What drives you to do something? There are many factors, and motivation is one of the most significant ones. Author and educator Kendra Cherry said, “It [motivation] is the driving force behind human actions.” However, you can’t take this “force” for granted. Motivation needs to be cultivated and encouraged. Even when you’ve clarified your why, using additional strategies to stay motivated can be valuable.

Summer brings longer days and a change of pace. This is an excellent season to attend to organizing and other projects or goals you have on hold. Is a lack of motivation preventing you from achieving your goals? If so, here are three quick strategies to help.

3 Ways to Increase Your Motivation Now

1. Set a Deadline

There’s nothing as powerful as a deadline to light the ‘motivation’ fire under you. One way to accomplish this is to bundle finishing tasks and projects with an event deadline, such as having guests over, leaving for vacation, or working between meetings. That added ‘beat the clock’ incentive creates a motivation boost.

Recently, we went away for vacation. While packing was one of the necessary things I did before departing, I was also incentivized and motivated by the ‘leaving soon’ deadline to finish other projects and tasks. I could go away with a clear mind, fully enjoy my time off, and return home to a calm environment.

2. Create Accountability

The number one reason clients contact me is because they are overwhelmed. When overwhelm is present, it can block the motivation needed to take action. The second reason clients reach out is that they recognize the value of accountability and want an accountability partner. Virtual organizing is a great way to mesh accountability and motivation for achieving your goals.

If you need help getting unstuck, moving forward with your organizing projects, or figuring out what comes next, let me know. I am ready to help. Contact me at linda@ohsoorganized.com or through this form.

“Motivation needs to be cultivated and encouraged.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

3. Pause to Restore

Being overworked and exhausted impairs motivation. Life isn’t only about doing and accomplishing. It would help if you had time to rest and restore. Even a short pause can be an effective way to increase your motivation.

Your pause can be a coffee break, a walk outside, several deep breaths, a mindfulness meditation, a quick nap, a massage, or a conversation with a friend. There is no limit to the types or lengths of pauses you can take.

One of the great pleasures for me is lying in our hammock. It’s a perfect way to pause, relax, rest, and restore. A few weekends ago, my husband and I took the pause together. What a joy! After a good rest, I had the energy and motivation to work on one of my projects.

Do these strategies resonate with you? What helps increase your motivation? I’d love to hear your thoughts and invite you to join the conversation.

This year winds down, and we take time to reflect on the past twelve months and the year about to start. 2022 has been full of intense emotions, experiences, and amazing conversations we shared on the blog. We’ve walked side-by-side, navigated turbulent waters, made new discoveries, and wrestled with life balance. In our free-flowing exchanges, insights and new perspectives emerged.

Our conversations about life balance, change, mindfulness, clutter, letting go, motivation, organizing, coping, resilience, hope, pandemics, and more have provided immense comfort, connection, and joy. Thank you for being part of this generous community. You inspire me to show up, write, think, explore, and engage.

I am deeply grateful for this community’s thoughtful words and beautiful sharing. I curated twelve of my favorite quotes of the year from my top engagers, selecting one from each month’s theme. Thank you, Christine Li, Diane Quintana, Ellen Delap, Janet Barclay, Janet Schiesl, Jonda Beattie, Julie Bestry, Lucy Kelly, Sabrina Quairoli, Sara Skillen, Seana Turner, and Yota Schneider. You are the consistent voices and readers who bring our conversations to life. I am grateful to you and everyone who reads the blog, contributes to our discussions or shares the posts. You bring hope, light, curiosity, perspective, and learning to each day.

There have been many other conversation participators and sharers this year, including Alison Nissen, Andi Willis, Christine Johnson, Geralin Thomas, Hazel Thornton, Jill Katz, Jill Yesko Diana, Julie Stobbe, Juliet Landau-Pope, Katherine Macey, Kim Tremblay, Lisa Gessert, Lynne Palumbo, Nancy Haworth, Sheila Delson, Stacey Agin Murray. Thank you for bringing richness to our conversations and for sharing your ideas.

