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So far Susan Sanders has created 349 blog entries.

Nature Break!

Time for a nature break, gang! Every once in awhile you need to stop and smell the roses – or sunflower in this case. One day after work recently, I packed clippers, a bucket, Bixby and went out to the local sunflower farm. We even threw in dinner and our oldest came along with us. It was only 25 minutes from our house and we spent less than an hour at the farm. It was a perfect small adventure in the middle of a work week.

The farm is Dewberry Farm in Kernersville, NC in case you want to schedule a visit for YOUR nature break. They also have tulips in the spring.

Sustainable You Reflections

  1. Brainstorm small adventures that you could add to your weekly or monthly.
  2. Add a recurring appointment to your calendar to search social media, the newspaper or local blogs for events that might be of interest.

Until next time remember to create productive results in a way that you can sustain and that work for you. 

By |2023-12-17T07:58:41-05:00August 29th, 2023|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Episode 30: Managing Transitions

Everyone listening is likely in the beginning, middle or end of a transition – whether they acknowledge it or not. 

  • Think back to school – no matter how independent your kids are, transitioning to school from summer schedule is tough. 
  • Maybe you are going back to school yourself after a decade or so break.
  • Changing jobs or houses
  • Swapping hot weather to cold weather clothes
  • Moving from remote work to back in the office.

In the coming weeks the weather will start to transition to cooler temps as we transition to fall. Labor Day in America is 1 week away from when this goes out and we all consider that the unofficial end to summer – also a transition. Let’s talk about how we can make these big and small transitions Sustainably Productive.

Here is what you can expect in this episode:

  1. More about Sustainable Sue’s personal and professional transitions.
  2. Why now is a time to change habits and routines.
  3. 5 tips for making the transition Sustainably Productive.

Listen at the link below or search for “Sustainable Productivity with Susan Sanders” everywhere podcasts are available.

Links to Learn More

Links mentioned in this episode of the Sustainable Productivity podcast:

We would love to hear from you. Send your feedback on the episode, suggestions for future show topics or guests, and anything else to Susan@SustainableSue.com or in a DM on Instagram.

By |2023-08-28T08:51:35-04:00August 28th, 2023|Show Notes|0 Comments

Summer Pep Talk

Checking in with a quick summer pep talk this week. I am reading a book that talks about envy and jealousy – you know the light stuff first thing in the morning. Thinking about envy makes me realize how often I want what someone else has.

What I want you to know comes from my experience as a gardener. It is this: If the grass is greener on the other side, it means it is full of shit. 

Shit as fertilizer, and with the wind blowing the right way, you never know that is what makes it so attractive to look at. Not to mention that having that beautiful green grass is choking the life out of the natural world around it. 

This week is the Great Southeast Pollinator Census and I completed a training to participate. I learned so much about non-native grasses destroying the pollinators. 

Does that ever apply to your life? You try so hard to get what looks like the perfect life someone else is showing you. Then when you get it, you realize it stinks like shit and includes nothing that makes life as you know it sustainable. 

Let me close this mini summer pep talk with an inspirational message from The Rock that a friend sent me. Thanks, Jennifer!

By |2023-08-15T10:05:55-04:00August 22nd, 2023|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Episode 29: Imposter Syndrome and the Importance of Small Deaths

Let’s dig a little deeper today – imposter syndrome and the importance of small deaths. You know, the light stuff life is made of. Sometimes imposter syndrome shows up as that voice that says, “Who do you think you are?”

Or “Why do you think you are the right person for this?”

Sometimes it is condescending, “Stay in your lane, honey. Let the real writers/podcasters/creators do this.”

Susan explores the idea that imposter syndrome is feeding some fear that is keeping her stuck. Let’s shine a spotlight onto these imposter syndrome feelings – it might show us that this monster behind the curtain is really a tiny, shriveled nothing just trying to act tough. 

Here is what you can expect in this episode:

  1. How fear is connected to imposter syndrome.
  2. Leveraging a corporate America problem solving strategy for a creative problem.
  3. Pep talks from an 18th century poet, an ancient Roman philosopher, and a modern day women’s basketball coach.

