Archive for Action

person's feet in black running shoes taking step on stairs

Subatomic Steps: Still Energy Forward

Posted by Carolyn on
 September 12, 2023

Subatomic Steps: Energy in the Smallestlight grey stone with writing - small steps turn into miles and leaf graphic,

Apparently, subatomic is the smallest unit we can measure that has energy in it. While that may seem like a random fact, it was anything but random when I came across the word. Subatomic steps still move us forward.

Earlier this week I was looking for a word to use on my Instagram posts. Every third post, I create a video clip associate with the power or meaning of a word. I link three of those posts together in a series. The series in question SMALL, SMALLER  and now, SUBATOMIC.

Steps Forwardperson's feet in black running shoes taking step on stairs

I was looking for the smallest measurement possible that still contained energy to move forward. A common complaint of my clients is feeling overwhelmed, frustrated or discouraged by their inability to move forward or succeed in a goal. Many have tried for years to get out of stuck and into action.

Sometimes what is in front of us just seems too big to handle. That’s when taking small steps forward can make all the difference. Even the smallest of steps creates energy in the direction we want to go.

So, if SMALL is too big, try SMALLER. If a smaller step is too bit try taking an SUBATOMIC STEP. There is energy in the smallest movement forward. Just keep going.

Action I AM Evolution Coaching Productivity Strategy
Many pieces of paper with "Alternative" written on them in different colours and fonts.

Decision Fatigue: What it is and how to manage it

Posted by Carolyn on
 July 20, 2023

Decision fatigue is more common than one might think. As an organizing professional I see it a lot. But what is it really, how does it show up and what can be done about it? This blog article takes a look at the idea from an organizers perspective.

Definition
many white tabs with "Option" writing on them in different styles and colours.

According to Wikipedia, decision fatigue refers to the impact of having to make too many decisions, or too difficult decisions, in a short space of time. In other words, it is the impact of that experience that is the fatigue referred to by psychologists.

Decision fatigue is “the idea that after making many decisions, your ability to make more and more decisions over the course of a day becomes worse,” said Dr. MacLean, a psychiatrist. “The more decisions you have to make, the more fatigue you develop and the more difficult it can become.”

What it looks like when organizing.

As I mentioned this is a common experience for me as an organizing professional. Because I work with individuals affected by chronic disorganization, I specifically designed the hands on portion of my business to be face to face with clients for only 3 hr sessions at a time. (Sessions for packing and unpacking associated with move management are longer). The reason is specifically due to decision fatigue.

It did not take me very long as a newcomer to the industry to recognize that clients would literally stop making decisions at about 150 minutes, or 2.5 hrs into our session. I had already been introduced to decision fatigue while taking a Masters in Health Services Administration degree. So, I knew this could be an issue.

There are six ways decision fatigue shows up. Avoiding decisions, or glazing over, is just one of them.Many pieces of paper with "Alternative" written on them in different colours and fonts.

  1. Reduced ability to make a trade off: in this impact, my clients can’t decide between choice A and choice B. If we agree that they will only keep one of two items, they can’t decide which one to choose.
  2. Decision avoidance: this second impact shows up as the client not wanting to make any decisions at all. Clients will sometimes show distraction from our task, ask me to make the decision or, for those who have more self-awareness, simply throw up their hands and state “I can’t decide”. For the record, no, I don’t make those decisions for my client.
  3. Impulsive activity: this is especially true for purchases at the cash register for shoppers. In organizing however, this impact of decision fatigue often show up as “throw it all out”. Clients impulsively decide to get rid of everything because they simply don’t have the mental energy left to decide.
  4. Impaired self-regulation: this is when the client doesn’t hold themselves to their usual standard of behaviour. Clients tend to get irritable and may be short or “snippy” with me or someone else in the family.
  5. Susceptibility to decision making biases: in this impact, the client tends towards an easier decision vs a correct or wise decision. It may be easier to simply not discard anything from a “I don’t like this” clothes pile than to be able to determine if any could hold any more value in the client’s future.
  6. Decision conflict and regret: In this impact the client becomes more and more worried about making a wrong decision. Eventually they just stop making decision altogether.

What do to about Decision Fatigue?hand with pole balanced on it show signs in opposite directions each saying "I don't know"

There are several ways to manage decision fatigue. When working with clients, I use whichever one works. I recommend you use whatever works for you.

