Last week, I wrote about the transitions we’re experiencing as the seasons change. While fall doesn’t officially begin for several weeks, its unofficial start has happened. You’re back from summer vacation, the kiddos have returned to school, and your plate is piled high with numerous projects, goals, and activities. Your schedule is packed, and your daily patterns are changing. Do you feel calm and prepared, or anxious and not ready?

Transitions can be tricky and uncomfortable. However, intregrating mindfulness into the mix can bring calm and confidence to this next phase.

There are six ways to feel ready as you prepare for your busy season. You can use these strategies for any shift you’re experiencing, such as starting a new day, month, season, year, project, or life change.

6 Ways to Mindfully Prepare for Your New Season

1. Prepare Emotionally

Your emotional state benefits greatly when you prioritize your self-care. To fortify your energy reserves and to create a positive emotional state:

• Get enough sleep

• Eat healthfully

• Hydrate

• Move your body

• Make time for just you

• Engage in nourishing activities

2. Prepare Environment

Clutter can cause blockages in your thinking, well-being, creativity, daily flow, and routines. Make time to let go of the physical things you no longer need, want, are in your way, or are no longer relevant for this new phase. Clear the path for your new season. What can you declutter now?

3. Clarify Goals & Why

Did you create an ambitious list of goals at the start of this year? This change of seasons presents an excellent time to revisit and reset. Ask:

• What one or two things do you want to accomplish this season?

• What will success look or feel like when you accomplish those?

• What is driving you to get there?

• What is your why?

Taking the time to clarify will be valuable. The clarity will help with more effortless and less stressful decision-making when your choices align with your goals and overarching why.

“Integrate mindfulness to bring calm and confidence to this next phase.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

4. Gather Your Team

The busy season makes it a terrific time to gather more support. Collect your go-to peeps- family, friends, colleagues, and professionals. There is no reason to go it alone. Who will be on your team? They can help you:

• Succeed

• Provide accountability

• Brainstorm and discuss ideas

• Navigate frustrations and challenges

• Cheer you on

5. Gather Your Resources

Aside from your ‘team,’ what else will help you prepare for this season? What physical supplies or products will be beneficial? What about finding resources for ideas or referrals?

As we’re in the back-to-school mode, images of sharpened pencils, blank notebooks, and boxes of new, colorful crayons fill my thoughts. While our kiddos are adults now and not in that stage, I remember when they were. Returning to school meant gathering the essential supplies, which helped them feel prepared and ready to learn. What do you need to feel prepared?

6. Schedule Downtime
During the fullness of this new season, plan time to stop. We aren’t designed to be constantly doing. We also need time to just be. Whether you make time daily, every week, or once a month, build breaks from the busyness. Each of us has different refueling needs. My daily mindfulness meditation practice and walks in nature keep me grounded and calm. They give me a quiet space to practice mindfulness, restore my energy, and prepare me to engage more fully after I pause.

New Podcast: Helping You Reset for the New Season

A few weeks ago, I enjoyed talking with the engaging, delightful podcast host, writer, and my new friend Kara Cutruzzula on her “Do It Today” podcast. Our conversation covered many topics, including ways to get ready for the new season. Listen to our conversation below:

If you are gathering your team and would like support from me as your Virtual Professional Organizer, let’s talk. I’d love to help as you travel on this next part of your journey. Call 914-271-5673, email me at linda@ohsoorganized.com, or click here to contact me through this site.

What helps you mindfully prepare for change? How do transition times affect you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

Have you noticed how much effort and energy it takes to engage in a fresh start? When our resources are depleted, it can be challenging to do basic things like eat, get dressed, or have a conversation. New beginnings can feel unattainable when our reserves are low and our thoughts are cloudy. It can feel like we are running in circles or following paths that lead nowhere.

Even in this depleted state, we can feel compelled to keep working beyond exhaustion. However, consider the value and necessity of downtime. Our minds need breaks to process what we’ve learned, let issues surface, self-reflect, and restore energy. Yet so often, we create barriers to taking breaks. I’ve heard this and done it myself. Do these sound familiar?

• “I don’t have time.”

• “I won’t reach my deadline.”

• “I’m almost done.”

• “I don’t deserve a break.”

• “If I don’t finish now, I’ll never complete this.”

These are thought distortions, often inaccurate beliefs with a negative bias developed over time.

What happens when you reframe your perspective? Consider these ideas instead:

• “If I take a break now, I’ll be more productive.”

• “If I take a short break, I’ll return refreshed and more energetic.”

• “This break is a form of self-care.”

• “This break makes me stronger, not weaker.”

• “There is value in a pause.”

• “I deserve a moment of rest.”

Here’s the big reveal . . .

1. We identified objections (aka thought distortions) for taking a break. 

2. We reviewed helpful perspective reframes.

3. You’re all set. Go take a “do nothing” break for five minutes. Yes. You deserve it!

“Consider the value and necessity of downtime.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO™

We can move forward and get a fresh start at any time. To get there, sometimes the best way to do that is to take a break first. Get some fresh air, close your eyes for a few minutes, do a quick meditation, lie down, or slowly sip a cup of hot tea. Yes. You do deserve a moment to rest. You will be recharged and ready to fully engage in your fresh start when you return.