Listen at the link below or search for “Sustainable Productivity with Susan Sanders” everywhere podcasts are available.

Links to Learn More

Here is the list I work from each session of digital clean up. Not to mention… graph paper to do list for the win!

Links mentioned in this episode of the Sustainable Productivity podcast:

We would love to hear from you. Send your feedback on the episode, suggestions for future show topics or guests, and anything else to Susan@SustainableSue.com or in a DM on Instagram.

Note: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

By |2023-08-21T08:27:12-04:00August 21st, 2023|Show Notes|0 Comments

Case Study: Environmental Productivity

Just in case you think I am knocking life out of the park, today will be a case study of environmental productivity. Or lack thereof.

Last month our oldest got an apartment of her own. Not a dorm room, not campus housing. The kind of place where you have to furnish it yourself. Which cause a mass exodus of furniture from our house. 

Which is absolutely ok and what we planned for. We raised our kids to become independent young adults. But this rite of passage has left left a hole in our environmental productivity. We are slowing puttering our way through this home makeover, but it has left my environmental surroundings unsettled. 

  • We moved beds around so I no longer have a bed in my office. Yay!
  • There is a closet I could podcast from, but there I no power in the closet. Boo. 
  • I now have more space for craft supplies and activities. Yay!
  • There is no budget for purchasing furniture to reorganize supplies and activities. Boo. 

I want to use what we have in our home to creatively furnish these repurposed spaces instead of buying new. I am less excited about the hassle of navigating used purchases from Facebook Marketplace or yard sales. 

So this is the current state of things – podcasting from the floor. 

I can make it about 5 minutes before my foot falls asleep and I have to pause the recording and change positions. My back hurts the whole time I am sitting here. I certainly won’t be able to have guests over to record with me on the floor. But I am not sure where I want what activities to happen so I am trying to be patient and let the solutions evolve. 

It reminds me of the story I shared in episode 24 of the Sustainable Productivity podcast about physical clutter. A university task force could not agree on where to put the sidewalks for a new construction project. Finally they decided to just wait to see where people walked and put sidewalks there. 

I am going to stop worrying about finding the perfect space for things or perfect things for the space and just live with what I have for now. Sometimes Sustainable Productivity is about accepting the current status.

Sustainable You Reflections

  1. Is there something in your environment that is making you uncomfortable?
  2. Do you feel uncomfortable NOT making a decision and just sitting with several options? Why do you think that is?

Until next time remember to create productive results in a way that you can sustain and that work for you. 

By |2023-08-06T11:11:32-04:00August 15th, 2023|Environmental Surroundings|0 Comments

Episode 28: The SMART Way to Tackle Digital Clutter

Digital clutter impacts our health and wellness as much as physical clutter. It IS part of our environmental surroundings. Digital clutter covers communication like emails, texts, DMs, and voicemails (for those of us who are dinosaurs that still leave and accept VMs), social media including Snaps, likes and saved ideas from Facebook, Instagram or TikTok; photos on your phone, on your computer or in the cloud (not to mention what has been sent to you in shared files, texts, emails and DMs). Then there are all of the digital files and folders.

I have been trying various tips and tricks for a couple years to try to dial into what will be sustainably productive for me to finally get on top of this digital clutter. I think I have a system and that is what I want to share with you. What habits and actions I do each week to manage the digital clutter. 

Here is what you can expect in this episode:

  1. A 5-step process for tackling digital clutter.
  2. A real life example of what Sustainable Sue does each week to tackle digital clutter.
  3. The SMART way to tackle any habit change.

Listen at the link below or search for “Sustainable Productivity with Susan Sanders” everywhere podcasts are available.

Links to Learn More

Here is the list I work from each session of digital clean up. Not to mention… graph paper to do list for the win!

Links mentioned in this episode of the Sustainable Productivity podcast:

We would love to hear from you. Send your feedback on the episode, suggestions for future show topics or guests, and anything else to Susan@SustainableSue.com or in a DM on Instagram.