Enjoy the year in review- one quote, insight, and inspiration at a time!

12 Delightful Quotes From Our Conversations This Year That Will Make You Feel Inspired

1. Fresh Start - 5 Best Ideas Shared Here by Pros to Help You Make a Promising Fresh Start

“Zero assumptions is a wonderful way to remind myself that I can start fresh with every moment. Every breath can be a reminder to refocus and notice what’s happening now and move from there.”

— Lucy Kelly

2. Embrace Change - 3 Hopeful Ideas Motivated Big Changes in My Life Which Can Really Help You Too

“I have made such sweeping changes recently...I’m still catching my breath and am learning that it’s ok to postpone some decisions while waiting for the dust to settle. The big change...feels so right that I’m happy just to let that feeling resonate for a while before I implement some of the other smaller changes that I am aware are lurking in the background...”

— Diane Quintana

3. Next Step - What Becomes Visible If You Make Your Next Step Hope?

“When life feels challenging, I like to reflect on the challenges I’ve endured and survived in the past. If I got through ‘that,’ I can surely get through ‘this!’”

— Janet Barclay

4. Letting Go - 3 Ways to Let Go of Big & Joyfully Experience Powerful Benefits of Little

“Often, it is in letting go of the big and cluttered that we can fully appreciate the abundance in our lives.”

— Yota Schneider

5. Clutter - 11 Delightful Pros Share Best Cues for When It’s Time To Declutter

“I know I need to declutter when I am feeling drained or fatigued. It’s a bodily response informing me that there are too many things going on or too much to focus on accurately and well. When I have that realization, I do my best to spring into decluttering mode so that I free myself up for smooth action again.”

— Christine Li, Ph.D.

6. Time Management - How To Prioritize Your Time and Celebrate Life’s Joyful Moments

“If we don’t prioritize our joy, our lives slip by, and while we’ll have served the clients and cooked the meals, and checked off our tasks, will we have really lived?”

— Julie Bestry

7. Motivation - Discover One Surprising Solution When Doomerism Sabotages Your Motivation

“Optimism is key to finding opportunities. When we are down, we feel stuck. Staying optimistic doesn’t mean you need to deny what is going on. You choose to put your energy into something that will uplift and motivate you.”

— Sabrina Quairoli

8. Enlisting Help - What’s The Value Of Enlisting Help As You Make A Positive Change?

“Enlisting help either as a mentor/teacher, accountability partner, or a cheerleader can make the difference between reaching your goal or giving up.”

— Jonda Beattie

9. Mindfulness - How to Bring Mindfulness To Each Day And Easily Increase Joy In Your Life

“…I often ask my clients to consider what they ‘get to do’ vs. ‘have to do.’ Right now, I’m joyfully anticipating a light day, some reading time, and prepping for the rest of the week. I ‘get to’ think ahead about my clients and meetings and family time – all of which I’m grateful for. It’s a key component of mindfulness...”

— Sara Skillen

10. Possibility Thinking - What’s Achievable When You See Life As A Petri Dish Of Astonishing Possibilities?

“…it’s easier to be grateful and optimistic than we think.”

— Janet Schiesl

11. Wonderfully Human - What Is The Amazing Value Received by Reframing More Thoughts?

“Rather than ‘I don’t know how,’ say ‘I am learning to.’ It is all about our perspective and our capacity to keep learning.”

— Ellen Delap

12. Life Balance - Make A Happy Holiday Season Life Balance Inspired By One Of Einstein’s Timely Ideas

“…this moment of calm was a true blessing…balance comes from allowing all activities to have some time, including stillness and rest.”

— Seana Turner

These quotes were taken from our lively dialogue on the blog this year. What resonates with you? Is there one idea you’d like to bring forward into the New Year? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

The holidays have arrived in full force. It’s the season of gatherings, parties, decorating, baking, and overdoing it. Too much might look like eating that extra slice or two of pie, sampling the delicious homemade cookie platter your friend made, or saying “yes” to all the invites you receive. Overindulging could show up as having one drink too many or getting very little sleep. This adds to having little to no life balance during the holidays.

