Close your eyes and picture the last time you were really happy.
[pause to ponder – I’ll wait!]
What were you doing?
Who were you with? Chances are you were with somebody because at our core, we’re social animals and being around people and animals we trust and can laugh with is a big part of what makes us happy.
When you picture that happy time, do you feel an energy bubble in your gut? Continue reading
My #1 suggestion for anyone thinking about getting organized is to start by getting healthy. If you aren’t feeling healthy, the last thing you want to tackle is a major decluttering/reorg of your life.
An important part of getting healthy is being really picky about everything you put in your body – including medications. Personally, meds don’t work well for me. I know for many, they seem to work well but are they good for you in the long run?
Consider this from an article published last Friday in the Washington Post. Continue reading
“The future has an ancient heart.”
I love this line from Italian writer Carlo Levi. The thought is that you are who you are from the moment you’re born, and the future reveals what’s always been there.
If you’re struggling with where you’re headed, look back at where you were when you were 5, 10, 15, 20… Continue reading
Do you have something you really want to do but never seem to make time for? Here’s a simple idea: Set a deadline.
Right, you say. I’ll just break it if it’s my deadline.
How about this?
I’m reading Tiny, Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed. The book is a compilation of advice Cheryl offered in her column, “Dear Sugar”. As I read, I’m struck by the number of people who reveal a secret, a doubt, a fear, or a wish. And I’m struck by the fact that most of the secrets, doubts, fears and wishes are the same ones we all have.
When I worked as a volunteer at the Center for Grieving Children, I saw secrets of grief revealed every week. Grief is a weird, hidden thing. We think if we don’t talk about it the loss will hurt less. We don’t talk about it because it makes us cry. We don’t talk about it because we don’t want anyone to worry that we’re still sad. We keep grief bundled up and secretly tucked away, and it feels huge. Continue reading
If you’re having trouble staying focused on a project you started but can’t seem to finish, step back and think about what you’re doing. Is this something you really want to finish? If it is, then look at the situation because maybe that’s the problem. We think of ourselves as being consistent in how we work, but in truth, we shift gears on a pretty regular basis depending on the environment we’re in.
To get your best work done, you want to be jazzed up about what you’re doing AND you want to be energized about where that project takes you. Continue reading
If you place electrodes in a rat’s brain and put him in an unfamiliar maze with a piece of chocolate hidden at the end of a path, you see an amazing thing about how habits affect your brain. I’ve personally never tried this, but Charles Duhigg talks about it in detail in his AWESOME book The Power of Habit.
But back to the rat. The first time he’s in the maze, he wanders through, sniffing the walls and working his way down the path. When he finds the chocolate he happily settles in for a quick snack. All this time, his brain activity is high. He’s learning something and his brain wants to capture every minute. Continue reading
Organizational Zen is about knowing the work you want to do, and then getting it done. You don’t have to organize the world. You just want to start and finish the good work that’s bubbling up inside you.
On the road to Organizational Zen, make sure you’ve got a handle on these organizational basics.
Think about some of the best times in your life. How many of them were times you spent with family or friends, cozied up in a quiet place enjoying simple times with good people? Candles were lit. Maybe there was a storm outside. Maybe there was a game. There was definitely great conversation. Everyone felt included and everyone loved being part of the group.
If you’re like most Americans, these times “just happen”. In Denmark, hygge (pronounced hoo-gah), is about striving to create these times, to be “consciously cozy”. What an awesome choice in a time of uncertainty, unsettling change, and elitism.
Here’s how the Danes define hygge: Continue reading
Organizational Habits 