By |2023-08-14T08:31:01-04:00August 14th, 2023|Show Notes|0 Comments

Recalibration Before Quitting

While I do believe in the power of quitting, I want to suggest recalibration before quitting as a path to explore instead. I encounter this when working with women who want to be more fit and start running. They hate it. It feels terrible. The magical endorphins of a runner’s high never appears. Races are just full of uber-runner gristle sticks taking it all too seriously.

And they quit declaring exercise to not be for them.  

What I encourage instead is recalibration before quitting. Small, sustainable adjustments to habit change to make it something that does work for you. There are paths to recalibration depending on the person, the habit change, and the reasons it is not currently working. 

Let’s take a look at a few.

Too Much Too Soon

Sometimes a habit change or project is just too big to tackle all at once. I mentioned on a recent Sustainable Productivity Podcast episode that I was working on a photo clean up project that I avoided for about two years because of the size and complexity. There are about 180,000 photos on our server, but at least a third of those (maybe even closer to half) are garbage or duplicates. I made a mistake when transferring files from our old server resulting in 180,000 photo mess. 

“Fixing Lightroom” has been on my to do list for over 700 days. But that was too much so I quit before I got started. Recalibration with this effort looks like small, repeatable bites at the 180,000 photos. 

My original goal was 1 hour of editing most days of the week. This is just the right amount for me right now.

I Keep Forgetting

It is hard to remember that you want to start or change a habit. It sounds weird, but it is hard to put something where nothing existed before. A friend and I agreed to exchange gratitude lists at the end of each day. It was important to me. I committed to her. I thought about different things throughout the day that I wanted to send. Then turned on Netflix and promptly forgot. 

Instead of me throwing up my hands and declaring this to be a failed experiment, enter recalibration. I set a reminder on my phone to go off each night at the same time. The voice in your head saying you would remember if it was important is a liar. Your brain is full and just needs help. Here are a few ways you can help your brain help you.

  1. Add a recurring appointment to your calendar to do your new/revised habit.
  2. Set a reminder on your phone for the same time each day to do your new/revised habit. 
  3. Put a post it note in your planner to remind you of your new habit. Once you complete it that day, move the post it to the next planned day for your new / revised habit.

I Don’t Know Where to Start

Part of wanting to grow the Sustainable Sue business is showing up consistently. For myself, other creative business owners, and for my readers/listeners. When I first started writing here, I did not know what it meant to show up consistently in all of those areas. I was all over the place. Sure each week I got an essay put up, but I felt like I was spending a lot of time on the process instead of the creative stuff. 

I decided to make a checklist of what I wanted to do each day. It started as a brain dump something like this:

  • Write weekly essay
  • Write, record podcast
  • Connect with other creatives
  • Research freelance writing opportunities
  • Social media outreach for Sustainable Sue
  • Learn how to be an entrepreneur

Then I split things out based on the rhythms of my personal energy, my day job and personal schedules, and spreading out the content. For example, I do podcast activities on Mondays while I am fired up and rested from the weekend. Fridays tend to be lower key on the fixed schedule stuff so I use it as a catch up Sustainable Sue day.

This is really helpful when I am tired and generally out of sorts. I only have 1 hour each morning before my day job starts to get Sustainable Sue work done. Late last year I took a week off from Sustainable Sue work. When I sat down after a week off, I did not know what to do. It was just brain fog from being out of routine (and lots of candy and cookies during that break). Because I had my list of what I do on a Monday, I could recalibrate my brain fog into my routine. 

Lack of Motivation

Tell me if this sounds true: The Sue that comes up with these plans is seldom the Sue who shows up to execute them. Please tell me I am not alone in this. Once a week I do a specific set of physical therapy exercises. Each Friday I put “PT exercises” on a day for the following week. 

This week when that day came it seemed much more important to find out what happened to Igor from Season 9 of Alone than to do the pushups and clam shells. I wanted to quit before I got started. But you know what – the work does not need to be liked. It needs to be done. I promised myself 10 minutes of Igor between each set instead of just barreling through it all. No set? No Igor. 