  1. Take a break from the project you are working on. If possible physically remove yourself from the location and go to somewhere else even if it is just another room in the house or another office. Spend enough time in this other location doing something else until you feel at least a little bit refreshed.
  2. Change the task. If you are organizing clothes, try switching to working on a work project or making a meal. If possible, try switching to an entirely different task, however, even making decisions about a different set of items will help. If you are sorting clothes, try moving over to books.
  3. Go for a walk in nature. Walking in the woods, in a park or even just down the street will help to refresh your mind and your decision making muscles.
  4. Ensure you are adequately hydrated and have eaten enough to that point in the day. Many times while working, clients forgot to eat and drink. Hydration is most important however, being adequately nourished is also important.

Have you ever experienced decision fatigue? What was your experience? Drop me a note in the comments.

Action Declutter Organizing Challenges Organizing Resources Strategy
Tags : , , , , ,
hand with thumbs up agains blue sky and white cloud

Celebrate to be More Productive

Posted by Carolyn on
 July 12, 2023

hand with thumbs up agains blue sky and white cloudSay “celebrate” and many people think champagne, confetti and fireworks. In fact, try and find a royalty-free picture for celebration and I was hard pressed to find one that didn’t include champagne, crystal glasses or someone toasting.

What if a high five, pat on the back or simple acknowledgement of accomplishment could help you get things done? I think it can and does and encourage all my clients to celebrate on a regular and consistent basis.

Celebrate Yourself

The first task is to learn to celebrate yourself. How good are you at it?

Many of us are not very good at all. We are great at being critical and telling ourselves we can do better. How often do we say “Hey, I did that. Way to go”?books, glasses, rose bouquet and end of keyboard on desk.

I can use myself as a great example here. Yesterday I went for a walk, 3,000 steps I might add, for the first time since developing a cough last October. It took almost a full six months to resolve the cough. In the meantime, I did not feel up to walking. When I returned home I found myself standing in the kitchen, reflecting on my accomplishment. After regular daily walks over 10,000 steps for three years, and a hiatus of over six months, I was finally back hitting my stride; literally. And then I realized I could walk the talk and celebrate my own success. I gave out a holler and a woop and raised both hands int the air. “I did it!”.

Wow that felt good. There already were fresh flowers on the dining room table. Otherwise, I would have bought myself some more.  Maybe I still will and put them in my office.

Micro Tasks and Celebrationchild's hand with many colours of paint showing the palm and 5 fingers

Let’s continue the conversation about micro tasks. They go hand in hand with using celebration as a productivity tool.  For a quick review, micro tasks are very, very small, specific tasks that take less than five minutes to complete and, are so simple, that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt, you can be successful.  Overwhelming, daunting projects can all be broken down into micro tasks. Stack a series of five minute micro tasks on top of each other, and even an overwhelming project can be accomplished.

With the completion of each micro task is the opportunity to celebrate. Micro tasks are so small, it gives us lots of opportunity to celebrate, over and over and over again. Pat yourself on the back, give yourself a high five, woop and holler in the kitchen like I did, and recognize you got the task done.

Each time you acknowledge and celebrate, your brain registers the accomplishment and you earn a little hit of the brain juices associated with accomplishment and celebration. And because the tasks are so small, and you are guaranteed to be successful (according to the definition of micro task) there are lots of chances to keep that celebration going. And that brings lots of chances for your brain to earn the celebration juices.

Celebration and Productivitygreen eye with clock on eyeball showing 11:55

Individuals who struggle with productivity often stall or stumble due to procrastination, fear of failure, perfectionism and a myriad of “what if” scenarios that may or may not be realistic. Using micro tasks to generate action and therefore energy can often be a route through these stumbling blocks. So the question becomes, how to get started and how to keep going.

By celebrating the completion of each micro task the brain is rewarded with some dopamine. This in turn makes us feel good. When we feel good we are more likely to repeat the behaviour to make that good feeling return. Now I am reminded how good it felt to walk my 3,000 steps again, I am more likely to do it again. When I do, I will celebrate again, receive another dopamine surge and want to do it again.

We know we miss 100 percent of the shots we don’t take, a reference to hockey and sports in general. The same is true of productivity; if we don’t try, we are guaranteed not to be successful. Instead, pairing up micro tasks and celebration is even more powerful than either strategy used by itself and, helps to move beyond the usual stumbling blocks of unproductive behaviour. The more micro tasks you try, the more you are successful; the more you are successful, the more you can celebrate; the more you can celebrate, the more you feel good about your success; the more you feel good, the more likely your are to try again; the more you try again, the more likely you are to be successful. It’s a winning formula.

