It’s no fun to feel stuck, stressed, or overwhelmed. Remaining that way for a long time isn’t good for your mental health or well-being. Take a moment to check in with yourself and see how you’re feeling. Do you need help making a change right now?

The good news is that you can make minor adjustments. These tiny shifts can have positive influences on your energy and overall well-being. I’ve often written about ways to calm and ground yourself.

For me, activities like walking in nature, journaling, eating nutritious foods, and getting enough sleep are my go-to methods for boosting energy and improving my mood. They also reduce stress and overwhelm and help you get unstuck. 

Recently, I discovered several new energy-changing strategies to help reduce morning stress, create momentum, and embrace relaxation.

 

3 Easy Ways to Help Shift Your Energy and Get Unstuck

1. Help Reduce Morning Stress

“Just give your brain 10 minutes to wake up.”

— Jay Shetty

In a recent issue of Real Simple, Jay Shetty, author and On Purpose podcast host, advises against checking your phone first thing. Allowing your brain a few minutes to wake up without that distraction will have a positive effect on your entire day.

Jay says, “You would never wake up and let 100 people into your bedroom before you showered or brushed your teeth. But when you look at your phone first thing in the morning, you’re letting 100 people into your mind. Then you end up chasing dopamine the rest of the day. Just give your brain 10 minutes to wake up. If you do that, your whole day will be different and you’ll have less anxiety. Try it for seven days, and you will feel so much better.”

I’ve been working on this. One challenge I face is that I meditate first thing in the morning using an app on my phone. My goal is to meditate with the app before checking email, texts, or social media. I notice a clear difference in my practice when I meditate first. However, when I get distracted by other inputs, it’s harder to settle into my meditation.

As I consider Jay’s strategy to “just give your brain 10 minutes to wake up,” I’m reaffirming my commitment to my morning routine. I will meditate first before doing any other phone-related activities. 

2. Help Create Momentum

“Clear enough space for momentum to arrive.”

— Oliver Burkeman

In one of Oliver Burkeman’s newsletters, The Imperfectionist, he wrote, “If you’re stuck in a rut, and you feel like you’ve stopped making progress on things that matter, it could be that you need more immediacy in your life.”

He discussed ways to build momentum through concrete actions, like recycling the “300 articles I’d saved to read later.” How many things have you saved for someday—things to do, read, or take care of? Those piles of unfinished projects, unread books, clothes you’ll never wear, or gadgets you’ll never use occupy valuable physical and mental space in our homes and minds.

To get unstuck, create momentum, and spark creativity, do some “stuff” clearing. Oliver said, “It was as if I’d been assuming that what I needed was to collect sufficient resources to create momentum, when what I really needed was to clear enough space for momentum to arrive.”

What can you release, recycle, or donate today?

3. Help Embrace Relaxation

“Rushing tends to trigger the stress response, and slowing down helps switch it off.”

— Nicola Jane Hobbs

In a recent Real Simple article about how to relax and unwind, especially at the start of your vacation, Nicola Jane Hobbs, a psychologist and author of The Relaxed Woman, offers excellent advice. She understands how difficult it can be to switch from the stress and fast pace of your work life to taking time off and relaxing. I don’t know about you, but when I’m on vacation, it usually takes me a day or two to transition from go-go-going to just being.

One of Nicola’s strategies is simple and can be helpful beyond just vacations. She explains that slowing down even the smallest parts of your daily routine can act as a reset. “Rushing tends to trigger the stress response, and slowing down helps switch it off.” Slowing down your “daily actions” will “help your mind and body relax.”

Some ways to slow down (as in doing these things more slowly) include:

• Walking

• Chewing

• Drinking

• Breathing

• Stretching

• Washing your hands

• Brushing your teeth

Next time you feel stressed or overwhelmed, try slowing down a small action and watch how it changes your experience.

What Helps You Get Unstuck?

There are so many ways to get unstuck, reduce overwhelm, or shift your mood. What are some of your go-to strategies? Which strategy that I shared resonates with you the most?

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

How Can I Help?

Do you feel overwhelmed, stuck, or disorganized? I’m here to help! Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – Local feel with a global reach.

Let’s talk. I’m easy to reach. 

• Schedule a Discovery Call

• Fill out the Contact form

• Email me at linda@ohsorganized.com or

• Call 914-271-5673

Getting organized is possible, especially with support.

Enjoy the latest release (v51) of the “What’s Interesting?” series, which features my most recent finds that inform, inspire, and relate to organizing and life balance. These unique enlisting help discoveries reflect this month’s blog theme.

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

What do you find interesting?

What’s Interesting? – 5 Best Finding Help Discoveries

1. Interesting Read – To Do Help

Do you have a project you’re procrastinating on or a to-do list that’s a mile long? Life requires you to get sh*t done. That’s all fine when you’re in the flow, checking off the ‘done’ tasks, and making progress. But what happens when you feel paralyzed before getting started or completing your goal?