There is an Albert Einstein quote I’ve always loved. Every time I read it, I’d nod in agreement and think about how true it seemed. However, recently, when it appreared in my daily quote feed, it didn’t land as it always had. Einstein said, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”

To keep your balance on a bike, you do need to keep moving. If you don’t, well, we know what will happen. You’ll fall over. However, we need periods of motion and stillness to feel balance in life. Time to move and time to rest. So as much as I respect and admire Einstein, I don’t agree with his bike riding/life balance analogy.

You might choose to pedal through the holidays in perpetual motion. What I propose is something different. As you plan your season of gatherings, traveling, parties, and more, I invite you to build in some stillness and rest. What that looks and feels like for you will vary.

For me, it will include time for . . .

• Sleeping

• Thinking

• Staring out of the window

• Writing

• Meditating

• Sipping a hot cup of aromatic tea

• Dreaming

• Saying “no”

• Observing

• Reading

• Watching the candles flicker

• Stretching out on the sofa wrapped in a soft blanket

“Build in some stillness and rest.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

Moments of quiet will be intermingled with activity. I will intentionally invite moments to pause, regroup, and recharge. This way, I’ll be able to fully embrace the joy of this season while balancing the need for stillness and fun.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season! How will you create more balance during this time of year? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

It’s a transition time as we shift from spring to summer. While it’s officially not summer yet, school has ended or is about to. Graduation parties and celebrations are in full swing, vacation plans, and summer camp arrangements are happening, and many of us want a change of pace. Life is full. There are times when days fly by with one thing after the next. No breaks, just a continual tempo of go, go, going. Does that sound familiar?

I strike a reasonable balance between doing and not doing on most days. However, my strong internal motivation makes it challenging to feel OK with not achieving, accomplishing, or moving the newest project forward. I recognize the importance of rest. I’m not talking about sleep. We definitely need sleep to function well. The rest I’m referring to is a pause or break. Taking a short time away from your schedule can significantly improve your state of mind. Meditate, sit in the sun, listen to the fountain water flowing, or watch the grasses moving in the breeze. If you continually go without stopping, you’ll burn out. What’s the point of that? Is it time for a pause?

This transition period can cause overwhelm and stress from the demands of your to-do lists, commitments, and lack of time. I’m sharing a personal journal entry I wrote recently about the value of the pause. During a retreat led by my wonderful friend and colleague, Yota Schneider, she guided us in a group meditation and offered a prompt about “What does your ship need?” We did a ‘free write,’ reflecting on what came up during the quiet.

LINDA’S JOURNAL ENTRY

A few thoughts were prompted by these things- my ‘wander’ coffee mug, being on the water in a kyack without my life preserver, and the desire to float.

Leaving the port or landing, I headed up the river in the bright fuschia-colored kyack. Low to the water, I paddled upstream and noticed I had no life preserver. I always wear one, but not this time.

I kept paddling and then stopped to float. The sun warmed me as the gentle breeze created a beautiful counterbalance- keeping my skin at a ‘just right’ temperature.

I was there on the river as I floated, doing nothing, going nowhere in particular. Enjoying the being-ness of being. I thought of my ‘wander’ mug that I love sipping my morning coffee from on certain days. The cup isn’t picked on the highly scheduled days. On those days, it's likely the ‘be curious’ mug I choose. But on my float days, ‘wander’ is the cup of choice.

So as I drifted without paddling, feeling the warm sun and the gentle breeze, I knew deep within my soul that it was my desire, my intense desire not only to NOT do but to be completely content not doing or accomplishing or seeking.

It was a float day. It was a time of wander, a time to just be present as my kyack, this soothing vessel helped me journey on this much-needed pause.

“If you continually go without stopping, you’ll burn out.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO

Is it time for a break? What value would that have? What does a great pause feel like to you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.