I’d love to hear about your success. What have you celebrated recently?

How did the micro tasks work for ou?

 

Action I AM Evolution Coaching Productivity

Spring Organizing

Posted by Carolyn on
 April 12, 2023

Time for Spring Organizingmany colourful tulips bunched together in a bouquet

The tulips or budding, the birds are singing, the snow has melted and spring has arrived.  Here’s to warm weather and bright colourful flowers and a chance for some spring organizing.

Cleaning vs. Organizing

Many people welcome spring with a fresh and vigorous intention to spring clean their home.  How about some spring organizing instead? Cleaning is for getting rid of dirt. Organizing is about managing space, time and stuff so that you can find what you want, when you want and use it to enjoy your life.

Here are 5 tips to help you get started with a spring organizing project and guarantee success.

1. Pick one small area to tackle on at a time

Also limit the time you commit to a spring organizing project. Unless you have help and a whole weekend, start with an hour or two. Organizing requires decision making and decision fatigue can hijack a project.  Start all to avoid feelings of overwhelm.  If you end up interrupted, you won’t have a big project left unfinished. Try a drawer, closet, cupboard and maybe one or two of those boxes in the corner of your basement.

dishes

2. Focus on reducing volume

Getting rid of things that we don’t need, like, want or use is a good goal for spring organizing. Shedding doesn’t have to mean throwing into the garbage. Shedding it about giving items a life beyond your front door.  Worn towels and other linen can go to an animal shelter. Books can be donated to a Little Free Library. Clothes can be sold or donated to charity. By decreasing volume, you will have less items to manage and more free space in which to live.

3. Give items a home

Everything you own needs a home. A common complaint I hear from clients is that their belongings don’t have a home. As a result, they never put them away. Items used frequently and consistently need a home that is easy for you to both take the item out and put it back in.  We call that storage and retrieval. Items are more likely to end up back in their homes when storage and retrieval are easy. Items that are used seasonally or only occasionally can be stored in less accessible locations.

4. Take away, right away

Take shed items out of your home as quickly as possible. You will see the impact of your hard work and tough decisions. Less items means you can enjoy the clear space. A stack of donations and recycling at the front or back door can be discouraging. It can also tempt you to second guess your decisions. Take those items away, right away.

5. Have fun and reward yourself

Organizing takes emotional and physical energy. Make it fun to make it easier. Play your favourite music. Invite a friend who might like some of the clothes you are shedding. Involve the children and make a game out of sorting old toys.

Spring organizing will also be more successful if you have decided on a reward for yourself when you are finished.  This is a great self-coaching technique for reinforcing the value of your work. It also makes the organizing work seem less onerous which means you are more likely to do it again. Maybe some fresh flowers for a table? Take yourself out to a movie? Arrange to meet a friend for an expensive and fun coffee? An ice cream for you and the kids? You get the picture.

Spring is a time of renewal and fresh starts. It is a great time for spring organizing to make space, out with the old, unused or unneeded. Good luck and remember to have fun.

Action Declutter Organizing Strategies
Tags : , , ,
the lower legs and feet of two people running on a dirt path. Taking small steps

The Magic of Action

Posted by Carolyn on
 April 3, 2023

What is the Magic of Taking Action?

Taking action creates magic in the most wonderful and unexpected of ways.  For example, I’ve been working with a new accountability partner.  JJ, a colleague, reached out for assistance with a procrastination business issue, and I realized I had my person. I was having the same issue. While our businesses are unique, the struggles to overcome resistance as a solo entrepreneur are sometimes more than we can tackle alone. We made a pact for 90 days.

Curiously, the minute I asked about working together, and he said yes, the magic started to happen. Suddenly I was creating crystal clear, 90 day goals.  Soon, I had them broken down into three sets of 30 day goals. We both agreed we needed a clear, written vision for what we wanted to accomplish by the end of the 90 days. So I wrote a vision statement. Then I remembered I had started a vision movie a year ago. The movie was dusted off and updated and dropped to my desktop. Before I knew it I was in full-on action mode and the magic was everywhere. Things were getting done.

Action Creates Energy

Action is like its own feeding station. Once you make the first move in the direction of your goals, energy is created and the next move gets easier. And then the next one and the next one.  It’s like swimming; with just one small stroke you start moving through the water. Another stroke and you move faster. Put the two together and suddenly you’re moving through the water like a fish.

Nothing is more stagnating than stagnation itself.  Standing still is inertia and inertia is the hardest state to shake out of.

