your time?

• Are you sensing that time is passing quickly and you’re not focused on what matters?

• Are you feeling frustrated and stuck?

• Are you hoping to achieve something soon or within a year?

If you resonated with any of the questions above, the following four questions from Jenny could offer you clarity, direction, and hope.

Four Effective Questions to Help You Better Focus Your Time

1. “What would give you the biggest boost and sense of accomplishment this week?”

The secret sauce of this question is how it helps you focus on the immediate time frame—this week. This approach can be especially beneficial when your mind is so preoccupied with future thinking that it distracts you from the here and now.

Take a moment in a quiet space. Close your eyes if it helps. Ask Jenny’s question, “What would give you the biggest boost and sense of accomplishment this week?”

Break it down further if that’s useful:

• What will provide you with the most significant lift in mood this week?

• What can help create a sense of accomplishment this week?

• What is the best place to focus your time, effort, and energy to achieve those results?

2. “What are your three biggest [time-related] frustrations at the moment?”

You might consistently be late, have trouble meeting deadlines, struggle with your work-life balance, or face other time-related challenges. Maybe you’re experiencing low energy or a lack of motivation. All of these experiences are normal. However, without clarity about what is frustrating you, it’s easy to remain in a static and irritated position.

Identifying your frustrations and what’s keeping you stuck is essential. From that proactive perspective, you can develop a plan of action.

What are your three biggest frustrations related to time right now?

“Time is a valuable resource, and it’s not unlimited. ”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

3. “What would you be thrilled to achieve in [your life] in the year ahead?”

Living in the present is important. Equally essential is thinking about the future. This forward perspective will help you be more mindful of your time and the small steps you’re taking now toward a future goal.

To put yourself in a positive mindset, ask the question, “What would you be thrilled to achieve in [your life] in the year ahead?”

To increase excitement and minimize overwhelm, identify just one goal. You might have many ideas, but focus on one pursuit instead.

Tick tock. Time keeps moving forward. What is the most thrilling thing you’d like to achieve in a year?

4. “If I could solve your biggest challenge around [organization or time management], what would it be?”

Setting goals and being intentional with your time is rewarding. Seeking help with your goals and challenges can be beneficial. I have found it helpful many times to receive support for the goals I am working on. Although it may seem easier in some ways to go it alone, finding the right kind of support can make a tremendous difference.

What are your biggest challenges with organization or time management? How can I best support you on your journey?

The Value of Focusing Your Time with Intention

Time is a valuable resource, and it’s not unlimited. Just as spring flowers have their blooming season, you also have a limited number of days remaining. How do you want to shape your days and spend your time? What does living more intentionally mean for you? What will help you focus on what’s most important? 

I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

How Can I Help?

Do you need support with organizing, editing, or managing your time? I’d love to help! Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – Local feel with a global reach.

Let’s talk. You can:

• Schedule a Discovery Call

• Email me at linda@ohsorganized.com or

• Call directly 914-271-5673

Using your time intentionally is possible, especially with support.

What is the value of letting go? In many circumstances, your willingness to let go can reduce frustration and enhance your daily life. Let go when you are:

• Stuck

• Overwhelmed

• Frustrated

• Burdened by the past

• Weighed down by physical stuff

• Distressed by non-supportive processes, relationships, and environments

• Determined to be present or move forward

I curated a small collection of my favorite letting-go quotes from Yung Pueblo, Chuck Palahniuk, Todd Henry, and Hans Hoffman. Each idea highlights a unique aspect of releasing.

When you allow yourself to let go, you experience less stress, more flow, and better alignment with your values. The past won’t hold you back. You’ll be more grounded in the present and open to possibilities that you couldn’t see before.

FIVE FAVORITE LETTING GO QUOTES

1. Let Go of the Past

Letting go is a process. Release things that no longer serve a purpose in your life. This will create more mindful and present-centered living.

“When you put yourself through the process of letting go, you gain greater access to the here and now.”

— Yung Pueblo

 2. Let Go of the Stuff

When the volume of possessions becomes overwhelming and burdensome, they take up your valuable time and energy. This is a cue to edit. Keep what’s most important. Release what you can. You’ll feel lighter and less encumbered.

“The things you own end up owning you.”

— Chuck Palahniuk

3. Let Go of the Complex

Life is complicated. However, you don’t have to make things more involved than necessary. Consider what you can release to simplify your schedule, processes, or thought patterns.

“Is there any place where you are making things more complex than they need to be?”

— Todd Henry

4. Let Go of the Only Once Idea

Letting go is like a muscle. It needs to be exercised to develop and experience results. Releasing is not a one-and-done occurrence. It requires time, attention, and practice to experience positive results.

“Letting go is not a one-time event; it is a habit that requires consistent repetition to become strong.”

— Yung Pueblo

 5. Let Go of the Unnecessary

Thinking or thriving is impossible when you have too much stuff, crammed schedules, or unhelpful thoughts. The excess gets in the way and makes it challenging to discover what’s most important. Letting go of the unessential will create space for what you truly value.

