Motivation isn’t always there before you start what you want to do. It might be, but more often it shows up after you begin taking action. The mind can play tricks on itself and psych you out. It dwells on reasons why you can’t start or reach your goal. 

When that happens, motivation disappears, progress is elusive, and you feel stuck. You’re at an impasse. You can remain in this limbo, negative state, or you can turn things around.

If you’re ready to change the dynamics, I have some ideas to help. There are many ways to get unstuck, boost your motivation, and act on what matters most. I compiled three approaches related to focus, fear, and perspective.

3 Simple Ways to Improve Your Motivation and Get Unstuck

1. Motivation and Focus

“Focus on the seeds, not the trees. What seeds are you planting today?”

— James Clear

A common reason for a lack of motivation is feeling overwhelmed. It’s important to understand your overall goal or objective. However, focusing too far in the future on what it will take to reach that goal can be demotivating.

Instead, narrow your focus and stay present. This will help boost motivation. Invest in small actions that support your larger goal. Keep your attention on the now and your next step, while remembering your ‘why’.

Eventually, the seeds you plant will grow into the trees you desire.

REMEMBER: “Focus on the seeds, not the trees. What seeds are you planting today?” – James Clear

2. Motivation and Fear

“Any next action.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

A few months ago, Kara Cutruzzula, a writer, playwright, lyricist, and friend, wrote a piece on Substack called “Hop to the other side of fear.” She shared how being unprepared and scared can get in the way of progress, yet these are fixable challenges.

In response, I commented that fear, indecision, and uncertainty can be paralyzing and demotivating. However, taking any next action can help break that cycle.

• What fears are holding you back?

• What decision are you struggling to make?

• How can you get ready to take the next small step?

• How is uncertainty preventing you from moving ahead?

Taking action holds undeniable power. It encourages further progress, boosts motivation, quiets fears, and helps you move forward.

REMEMBER: “Any next action.” – Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

3. Motivation and Perspective

“Make your what-if questions positive, not negative.”

— Todd Henry

Someone once suggested to me that it’s unhelpful to ask ‘what-if’ questions. Honestly, that has never prevented me from pondering them. How you phrase the ‘what-ifs’ is essential.

Especially when you’re feeling stuck and lacking motivation, it’s more helpful to reframe your ‘what if’ questions from an optimistic perspective.

Instead of dwelling on:

• What if I never get my home organized?

• What if I don’t complete this decluttering project?

• What if I can’t change my unhelpful habits?

Instead try:

• What if I make my home organized enough so that our family feels calmer and less stressed?

• What if I finish this decluttering project so I can downsize to my new home?

• What if I change my bad habits to feel healthier and more energetic?

‘What if’ questions can motivate and encourage action when they are framed to highlight positive outcomes.

REMEMBER: “Make your what-if questions positive, not negative.” – Todd Henry

What Motivation Strategies Are Most Effective?

If “action precedes motivation,” as Julie Bestry, my friend and colleague, says, what helps you take that next step? Do you have motivational challenges? Which of these strategies resonates most with you?

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

How Can I Help?

Do you need support with motivation, activation, or organization? 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 914-271-5673

Organizing and sustaining motivation is possible, especially with support.

You have arrived. The page has turned, and a new year has just begun. Do you feel the weight of last year? Are your thoughts occupied by unfinished projects or goals never reached?

Hi, friend. You are not alone. As much as you wanted to wrap up one year with a neat little bow, it wasn’t possible. You have leftovers and incompletes that are still in progress. I’m here with you.

Some things take longer or have deadlines that extend from one year to the next. While you want to move on and truly engage with a fresh start, you aren’t ready yet. However, I’ve got good news.

There is one small thing you can do to help change your energy in a positive direction during this transition time. It will lift that weight and reframe what a fresh start can be.

Reframe Your Fresh Start

Consider the “reset button,” which Glennon Doyle referred to in Untamed. Push that imaginary button to clear your mind and prepare for what’s next. This is especially useful when you feel stressed, anxious, stuck, in between, or pressured.

When you identify your preferred buttons, you can access them anytime to reset and start fresh. This viable strategy is not time-specific. You can use this simple practice today, tomorrow, or months from now.