In To Do – 41 Tools to Start, Stick With, and Finish Things, authors Mikael Krogerus and Roman Tschäppeler share many techniques to help you be more productive and fulfilled. They encourage you to choose the strategy that best fits your unique situation. Some will help enhance your work when you’re highly motivated, while other tools will give you the push you need to get started when you’re procrastinating.

They say, “…we don’t ‘get things done’ the same way every time. Sometimes we’re bursting with energy…at other times we falter, unsure if we’re on the right path, even questioning the whole project.”

Some of the techniques covered include:

• The Pomodoro Technique – Use focused, time-limited ‘work’ sessions, which help you “avoid distractions and get started on something.”

• Rapid Prototyping – Apply the approach for building models or prototypes to your tasks. Focus on “good enough,” release perfection, solicit input as needed, and make adjustments as needed.

• Kanban – Use this tool when you experience “to-do overload.” It’s a visual method to clarify “what you’re planning to do, what you’re doing right now, and what you’ve already done.”

• The 5-Second Rule – Use it when you need help with “activation energy.” Do a simple “countdown: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 … and do the right thing.”

• The 5/25 Rule – This tool helps you identify the five most important goals you want to achieve in life and let go of the other twenty you won't have time for.

• The Law of Reversed Effort – Apply this approach when your goal feels like an obstacle. Instead of chasing that goal now, let it go and focus your attention on something else. After at least six months, revisit your goal to decide if you still want to pursue it, or if there’s another way to accomplish it.

Which task or project are you currently stuck on?

2. Interesting Resource – Repair Help

Living in a “throwaway culture” means that repairing broken items happens less frequently. People often prefer the convenience of buying something new, rather than fixing what’s broken. Also, since getting broken things fixed isn’t as easy as it once was, discarding and buying something new can seem like the only option.

However, if you are committed to keeping things out of landfills and getting more use out of your stuff, I have some good news. A client of mine recently shared this resource with me, and I couldn’t wait to tell you about it.

Repair Cafe community events happen locally and internationally. Bring your broken item, and a volunteer repair coach will help you fix it. Not only will your belongings get repaired, but you’ll also gain hands-on experience.

Repair coaches can help fix a variety of items, including lamps, clocks, chairs, small appliances, digital devices, clothing, textiles, toys, jewelry, and more.

The next time something breaks, consider seeking help and engaging in the repair revolution.

Which of your things could be repaired?

“Asking for help is valuable and shows strength, not weakness.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

3. Interesting Study – Activation Help

Several years ago, Real Simple published an article about clever ways to increase your energy. One of the suggestions was to “shake up your routine.” They referenced a brain study in Nature Communications. The experiment found that when the nucleus accumbens, the part of the brain linked to motivation and pleasure, isn’t stimulated in a particular way, a signal is sent that causes drowsiness.

Alice Boyes, PhD, author of The Healthy Mind Toolkit, said, “Changing your routine in the tiniest ways can have an effect on sluggishness.” The routine shift can also “spark creativity.” Small changes can include “Rearrange the furniture. Sit somewhere different. Pour the milk into the bowl before your cereal.”

Are you feeling tired and struggling to activate? If so, what small change can you make to your routine?

“Life requires you to get sh*t done.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

4. Interesting Product – Storage Help

One of my favorite organizing tools is the mesh zipper bag. They are:

• Versatile

• Lightweight

• Durable

• Colorful

• Affordable

The bags featured here have handles, making them even easier to carry. You can use them to store books, puzzle pieces, small toys, board games, craft projects, office supplies, papers, and more. Use these pouches at school, home, office, or while traveling.

What could you store in your mesh bags?

5. Interesting Thought – Getting Help

Do you ask for help when you’re stuck, or do you tend to remain stuck and frustrated on your own?

It’s remarkable how much progress and growth can occur when you find the right support. Asking for help is valuable and shows strength, not weakness.

Everyone needs assistance at times, especially if you’re:

• Short on time

• Learning new skills

• Facing focus issues

• Navigating a long-term project

• Needing a thought or accountability partner

• Feeling stuck or

• Going through a life transition

What kind of help do you need right now?

Finding the Right Help

Sure, you can go it alone. However, there are times when reaching out for help can make an enormous difference to your sanity and progress. It’s worth creating a go-to list of people, strategies, and product resources to support you in pursuing your goals and tackling tasks. That way, you won’t have to struggle by yourself.

Who or what is your favorite source of support? Which of these discoveries resonates most with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts and invite you to join the conversation.

How Can I Help?

Do you feel overwhelmed, stuck, or disorganized? I’m here to help. Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – Local feel with a global reach.

Let’s talk. I’m easy to reach.

• Schedule a Discovery Call

• Fill out the Contact form

• Email me at linda@ohsorganized.com or

• Call 914-271-5673

Getting organized is possible, especially with support.

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.

Enjoy the newest release (v49) of the “What’s Interesting?” feature with my latest finds that inform, inspire, and relate to organizing and life balance. These unique letting-go discoveries reflect this month’s blog theme and time of year. Spring is a season for growth, change, and letting go of what no longer serves you.

