How I Got Unstuck

Archive Photo: Carolyn Anderson-Fermann Presenting

After our dog passed in June of 2013, I was so busy taking care of my kids, working through the CPES training program and in general keeping it all together at home. I felt pulled in so many directions, overwhelmed and stuck.

Slowly, ever so slowly, I have taken small steps to move forward in a positive way. I feel excited to get back to blogging, update my website and take on new goals.

Now, you might be wondering what the heck this all has to do with organizing and productivity. Everything! When our minds and bodies are in good shape, it is so much easier to be organized and productive. 

Here are five thing I did to get myself unstuck:

1.     Adopt a Pet---This one is not feasible for everyone and you might end up with a crazy destructive dog as I wrote about in last month's edition of Your Simply Organized Life. That being said, our pup has forced me to get outside in nature every day, several times a day. 

2.     Get Enough Sleep---Sleep is essential for me. On the days that I wake up having not gotten enough sleep, I am more impatient, short with my kids and definitely less productive. For more tips on getting enough sleep, check out this past edition of Your Simply Organized Life. 

3.     Make Time for Daily Self Care---Daily self care is different for all of us. For a new mother, it might be just taking a shower daily. For those of us with children a bit older, it can mean more. For me, it means getting up before my family to do a few stretches and sit in silence for five minutes. It also means moving my body daily. 

4.     Create a Smaller Wardrobe---Letting go of all those clothes that no longer serve me, has lightened my mornings. It is so easy to get dressed and keep up on laundry with fewer clothes. For more tips on how I approach my simple wardrobe, check out the September 2014 edition of Your Simply Organized Life. 

5.     Get Help---At the start of 2015, I decided that I really wanted to make some big steps forward and that in order to do so, I needed some help. I hired a coach, who has helped me get focused and let go of limiting beliefs that were holding me back personally and professionally.

This is not intended as medical advice, so if you think you might be in a clinical depression, please seek additional help for yourself. 

Contact Carolyn if you need help with your organization or productivity. We always start with a complementary 30 minute Discovery Session via telephone.

All my best,

Carolyn

Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. To receive a free copy of Carolyn's "Secrets of a Simply Organized Life" and a monthly subscription to the e-newsletter "Your Simply Organized Life" sign up here. 

Feeling Stuck?

With Muffin, May 2013

Do you ever feel stuck, overwhelmed, not sure where to begin? Me too! As a solo-entrepreneur, busy mom and wife, and household manager some days (okay, many days) it can feel like too much.

As a recovering perfectionist, I hate to let things slide off my to-do list. However, I am learning that there is a season for everything and if you let something go, you can always pick it up again. I hope that will be the case with my much neglected blog and website. 

For the longest time, I had been blogging weekly, every Wednesday. Then in May of 2013 our beloved 14 year old Golden Retriever became ill. My last blog entry is Wednesday, May 8, 2013. I became preoccupied with caring for a sick old dog and preparing my young children for the inevitable. 

It was also about this time, that I signed up for my training to become a Certified Productive Environment Specialist (CPES) with Barbara Hemphill's Productive Environment Institute. The timing was completely off, but I wanted to join before they raised the tuition. 

Our dear Muffin passed on Friday, June 7, 2013, the same day summer vacation for my kids began. Things were busy and I couldn't find the words to write on a weekly basis. We choose to be without a dog in our home for nearly a year. It was a good choice with our children being so young and I was happy not to take a dog out in the polar vortex of 2014. 

But something was missing; I felt stuck, in a funk, overwhelmed. Not a clinical depression, but just not my usual self. Through a whole series of events and personal choices, I am excited to be unstuck, moving forward and getting back to blogging after a two year hiatus. 

In the next post, I'll share quick tips to move yourself forward in a positive direction. As always, I love to hear your ideas!

All My Best,

Carolyn

Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. Carolyn will be presenting "Tame the Paper Monster" at Ann Arbor Rec & Ed. on May 22, 2015. Register now with Ann Arbor Rec & Ed.