Getting grounded

July 26, 2017December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Organizational Exercises, Productivity tips for work, Staying focused Changing habits, Decision making, decluttering your life, forming a new habit, getting things done, Getting work done, How to stay focused, Organizational Exercises, organizational tips, tips to be more productive

Our forefathers and foremothers – even one generation back – didn’t have nearly as much digital ease as we have. But what they had was a simpler life. When I work at one thing around the house – laundry, weeding, painting – I’m reminded that simpler is sometimes what you need to help clear your mind.

If you want to test the power of a “single focus,” try picturing a column of letters A-E. Now picture a column of numbers 1-5. And finally, picture a column of letters, E-A. No problem, right? Continue reading →

When you’re having a bad day…

July 14, 2017December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Building your personal brand, Meditation, Organizational Exercises, Planning impacts on your health, Staying focused, Working with your guides Changing habits, Defining who you are, getting things done, Meditation tips, Organizational Exercises, organizational tips, tips for being kind, tips to be more productive, Working with your guides

I’m just finishing an audio version of Sharon Salzberg’s book Real Happiness at Work. Sharon’s focus, as always, is on practicing loving kindness.

Here are three tips from Sharon if you’re having a bad day: Continue reading →

Building a strong core

July 6, 2017December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Decision making, Organizational Exercises, Productivity tips for work, Setting organizational priorities, Staying focused, Working with your guides Changing habits, Decision making, Defining who you are, getting things done, Getting work done, How to stay focused, Organizational Exercises, organizational tips, Prioritizing tasks, tips to be more productive, Working with your guides

When you’re centered with who you are and how you express yourself, your work and mind are steady. And on the occasions you’re pushed out into a wide arc, having a strong, central core will help keep you from toppling.

What are five elements that are so vital to how you think and act and know yourself, that if any one was missing, you’d be out of sorts and easy to topple? What’s at your core? Continue reading →

The Joy Habit

July 2, 2017December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Decision making, Organizational Exercises, Staying focused, Tips on using a planner, Working with your guides Changing habits, Decision making, forming a new habit, How do I use a planner?, How to stay focused, Organizational Exercises, organizational tips, Using a planner, Working with your guides

Do you close each day thinking about things you’re grateful for?

At two different talks this past week, someone asked me about keeping a gratitude journal. I track everything in a planner and hadn’t thought about tracking gratitude. But why not?

Continue reading →

Thoughts for grads

June 28, 2017December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Decision making, Productivity tips for work, Staying focused Big project ideas, Changing habits, Decision making, Getting work done, How to stay focused, organizational tips, tips to be more productive

I gave a talk on Organizational Zen tonight to a college class. The talk got me thinking about things I wish I had known before I entered the business world. Our focus tonight stayed on organizational issues so I’ll share my ideas here about “If I had only known…” Continue reading →

Finding your tribe

June 26, 2017 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Finding your "why", Productivity tips for work, Working with your guides Big project ideas, Changing habits, Decision making, figuring out my life work, forming a new habit, getting things done, Getting work done, How to stay focused, organizational tips, Prioritizing tasks, tips to be more productive, working on big projects, Working with your guides

Yesterday, I drove 4-1/2 hours to Presque Isle, Maine for a one-hour class. Then I drove home again.

Why? Because John Cariani, a Broadway actor and author of the #1 most rented show in 2016, Almost Maine, was teaching a Master Class in writing. I knew I wouldn’t learn a lot in an hour of teaching, but I wanted to make the connection because John is part of the tribe I like to hang with.

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve gotten as an entrepreneur is to find other people who do what you do and figure out a way to hang out with them. If you like someone’s blog, read it, comment on it, and engage with the author at a conversational level. If you want to act, find other actors and figure out a way to hang out with them. If you want to write, join an association of writers or find people in your area who write and ask if they want to get together to talk. Continue reading →

185 million grandmothers

June 9, 2017December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Decision making, Organizational Exercises, Working with your guides Big project ideas, Changing habits, Decision making, Defining who you are, getting things done, Getting work done, How to stay focused, Organizational Exercises, organizational tips, Prioritizing tasks, tips to be more productive, Working with your guides

I love listening to audio books in the car so even a trip to the grocery store has a quiet moment of learning or storytelling along the way.

This week I’m on a road trip through the south and the hours in the car have been filled with such interesting thinking! I started off listening to the History of the CIA. I’ll listen to the history of pretty much anything, but this one is so dark, I had to take a break and cut over to Richard Dawkins book, The Magic of Reality.

Dawkins is much more of a realist than I am. I love magical thinking; Dawkins is all facts. But he shares wonderful examples of myths and then the science behind what’s really there – like how rainbows are formed. Or why we have earthquakes.

My favorite chapter was on human evolution. Here’s the mind-puzzle he offers. Continue reading →

Get happy = get healthy

June 5, 2017December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Decision making, Organizational Exercises, Planning impacts on your health, Productivity tips for work, Staying focused Changing habits, forming a new habit, getting organized, getting things done, Getting work done, how to get organized, How to stay focused, Organizational Exercises, organizational tips, tips to be more productive, tips to stay healthy

I’m traveling in Virginia this week, and a good friend told me about a study out of UCLA that explains four ways to make you to feel happier. The Dalai Lama worries that Americans don’t feel they have a right to be happy and that being happy shouldn’t be a goal. He says that’s nonsense, and if the Dalai Lama says “Go for it – it’s okay,” who are we to argue?

Here’s what’s important about happiness as explained by UCLA neuroscience researcher Alex Korb:

Continue reading →

Tea, tea, tea

May 30, 2017December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Planning impacts on your health Changing habits, forming a new habit, getting things done, Getting work done, Grocery shopping tips, losing weight, organizational tips, tips to be more productive, tips to stay healthy

A few years ago, I decided to reduce my caffeine intake as part of an overall plan to cut back on acids in my system. I wasn’t a huge coffee drinker but knew I’d miss hugging a warm mug in the morning and decided to switch to lightly caffeinated green tea for my morning brew.

I’ve been very happy with the switch AND during the last Food Revolution Summit, was amazed to hear about many of the health benefits of green tea. One of the speakers this year said there wasn’t anything wrong with coffee except that if drinking it meant you were drinking less green tea, then you were missing out!

What’s so great about green tea? Here are some facts from Dr. Dean Ornish’s book, The Spectrum: Continue reading →

Organizational Habits

Simple, practical tips and exercises to help you get organized

Baby steps to start getting organized