Creating a vision of the future

October 19, 2019December 10, 2019 organizationalhabits Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Decision making, Finding your "why", Organizational Exercises, Setting organizational priorities, Staying focused, Working with your guides Big project ideas, Changing habits, Decision making, Defining who you are, figuring out my life work, getting things done, Getting work done, organizational tips, organizing big projects, Prioritizing tasks, tips to be more productive, Working with your guides

I wrote this post last Wednesday. Then we had a massive wind storm and lost power for two days! I have a generator but we had no internet so I just did art stuff for two days. Sometimes it’s fun to be forced offline. But now back to my previously planned thoughts… :).

If you’re looking to make a change in your life, it helps to be very specific about what you’re looking for. At times in my life, I’ve desperately wanted someone else to make a decision for me to help me head off in a new direction. And you know what? That never happened. When I’ve made big changes it’s because I pondered them at length and then came up with an action plan. Continue reading →

Regrets of the dying

October 8, 2019December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Decision making, Finding your "why", Organizational Exercises, Productivity tips for work, Setting organizational priorities, Staying focused, Working with your guides Big project ideas, Changing habits, Decision making, Defining who you are, figuring out my life work, forming a new habit, getting things done, Getting work done, organizational tips, Prioritizing tasks, tips to be more productive, working on big projects, Working with your guides

Getting organized isn’t just about being efficient with your time, following up on details, and doing a great job. Although that’s all really good stuff, getting organized is also about finding an inner calm, an inner peace knowing that you’re doing work that is true to who you are and that shares your unique gifts with the world.

In The Power of Moments, Chip and Dan Heath write about Bonnie Ware, a palliative care nurse who served patients in their final weeks of life. Here’s what Bonnie heard as her patients’ five most common regrets. Continue reading →

Artist get-away idea

September 29, 2019December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Finding your "why", Getting started, Staying focused Big project ideas, Decision making, Defining who you are, forming a new habit, getting things done, Getting work done, How to stay focused, organizational tips, organizing big projects, tips to be more productive, working on big projects

I’m working on plans for my writing trip next spring and summer, and have stumbled on several Artist Residency programs that are intriguing. I wasn’t familiar with the concept of an Artist Residency till a friend told me about the efforts of the Libra Foundation in Monson, Maine, a little town on a lake about 2-1/2 hours north of me. Continue reading →

The importance of being playful

May 23, 2019May 23, 2019 organizationalhabits Building your personal brand, Business tips, Decision making, Finding your "why", Setting organizational priorities, Staying focused Big project ideas, Changing habits, Decision making, Defining who you are, forming a new habit, getting things done, Getting work done, How to stay focused, organizational tips, tips for being kind, tips to be more productive

We had Christopher Phillips in as a speaker at the library this week. Chris is the author of Socrates Cafe and Democracy Cafe which we used to model some of our programs at the library. Chris is an interesting, engaging, fun guy so we asked him back to talk about his latest book, A Child at Heart: Unlocking Your Creativity, Curiosity, and Reason at Every Age and Stage of Life.

Here are some of my favorite take-aways from Chris’s talk: Continue reading →

Pay attention to coincidences!

April 25, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Decision making, Finding your "why", Working with your guides Big project ideas, Changing habits, Decision making, Defining who you are, figuring out my life work, getting things done, organizational tips, working on big projects, Working with your guides

Life is full of chance encounters that aren’t as random as they seem. The person you sit next to on a plane that gives you an idea for a new project. A conversation you have that months later leads you down a new path. The choice you made buying a house or choosing a school that led to all sorts of new relationships. A book you pulled from a shelf that gave you new insight on how the world works.

My latest awesome coincidence came out of the writers’ group at the library. One of our attendees mentioned, in passing, that she had a friend who wanted her to read The Artist’s Way. That led to our Artist’s Way group which has set me off in all sorts of new directions with writing as well as with beads. And all it took was listening as Tyche mentioned a book and a desire. And then listening to my gut to take action.

When I started this blog, I wrote about my Book of Coincidences. Here’s how that started… Continue reading →

Add a spoonful of JOY

April 4, 2019December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Decision making, Finding your "why", Organizational Exercises Big project ideas, Changing habits, Decision making, Defining who you are, forming a new habit, getting things done, Getting work done, how to get organized, How to stay focused, Organizational Exercises, organizational tips, tips to be more productive

When people are struggling to get organized, the weirdest piece of advice I give them is to add something to their to-do list: Joy. It is counter-intuitive. Why not just focus on the multitude of tasks at hand?

Because if you’re struggling, it means you don’t want to tackle the tasks at hand. They seem like chores. They’re heavy. They’re things that have to be done. Yep. So add one more: Joy.

Continue reading →

Getting out of the nest

February 12, 2019December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Decision making, Finding your "why", Staying focused, Working with your guides Changing habits, Decision making, Defining who you are, figuring out my life work, forming a new habit, getting things done, Getting work done, organizational tips, State of "flow", working on big projects, Working with your guides

I stumbled on this quote from Pema Chodron in a book I was reading this week:

“To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.”

Isn’t that counter-intuitive? When you’re organized and doing good work, doesn’t that mean you keep control of your time and your days? And when you’re truly engaged with your work, isn’t that when you feel fully alive and awake? And when you’re “continually thrown out of the nest,” doesn’t that feel crazy and chaotic? Continue reading →

Walking the Artist’s Path

January 17, 2019 organizationalhabits Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Finding your "why", Setting organizational priorities, Working with your guides Big project ideas, Changing habits, Decision making, Defining who you are, forming a new habit, getting things done, How to stay focused, organizational tips, Prioritizing tasks, tips to be more productive, tips to stay healthy, working on big projects, Working with your guides

I met last night with a group of 11 women to start working our way through the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. I read this book about 20 years ago with a couple of friends. Reading it got me back into the theater – first teaching it to kids. That lead to getting back on stage. Then I started writing for the theater, and now I’m writing, directing, and running a theater group. All good. All high energy!

What I like about The Artist’s Way is that it assumes that creativity is part of everyone’s nature but that it can get lost in the day-to-day shuffle of life. The book has fun, simple exercises that help you remember who you are and get you back to practicing “the art of creative living.” Continue reading →

A life well lived

September 30, 2018December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Decision making, Finding your "why", Organizational Exercises, Staying focused Changing habits, Decision making, Defining who you are, forming a new habit, getting things done, Getting work done, organizational tips, Prioritizing tasks

One of our speakers at the library last week, John Baugher, has a new book coming out about the joy of end-of-life care. I’m certain I’ve never heard anyone speak about end-of-life as being a joyous time. Most of us face end-of-life care, for ourselves or for others, with a certain amount of dread. But John’s decades of working with hospice have left him feeling otherwise.

But John’s talk didn’t center on the end of life. It centered on a life well lived. And not as a reflection – but as a daily practice. His question was: