Lisa Cantor - Smart Happy Space

Funneling Your Energy into Creativity

by Lisa Cantor | Aug 3, 2023 | Inspiration

Life is a constant stream of challenges and opportunities, each demanding our attention and energy. As we navigate through the complexities of modern living, it’s essential to understand that not every battle is worth fighting. To live a fulfilling and creative life, we must learn to pick our battles with care and channel our energy into endeavors that nurture our creativity. In this blog post, we will explore the art of selective engagement and the power of focusing on creativity to lead a more balanced and satisfying existence.

🎨 The Art of Selective Engagement

In today’s fast-paced world, we often find ourselves bombarded with various issues, both personal and societal. The constant noise can be overwhelming, leading us to react impulsively to every perceived threat or disagreement. However, engaging in every battle that comes our way can drain us emotionally and mentally, leaving little energy for the things that truly matter.

Picking our battles with care involves stepping back and evaluating the significance of each situation. Is the issue at hand a genuine threat to our values, well-being, or future goals? Is it something that requires immediate attention or will it resolve itself with time? By asking these questions, we can better discern which battles warrant our energy and attention.

🪴 Prioritizing Creativity for Personal Growth

Creativity is a wellspring of personal growth, expression, and fulfillment. It allows us to explore our passions, think outside the box, and discover new possibilities. However, creative endeavors demand time, dedication, and an uncluttered mind. When we expend energy on trivial battles or futile arguments, we deprive ourselves of the resources needed to nurture our creative spirits.

By channeling our energy into creativity, we open ourselves up to a world of self-discovery and growth. Whether it’s painting, writing, music, or any other form of artistic expression, creativity allows us to tap into our innermost thoughts and emotions, leading to a greater understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

🧠 Cultivating Resilience and Emotional Intelligence

Picking battles with care also involves developing emotional intelligence and resilience. Emotional intelligence empowers us to respond thoughtfully to challenges, instead of reacting impulsively. Resilience enables us to bounce back from setbacks and disappointments, allowing us to focus on our creative pursuits with renewed vigor.

The practice of mindfulness and self-awareness can significantly contribute to emotional intelligence. By understanding our emotions and thought patterns, we gain greater control over our reactions and can choose to engage in battles that align with our values and long-term vision.

✨ The Positive Impact of Focusing on Creativity

When we funnel our energy into creativity, the benefits extend beyond personal growth. Our creative expressions can inspire others, promote empathy, and create positive change in society. Art has the power to challenge norms, shed light on social issues, and bring people together across cultural divides. By choosing to invest our energy in creativity, we contribute to a more compassionate and empathetic world.

⚖️ Lead a More Fulfilled and Balanced life

Picking battles with care and funneling our energy into creativity is a powerful approach to leading a more fulfilling and balanced life. By discerning which battles are worth our attention, we preserve our emotional well-being and mental clarity for the things that truly matter. Prioritizing creativity fosters personal growth, resilience, and emotional intelligence, empowering us to navigate life’s challenges with grace and purpose. In embracing our creative potential, we not only enrich our own lives but also contribute positively to the world around us. So, let us embrace this mindful approach, and together, let’s build a brighter and more inspired future.

Embrace the Digital Sunshine

by Lisa Cantor | Aug 3, 2023 | Inspiration

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As the warm rays of summer linger and the days just start to grow shorter, it’s tempting to let productivity take a backseat to leisure. However, late summer offers a unique opportunity to harness the power of digital tools and stay productive, even while enjoying the final days of the season. In this blog post, we will explore some practical tips to boost your productivity and make the most of your digital resources during the late summer months.

Reevaluate Your Goals

Before diving into digital productivity, take a moment to reevaluate your goals for the remainder of the year. Assess what you have accomplished so far — give your self kudos for those accomplishments! — and what remains to be done before the year’s end. Set specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals to guide your late summer activities. Break these larger goals down into smaller tasks to make them more manageable and trackable.

Utilize Digital Project Management Tools

Late summer is an ideal time to ramp up your organization game. Embrace digital project management tools like Asana (my personal fav!) to keep track of your tasks and deadlines. These platforms enable you to collaborate with others efficiently, stay focused on your priorities, and maintain a clear overview of your projects.

smart happy space

Let the digital sunshine guide you towards a fruitful and fulfilling end to the season!

Maximize Your Calendar

Your calendar is your best friend when it comes to managing your time effectively. Leverage digital calendar applications such as Google Calendar or Apple Calendar (I live and die by this my iCalendar) to schedule your daily activities, meetings, and appointments. Set reminders and allocate specific time blocks for work, relaxation, and personal activities. Stick to your schedule to maintain a healthy work-life balance during late summer.

Minimize Digital Distractions

While digital tools are essential for productivity, they can also be a source of distractions. Social media, email notifications, and constant pings can disrupt your workflow. Set specific periods during the day to check emails and messages, and consider turning off notifications, using website blockers or productivity apps to limit your time on distracting websites. This will help you maintain focus and improve your efficiency.

Embrace Remote Work Flexibility

If you have the option to work remotely, take advantage of the late summer weather and explore alternative workspaces. Head to a nearby park, a cozy café with outdoor seating, or even your backyard. A change of scenery can rejuvenate your creativity and motivation, making you more digitally productive. I work from home fully and utilize Caveday.org to conduct deep focused work yet still feel a sense of community.