I pulled up my PT checklist and worked my way through the exercises. If I asked myself in the moment, what exercises I wanted to do? 

Yep, none. Don’t rely on motivation, you will quit more often than not. Have a plan that you can use for recalibration. 

Sustainable You Reflections

  1. When is the last time you wanted to quit? Whether you did or did not, how did it feel?
  2. Where can you use calendars, timers, or reminders to support habit change?
  3. What carrots (or Igors) can you use to motivate you to recalibrate the next time you want to quit?

Until next time remember to create productive results in a way that you can sustain and that work for you. 

By |2023-08-01T10:19:18-04:00August 8th, 2023|Habit Change|0 Comments

Episode 27: The Best Hobbies to Battle Burnout

Burnout is beyond stress and the right hobbies can be just the antidote you need to relax, recharge, and regroup. Burnout is a real thing – not something you can manage through or toughen up against. Think about what was happening in your life today. Maybe you felt like you were withdrawing from friends and responsibilities – isolating yourself. Or after months of battling stress at work, you find yourself procrastinating on completing projects and tasks. If you don’t take time for hobbies to recharge today, your body will make time through illness later. There are small steps you can take today to prevent this.

Here is what you can expect in this episode:

  1. Differences between stress and burnout.
  2. Physical and mental benefits of hobbies.
  3. Practical suggestions to find the right hobby for you.

Listen at the link below or search for “Sustainable Productivity with Susan Sanders” everywhere podcasts are available.

Links to Learn More

Links mentioned in this episode of the Sustainable Productivity podcast:

We would love to hear from you. Send your feedback on the episode, suggestions for future show topics or guests, and anything else to Susan@SustainableSue.com or in a DM on Instagram.

By |2023-08-08T09:19:08-04:00August 7th, 2023|Show Notes|0 Comments

Bonus Episode: Three 5-star Reads This Month!

This bonus episode is to bring you a few 5-star reads that I came across in July. Yes – THREE OF THEM in one month! All books mentioned in this bonus episode are linked below in the show notes.

Podcast listeners are the second group to get this list. Earlier this week subscribers to the Sustainable Sue Bookmobile were the first to hear about about them. If you want to be in the early recipient group, sign up to join the bookmobile at SustainableSue.com/bookmobile.

Listen at the link below or search for “Sustainable Productivity with Susan Sanders” everywhere podcasts are available.

Links to Learn More

Links mentioned in this episode of the Sustainable Productivity podcast:

We would love to hear from you. Send your feedback on the episode, suggestions for future show topics or guests, and anything else to Susan@SustainableSue.com or in a DM on Instagram.

By |2023-08-03T12:48:30-04:00August 4th, 2023|Show Notes|0 Comments

How to Get Unstuck

One of my physical therapist’s favorite phrases is this: Motion is lotion. When I was post surgery and thinking about bending my knee this advice made me want to punch him in the face. After my foot surgery and I could not raise up on my toes no matter how hard I tried, hearing “Motion is lotion!” was super unhelpful. 

And yet, he is right. 

The more I spend time writing these weekly essays, podcasting, and reworking my book proposal, the more I see this advice applying to all three dimensions of Sustainable Productivity. Let me show you how.

Health & Fitness

Our bodies want to be good to us, they want to move and support and flex. As we age and gravity seems to be working against us sometimes this feels painful. That pain can trick us into thinking we need to move less to hurt less. Then our muscles atrophy more, the joints dry up, and connective tissue gets more brittle. It is a downward spiral. 

But motion is lotion! Synovial fluid is the liquid in our joints and its purpose is to help the joints move easily. It also naturally decreases as we age. Arthritis is another condition that decreases synovial fluid. Anyone who tries to hop out of bed and bebop into the bathroom after age 40 knows this. But you know what increases synovial fluid – MOVEMENT! Physical activity and exercise increases the circulation, which includes bringing nutrients and synovial fluids to the joints.