What is the Reset Button?

As Doyle says, “My reset buttons are just little things.” Her list includes:

“Drink a glass of water.

Take a walk.

Take a bath.

Practice yoga.

Meditate.

Go to the beach and watch the waves.

Play with my dog.

Hug my wife and kids.

Hide the phone.”

As you read those, did you imagine the resets working for you? Did they spark other ‘button’ ideas?

I have most of Doyle’s buttons on my list, although I no longer have a dog to play with and prefer a hot cup of tea to a glass of water.

“My reset buttons are just little things.”

— Glennon Doyle

These additional resets also help me:

• Write in my journal.

• Talk with a friend.

• Run an errand.

• Have a snack.

• Make the bed.

• Clean the kitchen counters.

• Get a pedicure.

• Watch water flow.

• Wash and moisturize my face.

• Do something new or outside of my routine.

Your Fantastic Fresh Start

Release your worry and angst. Invite in patience and perseverance. Get out your button-pushing finger and get ready to press the reset. You can:

• Change your state of being

• Switch gears

• Create a space to move forward refreshed

What will help you facilitate a fresh start? Which ideas resonate with you? 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 making the most of this new year? 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.

Inspiration abounds. The fall season in the northeast profoundly influences my thoughts about possibilities. Seeing the bold color shift to saturated yellows, oranges, and reds encourages me to seek change.

Last week, I wrote about my guest bedroom makeover. I considered what was possible, turned those ideas into reality, and was motivated to make more changes.

I made additional unplanned tweaks and changes that were outgrowths influenced by the bedroom project. When you disrupt an area, physical space, and objects are moved. This spatial churning also affects thoughts. Undoing what was in one room opened my mind to seeing and experimenting in other areas.

Sometimes, you feel set and don’t have the need or desire to change anything. Those times can last for brief periods, months, or years. At a point, though, something will interrupt that state. You are ready to try something different, reorganize systems, or make significant life shifts.

Possibilities infiltrate your thoughts. When possibilities are paired with action, change occurs.

3 Unexpected Outcomes from Possibility Thinking

1. Discover Giddy, Joyful Ease

I’ll admit this openly: I love decorative pillows. They’re textural and colorful and instantly change the look of a room. Typically, I have no less than five pillows adorning the sofa or beds.

As you might imagine, keeping the pillows fluffed and arranged can be a pain. Plus, you need extra time to undo and make the beds—pillows off, pillows on. However, I was happy to do the pillow maintenance dance because I loved how they looked and felt. I was willing until recently.

When I transformed the guest bedroom, I rethought the decorative pillow arrangement on that bed. That encouraged me to reconsider the pillow situation in our bedroom. I’m almost embarrassed to say, but we had ten pillows, only two of which we used for sleep. As I write this, I’m laughing out loud. I never counted them up before. Ten pillows are ridiculous.

My supportive husband has always accepted my pillow obsession but recently started questioning their necessity. Between his input and my desire to reimagine other areas of our home, I felt emboldened to change things.

Our bed now has only four sleep pillows and one decorative pillow. I feel giddy, even joyful, when I undo the bed at night or make it in the morning. It’s so easy that it almost feels wrong. I love it!

It took a change in one room to open my mind to possibilities in other areas. The wheels continue to turn.

“When you release what is unnecessary, you clear the path for possibilities.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

2. Create Organization and Accessibility

One of the most fabulous products I discovered during the bedroom renovation was the Elfa® drawer dividers. We redid the guest bedroom closet with an Elfa® system from The Container Store. The designer suggested using the drawer dividers. I loved them so much that I purchased more for other areas where I have Elfa® drawers.

I showcased them in the tea bag overflow drawer a few weeks ago. Since then, I decided to reorganize the gift wrap supply drawers using the dividers. Instead of the gift bags, tags, ribbons, and other supplies moving around each time I opened a drawer, the dividers keep items better organized and securely in place.

Since the drawer organization upgrade, I’ve wrapped a few gifts. It was so easy and fun! The supplies are more visible, accessible, and visually pleasing.

Enjoy this fun video, which demonstrates how easy the drawer dividers are to install.