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.”

— Hans Hofmann

Is Letting Go Easy or Challenging?

You might find letting go easy for some areas of your life and more challenging in others. What has been a successful letting-go experience? What has been difficult? 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 letting go? 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. Letting go is possible, especially with support.

Life requires energy. How much effort do you spend on aspects of your life you have little or no control over? Are distractions and worry preventing you from moving forward?

Focusing your energy and choosing productive actions within your control will guide you toward more fruitful next steps. You may wonder how you can do that.

One option is to do an informal personal energy audit. This evaluation will help you understand where your time and energy go. Once completed, prioritizing next will become more evident.

What is a Personal Energy Audit?

In James Clear’s recent 3-2-1 Thursday newsletter, his idea influenced my thoughts about creating a personal energy audit. To do this, notice where you spend your time and mental energy on a typical day.

Once you have made a quick assessment, you’ll be able to:

• let go of energy drainers

• gather excess energy

• focus energy gains on productive actions

Clear says,

“Take all the energy you spend on…

• worrying about the past

• worrying about the future

• worrying about what others think

• worrying about if you might fail

…and channel that energy into one useful action within your control.”

What a fantastic and powerful call to action!

“Notice where you spend your time and mental energy on a typical day.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

What Will Be Your Essential Next Step?

Clear encourages harnessing those energy gains into just “one useful action.” Select one next small, doable step “within your control” that will result in a positive outcome. Doing that will help reduce overwhelm and increase laser focus.

What will your “useful action” be?

Is Your Energy Aligned with Useful Action?

You will expend energy each day. It is vital to notice where that energy is going. Do you focus on those things that aren’t in your control? Or are you aligning your energy with positive action?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

How Can I Help?

Do you want support organizing, editing, planning, or focusing energy on useful next steps? 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. Focusing on what’s next is possible, especially with support.

Do you create obstacles for yourself before embarking on the next step? These might include a list of self-imposed pre-requirements before you can take the next step or tackle a new project.

Perhaps your goal is spring cleaning and organizing. While that’s a great goal, instead of beginning the process, you set parameters that make it nearly impossible to take the next step.

For instance, you prefer tackling this project in big time blocks rather than shorter, focused sessions. However, your life commitments and energy levels aren’t conducive to organizing three, four, or five hours at a time.

As a result, what happens? Things stagnate because you don’t have large swaths of time to move your project forward. You frontloaded the project with an obstacle that closed your mind to alternative solutions and experimentation.

Does this sound familiar?

What Are Toxic Preconditions?

A few weeks ago, I discovered the term “toxic preconditions” in Oliver Burkeman’s newsletter, The Imperfectionist. He learned this concept from James Horton, a social scientist who questioned why people who want to write more don’t.

Horton observed that some aspiring writers had “misguided beliefs” that might have seemed helpful but undermined their confidence, causing them to write less or not at all.

Burkeman says that what’s behind toxic preconditions is “the strong desire we have for some kind of guarantee – before we embark on a new activity, or even allow ourselves to relax into life – that it’ll all unfold safely and securely, that we’ll retain the feeling of being in control.”

He advocates how freeing it is to let go of that need for a “guarantee.” Burkeman says, “Getting past toxic preconditions is less a matter of being willing to step into the unknown than of realizing that you’re already in the unknown.” He goes on to say, “You never had control; all you had was anxiety.”

“Do you set parameters that make it nearly impossible to take the next step?”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

Letting Go of Toxic Preconditions

There are three aspects for releasing toxic preconditions:

1. Observe – Notice when you are putting up obstacles to the extent that you can’t move toward your goal or next step.

2. Accept – Acknowledge there are no guarantees. Instead, move forward with curiosity, openness, and a willingness to experiment.

3. Release – Let go of any preconditions that are toxic. Be willing to take that next step without first doing a, b, c, d, or e. Go forth without all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed.

I want to re-establish my daily walking habit. In the past months, I put up obstacles based on the weather, which I can’t control. I won't walk every day if I’m only willing to walk when it’s warm and sunny. I’ve been telling myself, “It’s too cold.” Or, “It’s too dreary.” If, instead, I adjust the parameters, like the length of a walk, wearing more layers, or walking inside instead of out, I’ll be more likely to reach my daily walking goal.

“Getting past toxic preconditions is less a matter of being willing to step into the unknown than of realizing that you’re already in the unknown.”

— Oliver Burkeman

What’s On the Other Side of Toxicity?

Let’s face it. Life has challenges. However, how often do you create obstacles and make things more complicated than necessary? If you tend to hinder your progress, I encourage you to explore new options. Release those toxic preconditions that aren’t serving you. Experience more movement, flow, and success.

Have you encountered toxic preconditions in others or yourself? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

How Can I Help?

Do you want support organizing, editing, planning, or working on that 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. Figuring out next is possible, especially with support.