Potential adjustments

  • Light stretches before getting out of bed
  • Non-weight bearing exercise like cycling or swimming
  • Lower impact strength training to maintain / increase strength in a way that is easier on joints
  • Increasing physical activity even if formal exercise is not accessible or desirable right now

Mental Well-being

Decision fatigue is real. Recent research suggests that we make 35,000 decisions each day. If you are like me, sometimes you get paralyzed by needing to make the PERFECT decision. Does this sound familiar: I don’t have time to do this, let alone REDO it. Let’s make sure it is right the first time. 

So, friend… How’s that working for you?

I often find that I am less decisive when I am hungry, angry, lonely or tired. The converse is true too – only when I am frozen with indecision do I realize I am hungry, angry, lonely or tired. The acronym for hungry, angry, lonely, or tired (HALT) is used in recovery as well. Once I address my basic needs (eat, sleep, engage) decisions seem softer. 

But if I still am uncertain I have 2 choices – to act or not. While there is value in the pause ((link to article on when in doubt don’t), there is also truth to “motion is lotion” applying here. Action breeds clarity. Sitting around thinking about how to arrange a quilt top recently did nothing to getting the design done. I needed to putter around with the layout, run it by a quilting friend, make adjustments and repeat.

Potential adjustments

  • Remember rest is action – sit in a hammock, wait to get out of bed and just enjoy being cozy
  • Try smaller steps towards a decision – a trial membership, a small container of a new food, borrow equipment for a new hobby before buying
  • Use a notebook you already have before buying a fancy planner or journal
  • Track time before making any changes to your schedule – maybe time is being lost where you think it is

Environmental Surroundings

Our last kid moved to her new apartment last week. Although she is still in college and could boomerang back after graduation in May, this feels different than her moving to her dorm. More permanent. Probably because she took furniture with her this move. It certainly felt different on my body to move a full mattress and box spring up a flight of stairs than to unpack sheets and a comforter in a dorm. 

What it left us with is a literal empty nest. With her room empty Bixby and I had some decisions to make about where stuff went. He has lots of guitars, amps and cords for his band. I have lots of crafty treasures and need a space for podcasting. He was willing to do whatever I wanted, his only requirement was a dedicated space for his stuff that he could easily access. 

I have been thinking about the ideal ways to use the space and furniture we have. Nothing seemed like a hell yes. So it became a no. Which was not productive or sustainable because we shampooed carpets, unloading rooms as we went. PILES of stuff in hallways, on my work desk, on my bathroom sink. A cluttered environment leads to a cluttered mind. I just needed to make some movement – motion is lotion. 

We started with the obvious. We moved the bed from one room to the other. The trundle bed was moved from my office to the empty bedroom. 

I moved to the next obvious – craft projects in progress needed to get out of the way of the band equipment. Easy choice once the decision wheels were lubricated.

Each small step led to another obvious next step over several days. The hallways are clear and so it my desk. I don’t know that we will be done for awhile – there are still a couple  pieces of furniture that would be nice when the budget allows. But I have a peaceful environment again. 

Potential adjustments

  • Start with low hanging fruit – we knew we wanted beds in bedrooms (not in my office)
  • Accept that changing your mind does not mean you were wrong – you just found a solution that might be better. I have moved pillows between three rooms all week. Seeing it in the room is better for me that seeing it in my mind. 
  • Trust your instincts – including when to stop for now
  • Set a timer to give yourself a window that you will fuss with stuff. If you need more time, add it to your calendar. 
This empty room caused me WAY more stress than it needed to.

This will get easier with time. The more practice you have noticing your pain points and identifying small movements forward, the less indecision you can potentially have. Motion is lotion in all aspects of life. 

Sustainable You Reflections

  1. Where do you feel stuck or have pain of movement?
  2. How can you refine what motion is in that component of a Sustainably Productive life?

Until next time remember to create productive results in a way that you can sustain and that work for you. 

By |2023-07-26T12:11:57-04:00August 1st, 2023|Sustainable Productivity|0 Comments
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