You are an engaged, vibrant, and generous 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 Letting Go Discoveries

1. Interesting Workshop – Letting Go of Clutter

Do you feel burdened and overwhelmed by the clutter in your life? This transformative workshop can help. Spring is a wonderful time to let go and thrive.

Join me, Linda Samuels, Professional Organizer, for the empowering workshop – My Simple Organizing Plan. One workshop with your choice of two dates:

• April 22nd at 7:00-8:00 pm Eastern or

• April 24th at Noon-1:00 pm Eastern

  By the end of the one-hour Zoom workshop, you’ll have strategies for immediate change. You will:

• Uncover the hidden impact of clutter on your emotional well-being.

• Learn how to harness motivation to propel your decluttering journey forward.

• Acquire the skills to design a simple, personalized decluttering plan tailored to you.

Let go of the chaos and say hello to a calmer, more organized you. Reserve your spot now!

2. Interesting Article – Letting Go for Spring

Have you ever chosen a decluttering, letting go, or organizing project based on your Zodiac sign? Are you curious about which project aligns best with your sign? If so, you’ll love this!

In the Homes & Gardens article, What to easily organize this spring based on your Zodiac sign – it’ll turbocharge decluttering and banish motivation blockers, writer Ciera Cree explores star sign-adjacent organizing projects based on recommendations from astrologers and professional organizers (including me).

Ciera shares the astrologers’ advice and says, “Aligning your decluttering mission with your star sign will maximize efficiency...”  For example, if you’re an Aries (March 21st – April 19th), astrologist Rebecca Gordon suggests doing a “closet refresh.”

Based on Rebecca’s advice, I suggested, as a professional organizer, “To get your closet ready for spring, begin by removing darker, heavier clothing to make space for lighter, more colorful seasonal pieces.”

What is your sign? I’m a Scorpio. The astrologer suggests organizing my to-do list for spring home maintenance tasks. Which spring decluttering and letting go project are you looking forward to?

3. Interesting Read – Letting Go of Overwhelm

Feeling overwhelmed is the top reason people reach out to me for support. Their overwhelm comes from having:

• Too much clutter

• Too many projects and people to manage

• Unwieldy to-do lists

• Lack of time or

• Inability to focus on what’s valued most

In Overwhelmed – Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time, author and award-winning journalist, Brigid Schulte explores why we’re so stressed out and overwhelmed and ways to create time for what matters most.

Schulte shares neuroscience research that “when a human is pressed for time, rushed, and caught up in overwhelm, that yellow blob [prefrontal cortex] does something alarming: It shrinks.” In addition, “when children are exposed to stress – often stemming from the overwhelm of their parents – it can alter not only their neurological and hormonal systems but also their very DNA.”

This is sobering stuff. However, it’s not all doom and gloom. Schulte also provides readers with compelling research, stories, and many strategies. She advocates for:

• Letting go of unrealistic expectations

• Creating flexible work schedules

• Establishing parenting and domestic parity

• Setting technology boundaries

• Slowing down

• Having more leisure time

• Practicing gratitude

• Playing more

• Embracing ‘good enough’

• Taking intentional breaks

• Focusing on the present

What can you reimagine or let go of when you're feeling overwhelmed?

“Let go of the chaos and say hello to a calmer, more organized you.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

4. Interesting Resource – Letting Go to Help Someone Else

As you declutter and let go this spring, do you have bras you no longer wear that could benefit someone? Finding a good home for your belongings is a helpful strategy for letting go. You’ll feel better and more at peace when your things go to someone who will appreciate receiving them. In the organizing industry, this is known as providing “safe passage.”

A terrific non-profit organization, The Bra Recyclers, repurposes old bras and new underwear and gives them to people in need. Repurposing also keeps textiles out of landfills.

They accept regular bras, sports bras, nursing bras, and new ones with tags or women’s panties and men’s boxers and briefs in the package. With their “hassle-free solution,” The Bra Recyclers makes it easy to get your undergarments to them with this three-step process:

• Wash it

• Fill out the online form

• Mail or drop it off

Let go to help people and the planet.

5. Interesting Thought – Letting Go of What’s Keeping You Stuck

What is holding you back? What is keeping you stuck? What is no longer necessary in your life?

If you sense it’s time to let go, give yourself permission. Close your eyes and settle. Take a deep breath, hold it briefly, exhale slowly, and let it go. Repeat two more times.

Can you identify a part of your life that needs help letting go? It could include physical items, negative thoughts, overly busy schedules, or unhelpful habits.

How will you benefit from letting go?

New Season Inspires Letting Go Opportunities

When you release what is no longer needed, you make space for possibilities, calm, and what’s most valued.

What will you let go of this spring? Which of these discoveries resonate most with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts and invite you to join the conversation.

How Can I Help?

Do you want help getting unstuck, reducing overwhelm, letting go, and getting organized? I’m here to help. Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – local feel with global reach.

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