Feeling off track? Welcome to July. Now is the most middlest time of the middle month of the year. July can be very restorative. I call summer the Bermuda Triangle of the year, for time. It goes by fast and you aren’t as productive as you wanted to be. So I felt this was the perfect time to answer all the questions that came in regarding energy and motivation.
Did you drop out of habit?
Did you notice this summer that you fell out of a habit? Like, wait, I used to X and you realize you aren’t doing that anymore? I have noticed that my walking and water intake all of the sudden took a back seat. After thinking about all I am doing, I decided to table both as a priority habit for now. However it is slotted to revisit in November once I achieve my PhD. And sometimes that’s all it is. Look at your season of life and routines, are you practicing the habits in your routines? And if not, has a different habit taken priority? Or is there a habit you want to revisit once this season of life is over?
Just Choose
An audience member wrote in inquiring about staying on top of the Sunday Basket® and The Productive Home Solution™ which she was struggling with due to losing her sister and her husband being terminally ill. My suggestion was 2 fold. First and foremost give yourself time to grieve. Second, choose to stay on top of the Sunday Basket®, if she could, in the sense of doing what needs to be done for that week and delaying all the other things. THEN, when she is up to it, attend a paper organizing retreat where she could be a round like minded grace filled people from the community. Don’t worry about all of the “delayed” puzzle pieces, they will be waiting in the Sunday Basket® for you when the time is right.
Timing is everything. Sometimes we don’t feel motivated. If it’s an illness that unmotivates you, decide how many working days you will likely have in a month. Then schedule work for that many days. I know I get wiped out by illness or a migraine from time to time so I make sure to work ahead so my team can keep the train running. Other times, just the volume of tasks can be unmotivating. Indecisiveness can cost a lot of time. Just choose a task, anything will move you forward. In the event you just can’t seem to get going on what you choose, choose a different task. No point in trying to jam a square peg into a round hole. In this episode, I shared three questions I ask myself in this situation to move forward.
And don’t let perfectionism stall you! Make a rule that at a set time you will organize a space. Just choose a space you want to get started on. Get it to 80% and move on to the next. You will find you will come up with more solutions for that space the next time you come back to it!
Discipline
You may not need motivation as much as you need discipline! There’s something called Effortless Self Control. Modify your environment to support your goals to experience effortless self control. Say you are trying to lose weight, put apples where you normally have chocolate.
Once we are adults, we get overwhelmed with the complexities of life and they outweigh your organizational skills which can be overwhelming and then you start being reactive. Anna asked me to share about the trains we talked about last year. So, I went on to explain the train and how to keep adding cars to your train, through discipline, so you can become productive again. In July we need these reminders of how to get our trains running again! Now go discipline yourself!
EPISODE RESOURCES:
- The Sunday Basket®
- Paper Organizing Retreats
- The Productive Home Solution
- Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