Is taking a break challenging for you? What helps you recharge? How do you approach a fresh start? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

You never know when inspiration will happen. During a recent conversation at one of the many BBQs I’ve enjoyed so far this summer, the seed ideas for this post began germinating. At the time I didn’t connect the dots to motivation. However, after a good night’s sleep and morning mindfulness practice, an interesting link surfaced that I’m about to share with you. It gave me a new perspective about motivation that I hadn’t fully realized before. I hope it will be useful for you too. 

In the conversation I had with a parent, she shared with me how frustrated and unhappy she was about her high school-aged child being home for the summer with no specific or productive plans. She relayed that her child had promised she would “do things,” but with a few weeks into the summer, her plans were non-existent. The mom didn’t want her daughter sitting around all summer “wasting” her time and doing nothing. From other stories that the mom shared about her daughter, it seemed as though she was regularly busy and engaged in life. But for this particular moment in time, she wasn't motivated to do anything. 

It made me think about the times I’ve worked hard and for prolonged periods on a project. When those projects ended, my energy was depleted. The projects took a lot of sustained motivation to keep going and see them through. Post project, I needed non-pressured downtime to reflect and not do so that I could regroup and gear-up for next.

We live in a time when constant doing is the norm. It’s expected. Only when we’re on vacation or sleeping, do we allow ourselves (guilt-free) to stop and do less. However, I propose that we need these stopping or not doing periods more frequently. Let’s honor the motivation pendulum instead of expecting constant motivation to accomplish and to be busy. Let’s appreciate and respect the value of pausing after those big-push times. 

The amount of activities, assignments, projects, and things that kids (and parents) have to juggle during the school year is immense. It’s no wonder that our children need a break from the intense, frenetic pace. Taking part of or the entire summer to pause can be a great way for our kids to restore their motivation reserves. And the truth is that having the summer off is one of the luxuries of childhood. Unless you’re a teacher, which a few of my friends are, most adults don’t have that opportunity anymore. 

Whether you’re a kid or an adult, allow some downtime after expending sustained energy. Your motivation will return if you allow yourself time to come back to yourself.

What is your experience with the motivation pendulum? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation!

You’ve heard it before. The playing field is level. We each have 24-hours in a day. That’s a big number, isn’t it? In addition, we have 365 rounds each year. That’s 8,760 hours per year to make our own concoction of work, fun, and relaxation. With all this time, why do we feel unproductive, overwhelmed, stressed-out, and time poor? Here are common time challenges and some strategies for overcoming them.

1. Overscheduling – Life is not dull. There are so many meetings, extracurricular activities, and social events in addition to the regular responsibilities that you feel perpetually frazzled and busy. There is never any relaxation time, other than when you sleep.

Tip: This might be the time to introduce “no” into your vocabulary. What can be removed from the schedule to give you some downtime?

2. Ambitious List Making – Massive doesn’t even begin to describe the length of your lists. You are overwhelmed by your ideas, projects and to-dos. How and when will you accomplish everything?

Tip:  Adjust your expectations. As items are checked off, new ones will appear. Don’t let that de-motivate you. Instead of focusing on completing the entire list, shift your perspective. Work your list by selecting the two or three items that you will get done that day. Reframe what completion looks like.

3. Lack of Planning – You prefer to just “go with the flow” and not plan your time. This isn’t working for you. The day ends and you haven’t accomplished what you wanted to. Consider the good enough method of planning.

Tip: Don’t plan every minute. Instead, create large time blocks in your schedule that are devoted to certain types of activities like returning phone calls and emails, doing errands, spending time with family, and “me time.” Yes…block out time for just you! Review the loose plan before the end of each day. Adjust as needed.

4. Not Focusing – Distractions . . . Let me count the ways. There are children, pets, phone calls, TV, email, texting, Internet searches, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Don’t get me started about Pinterest (my personal new favorite social media addiction, oops I mean site!) The supply of distractions is endless.

Tip: Two words: Establish boundaries. Whether the distractions are digital or human, it’s essential to set parameters. Remember those time blocks I mentioned above? Incorporate into those time blocks some “tech-less time” or whichever distraction needs the boundary. Experiment with effectively using parameters to maintain your focus.

5. Under Appreciating – You’re doing a lot. You’re moving through the days at lightning speed. You’re done and on to the next thing before pausing to acknowledge what you’ve accomplished. This exacerbates your frenzied feelings.

Tip:  Gratitude is powerful. It shifts our thoughts to a positive place. Allow yourself to slow down long enough to reflect and appreciate. That can include acknowledging our accomplishments, being grateful for our loved ones, or enjoying the sweet scent of spring.

What is your biggest time challenge? Is it one of these or something entirely different? I’d love to hear from you. Come join the conversation.