3. Right-Size Your Stuff

I often discuss how letting go of things that have overstayed their welcome makes space for more of what you want in your life. Clutter or extra stuff you never use takes up physical and emotional space. When you release what is unnecessary, you clear the path for possibilities.

When we emptied the guest bedroom, it gave me pause to assess the removed items and make decisions about their future. I did ‘the edit’ and engaged in various questions to help me evaluate what to keep or let go. I asked letting go questions, including:

• Does this fit or belong in the newly reimagined space?

• Will I use it?

• Do I still like it?

• Could it go somewhere else?

• Is it time to let it go?

• Has it served its purpose and is no longer necessary?

I made decisions. Cardboard storage boxes were recycled and replaced with new containers. Some furniture, art, home goods, boxes, and decorative pillows (yes, those!) will be sold or donated.

Currently, I still have a pile of items waiting to be gone. Getting them out requires my time and attention. Using Facebook Marketplace, GreenDrop, or the Buy Nothing Group, things will exit. I am confident in my decisions and ready to release things.

This process began with thinking about possibilities in one space and resulted in letting go of things that are no longer needed. It feels good and will feel even better when the pile is gone.

What Possibilities Are Ahead?

What no longer works for you? What becomes possible with a slight tweak? What possibility will inspire more organization and ease into your life? How can letting go create a path for new opportunities? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

Are you ready to move forward, get organized, and live with more ease? If so, I’m here to help. Please email me at linda@ohsorganized.com or call 914-271-5673. Turning possibilities into reality is achievable, especially with support.

It takes courage to move forward when you’re overwhelmed, unsure of where you’re headed, or confused about what to do next. However, as you bravely take that one tiny action in the face of uncertainty, this will propel your fresh start.

The beginning feels murky at best when you’re stuck and not moving anywhere. With movement, what is unknown quickly becomes visible. Amazingly, one step encourages more because it builds momentum.

Getting Unstuck

I discovered this beautiful John Muir quote. He said, “And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.” This brings forth many ideas. Taking a walk “into the forest” or anywhere offers an opportunity. Walking is movement in action. The physicality of motion goes beyond the benefits your body experiences. As arms swing, feet advance, and the breath deepens, you are filled with aliveness and energy. This movement encourages possibilities and a “can do” attitude.

If your walk happens to be in nature, there are additional benefits that surrounding yourself in a green environment brings. It can

• Reduce stress

• Boost mood

• Enhance creativity

• Increase concentration

• Improve sleep

Walking can get you unstuck. There is such significance in taking that first step and then another.

Letting Go

The next part of Muir’s phrase, “to lose my mind and find my soul,” illustrates other ideas. I connect losing “my mind” to letting go. Instead of focusing on negative, unhelpful thoughts or holding onto things and ideas that no longer serve you, release them. Be present.

Connect with something deeper within, your “soul.” Find the courage to let things unfold. See the wonder in what is here now.

I arranged a surprise birthday weekend for my husband a few weeks ago. What was the surprise? Our kiddos and their partners came home to celebrate and share several beautiful days together. One of the things we did was walk down our block, through the woods, and to the Croton River. I love walking, and doing this with my family made me happy!

Feeling supported in my hiking shoes, I noticed each step as my feet connected with the ground. Walking helped me release the to-dos and projects occupying real estate in my mind. I had several upcoming project deadlines that I was thinking about. I knew the work could wait. I was thrilled to have everyone home and have time with the crew. A thought adjustment was needed.

To do this, I focused on the sounds of my loved ones’ sweet voices. I watched them energetically walk as they meandered into different pairs and groupings. I felt their loving presence as we held hands and connected. Into the forest we went- walking, talking, laughing, listening, photographing, and watching.

“It takes courage to move forward when you’re overwhelmed.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

Small Step

Choose your next tiny step to get you unstuck. Will you move your body to create momentum? Will you talk with a trusted friend or loved one to download your thoughts? Will you take one small step on your big project to bridge the gap between planning and action? What tiny, courageous step will you make to set your fresh start in motion?

If you feel stuck and overwhelmed or find it challenging to determine your next step, I’d love to help. Please email me at linda@ohsoorganized.com, call 914-271-5673, or click here to schedule a Discovery Call. Let’s work together so things can flow.