Action Reveals a Pathway

Have you ever renovated a room in your house or apartment? Then you know the expression “one thing leads to another”. Action is like that. Much like walking in the forest and following a path. One step, then another, then another and like magic the path reveals itself between the trees.

Often we just don’t know what the path looks like.  Procrastination reinforces the unknown like “I just don’t know how to do this” or “I just don’t know how to make this happen or get it done”.

Taking just one small step forward can change all that.

Action is the Solution to Fear

Nothing feeds fear like fear itself. Fear makes us freeze or run away. Neither is helpful to managing clutter or trying to accomplish our goals and dreams.

Action is the antidote to fear, is a quote from Amy Porterfield course creator, podcaster, online content guru, author and speaker. We think our challenge looks like this rock climber. We think we will be hanging from the cliff edge with a few ropes and carabiners.

Often the reality is quite different than our fear-based perspective. Often the reality is more like that walk in the forest where a simple step forward reveals the next section of pathway.

How to Break out of Inertia

Earlier last year I wrote about self coaching your mindset when mindset is the reason for not taking action. Let’s look at three specific activities you can use to propel yourself in the direction of success.

  1. Review the outcome of what it is you are trying to do or accomplish.  Get a really clear view in your mind of what the accomplishment will look like. Athletes who use visualization to support their success all know how strong this tool can be. Our brain doesn’t distinguish between what we actually did and what we think we did.  When an Alpine downhill ski racer visualizes in minute detail streaking down the hill in perfect formation to successfully cross the finish line in 1st place, the brain believes this is what actually happened. Get clear on the outcome – in colour detail.
  2. Identify the smallest step forward – the smallest action – you could take in the direction of your goal you know you are guaranteed to be successful. It doesn’t matter how small the step is.  Remember, just taking the step forward will generate energy, show you the path and help overcome fear.
  3. Celebrate your success when that first step has been accomplished. Reward yourself for facing your fear, tackling the inertia and getting a step done. Then immediately identify the next, small, guarantee-to-be-successful step.  Commit to a date on when that next step will be taken. Repeat.

You got this. Go for it.

Action I AM Evolution Coaching Organizing Challenges
Tags : , ,

Mastering Clutterfree Living Step 3: Take Action

Posted by Carolyn on
 May 31, 2022

Step Three: Take Action

Take action is Step Three in mastering clutter free living.  It is also the most important and often the hardest.  Taking action is often where we stumble.

Background: Steps One and Two

Let’s start by reviewing Steps One and Two.  Step One is to Get Clarity.  Without a clear idea of what you want to do or where you want to go, it is hard to figure out how to get there. In fact, it could be impossible. Imagine trying to find a book in a room that you’ve never been in before, with no light.  Yup, darn near impossible.

Step Two, is Create a Strategy.  When you know where you are going or what you want to accomplish, it is much easier to create a strategy that will get you there.  Create a plan including the stepping stones or steps that you will take to get to your accomplishment.

The Challenge

Why is it that so many of us stumble when it comes to taking action? I have seen this time and time again with clients.  And let’s be real: I am my best client in this area.  I too have often struggled and stumbled when it comes to taking action.  What’s the big deal?  Why do we have so much trouble.

Often the answer lies in our Mindset. “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t — you are right”, Henry Ford. This oft-quoted phrase holds the secret to our challenge. If you believe you will not be successful, it may be almost impossible to tackle even the simplest of first steps. Conversely, if you think you will be successful, you may be jumping into action as soon as possible.

Toy red train with 3 blue cars chugging up a hill saying "I know I can, I know I can".

Mindset can make the difference.

If you think your Mindset is holding you back from taking action, here are some self-coaching questions that may be helpful in getting from frustrated to fantastically successful.

  1. What is the conversation in your mind when you think about taking action on your goal or desired achievement?
  2.  What would need to be the different conversation in order to be successful?
  3. How do you need to show up in your life, or in your project, in order to take action?
  4. Who do you need to be in order to take action?
  5. What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?
  6. What would be different if you considered this challenge simply an experiment? No wins or losses, just an experiment to see what happens. If you don’t like the outcome, you can always change to another experiment or change a variable.

Setting yourself up with an I will be successful mindset can often fend off the stumbles and ensure that your desired achievement, becomes a reality.

 

Action I AM Evolution Coaching Productivity

Looking for more tips and strategies? Sign up for Caldwell Evolution Newsletter.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Caldwell Evolution | Copyright © 2023 All Rights Reserved
Website by Janet Barclay