Learn and Upskill Online

Late summer provides a fantastic opportunity to dedicate time to personal growth and learning. Enroll in online courses or webinars to acquire new skills relevant to your professional development. Platforms like Coursera, Udemy, and LinkedIn Learning offer a wide range of courses to enhance your knowledge and expertise from the comfort of your home.

Digital Health and Wellness

Don’t forget to take care of your digital well-being. Late summer may encourage extended screen time, but it’s crucial to strike a balance. Practice the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break and look at something 20 feet away to reduce eye strain. Additionally, engage in physical activities, even if they are digital workouts or virtual fitness classes, to stay healthy and energized. Being a yoga lover, I belong to the online Body Mind Soul Studio, my sourlful resource for yoga (and so much more!), join their waitlist if yoga sparks your soul!

Here’s to Summer!

Late summer presents a unique opportunity to make the most of your digital resources and enhance productivity. By reevaluating your goals, employing digital tools thoughtfully, minimizing distractions, embracing remote work flexibility, and investing time in learning, you can maximize your productivity and still enjoy the beauty of the season. Remember to prioritize your digital health and well-being to maintain a perfect balance between productivity and leisure in these late summer months.

So, let the digital sunshine guide you towards a fruitful and fulfilling end to the season!

What Is Your Struggle?

by Lisa Cantor | May 13, 2023 | Energy Management & Self Care

Professionally, I’ve been a project manager for nearly 20 years… but over the past few, I’ve realized I do not apply the same practices to my personal life. It’s like if I’m not working, I should be doing the opposite of what I do at work, so ZERO preplanning, ZERO organizing, ZERO strategizing. LOL.

So as I have started to organize and streamline my personal life, using many of the tools , systems and methodologies as in my professional project management world, things have begun to run much more smoothly and my mind is slowly becoming less cluttered. And I’m ALL about LESS mental clutter!!!

It’s just not sustainable. As capable and intelligent as we all may be, the human brain is not designed to keep more that just a couple things organized at one time. I can’t tell you how many times I go to the store to get just THREE things, and when I get there I can only remember one, two if I’m lucky. And then there’s the random things I realized on the drive that I should try to find…. and then once there, I can’t remember any of them to save my life.

However, being a little old school, and trying to resist having a million things in my phone to lookup, I come back to relying on my poor brain, without paper, without a list on my phone. It’s pointless. So finally, seeing how organized, streamlined and efficient I’ve become professionally, I was like, WTF, why don’t I do this in my personal life???

So here we are today. My job is easier and I’m pretty damn good at it because of the systems and processes I’ve put in place. And now I’m seeing how much it’s improving my personal life. Why did I wait so long to use my skills to help with my personal struggle?! Where can I do more of this in my life and make room for more of the things I CRAVE?!

Where do you struggle? I’m curious. Of course I know my own challenges, but I often think I’m the only stubborn one who approached things the way I did. But maybe others try to balance it all in their heads too? And likely fail, like me. I’d love to hear what frustrates you? And what have you done — or wish you would do — to make things easier on yourself? Or maybe you’ve tried and nothing worked? Share away, the good, the bad, the ugly. Maybe I can learn a thing or too from you, and even do the same for you.

I am a great planner, not such a good doer

by Lisa Cantor | May 11, 2023 | Inspiration

I am a planner

Thant’s what I do professionally… I am a project manager. I plan. From concept to execution. Every step. Every date and milestone that must happen for the project to continue and end on its required date. To be successful. To launch on time. To bring in revenue at the expected date. Very detailed and organized and specific right?

In my personal life I was not a planner. I was scattered, disorganized, late, unreliable, anxious. So I started to apply many of my professional skills to my personal life. I became more on time. More organized. Detailed. Mapping out every step from A to Z in every aspect of my personal life. Vacations. Gardening. Home Improvement. An entrepreneurial endeavor. I felt much more in control. So I planned more. And more. And more. And I got really good, and slightly obsessed with the planning. But I wasn’t really “doing.” Once the plan was created, I felt accomplished. Lost interest in the doing. Lost interest in the project coming to fruition. The “doing” of the steps was boring, not challenging, not unknown.

So I noticed I wasn’t really “doing” much… other than planning.

My life professionally and personally has become lots of plans. Not many moments… or true experiences. I’ve got it all planned. But I’m not really living.

I am logical.

I’m also fascinated by the visceral, the not-so-concrete and logical.

I adore yoga, especially the slow intentional method of Yin Yoga. This practice led me to a love of understanding energy and chakras. I am Reiki 2 certified.

I am inspired by psychology, the working of the body and mind, why we do the things we do, think the things we think. Our subconscious motivations that usually have some sort of science or energy behind the why. So I am dabling in life coach training.

I am so incredibly drawn to logic, planning, exactness, control… as well as, spirit, energy, chakras, subconscious, intuition. It seems my two worlds… my profession of planning, exactness, measurement… do not align with my intuitive attraction of mind, body, spirit. But somehow I can’t stop intertwining them.

I feel conflicted. As if I need to pick one side or the other. I am either Logical or Visceral. I am not permitted to be both. Every time I pick a side, the other calls me back. Can I be on both sides? Can I even join both forces somehow and feel more whole and complete?

I guess we’ll see won’t we? But only if I do. All the planning in the world will not give me my answer. So I must do. And maybe what I discover along this journey will be the answer. Maybe the journey itself is my answer. Maybe I need to quit contemplating the what if’s (I change my mind, I don’t like it, I’m not happy, it doesn’t work how I expect/want it to) and give the journey the power to be my ongoing answer.

I think I like this idea. This answer that is not an answer yet kind of is.

Will you join me?