Health is Happiness

May 10, 2019December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Decision making, Planning impacts on your health Changing habits, Decision making, Defining who you are, forming a new habit, getting things done, Getting work done

Each spring, I learn something new listening to the Food Revolution Summit. One of my favorite take-aways from last week’s Summit was about “lifestyle medicine” which is all about being healthy (and productive!) with help from lifestyle changes versus being healthy from taking meds.

One lifestyle change you can make is to eat more plant-based food and fewer animal products. If you think about the entire history of mankind, it’s only recently that we’ve had the money, refrigeration, and resources to eat meat up to three times a day v. just on special occasions! And it’s only been recently that we hear about diabetes starting earlier in life. About more heart disease. About more cancer.

So why not fight back and take a baby step to change one meal a day to be plant-based? Continue reading →

Add some G-BOMBS to your diet

May 2, 2019December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Decision making, Planning impacts on your health, Staying focused Changing habits, Decision making, Defining who you are, forming a new habit, Getting work done, how to lose and sustain weight loss, How to stay focused, losing weight, organizational tips, tips to be more productive, tips to stay healthy

Healthy people get stuff done. We are focused. We have good energy. We are productive.

A huge, huge part of being healthy and feeling great depends on the food you put in your body. If you feel bad after eating – you’re tired, acidic, foggy – that’s your body’s way of telling you that something is not right. If this is happening to you, track what you eat and how you feel after eating for a week or so, and then start experimenting to isolate the variables. Continue reading →

The Food Revolution Summit is coming right up!

April 11, 2019April 18, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Decision making, Planning impacts on your health Changing habits, Decision making, Defining who you are, forming a new habit, getting things done, Getting work done, Grocery shopping tips, how to lose and sustain weight loss, losing weight, organizational tips, tips to be more productive, tips to stay healthy

If you’re not healthy, it’s hard to get organized. And what’s at the core of good health? Good food!

Every April, the Food Revolution Network holds a free online Summit with a mix of speakers talking about the latest in food health. That may sound dry, but I’ve listened for the past 5 years and the content is always insightful and helpful. The speakers are top-notch; many are doctors with new ideas about food-health. And it’s free – as long as you resist buying their “empowerment” package! Continue reading →

Do one lovely thing

March 28, 2019December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Decision making, Organizational Exercises, Planning impacts on your health, Staying focused Changing habits, Decision making, Defining who you are, forming a new habit, getting things done, organizational tips

My Artist’s Way task for the week is to do one lovely thing each day.

I love this for the simplicity: it’s just one thing.
I love it for the lightness: this isn’t one ground-breaking, thought-provoking, change-the-world thing – it’s just a “lovely” thing.
I love it because it feels kind.
I love it because it’s creative – what will I come up with for 7 lovely things over the course of the week?
I love it because each day is a deadline.

Continue reading →

Free Meditation Challenge with Zen Master Sharon Salzberg

January 11, 2019December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Decision making, Getting started, Meditation, Planning impacts on your health, Staying focused, Working with your guides Changing habits, Decision making, Defining who you are, forming a new habit, getting things done, Getting work done, How to stay focused, Meditation tips, organizational tips, tips for being kind, tips to be more productive, tips to stay healthy, Working with your guides

Sharon Salzberg offers a 28-day meditation challenge each February. If you’ve been thinking about starting a meditation practice, Sharon’s prompts cover a lot of territory which is a great way to find something that works for you. Recent studies show short-term and long-term benefits from meditating even for short periods of time each day. Meditation helps you be calm. It helps you focus. It helps you detach from the day-to-day crazies. And it helps your body heal itself. What’s not to love!?

And when you do something for 28 days, guess what? You’ve formed a new, healthy habit. Yay!

I met Sharon over a decade ago at a weekend retreat in NYC. The irony of having a meditative retreat in the heart of NYC is not lost on me. :). When I signed up for Sharon’s meditation challenge this year, I remembered why I like her so much. I’ve told you this story before, but here it is again. Continue reading →

Taking a healthy step into the New Year

January 4, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Decision making, Organizational Exercises, Planning impacts on your health, Staying focused Changing habits, Defining who you are, forming a new habit, getting things done, Getting work done, How to stay focused, organizational tips, tips to be more productive, tips to stay healthy

Painting by Mark Compton

“All beginnings wear their endings.” – astrophysicist Chet Raymo

As we start into a new year, please remember that if you don’t take care of yourself you can’t do your best work. You may get started with a great idea, but you need to be healthy to get to the end.

Here are 9 reminders from a Washington Post article on a recent London study on ways to practice wonderful self-care. Continue reading →

Need motivation to get more sleep?

December 4, 2018December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Decision making, Planning impacts on your health, Productivity tips for work, Staying focused Changing habits, Decision making, Defining who you are, forming a new habit, getting things done, Getting work done, how to get more sleep, how to get organized, How to stay focused, impact of lack on sleep on your health, organizational tips, tips to be more productive, tips to stay healthy, ways to get more sleep

Deborah Kris had an article in The Washington Post last week on the importance for teens to get enough sleep. The thing is, sleep isn’t just important for teens! More and more research is being done on the impact of sleep deprivation across all age categories.

We’ve all experienced periodic lack of sleep and you know the feeling.

Your cognitive functioning is impaired.
It’s hard to focus, to concentrate.
Your body feels heavy, achey, and clumsy.
You feel grumpy and might have head spins and negative thoughts.
You feel more sensitive and impatient.

One teen in a recent study summed it up beautifully: “When I don’t get enough sleep, everything is harder.” Continue reading →

Slowing down to be more productive

November 14, 2018December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Meditation, Organizational Exercises, Planning impacts on your health, Productivity tips for work, Staying focused Changing habits, Defining who you are, forming a new habit, getting things done, How to stay focused, Organizational Exercises, organizational tips, tips to be more productive, tips to stay healthy

I just finished Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee, a product designer and student of JOY in the world. One of Lee’s last studies in the book is on the joy of being in nature. Participating in a natural life helps you slow down. It keeps you grounded. It helps you be meditative and at the same time lifts your energy. And it makes you feel healthier and happier which helps you be more productive.

Think about when you were a kid and everything outside felt new and exciting. I’ve been thinking about elements of nature and what we can do to be more observant of them to appreciate them more to get back some of that kid-energy. Continue reading →

Grouping items to create harmony

November 6, 2018December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Organizational Exercises, Planning impacts on your health, Tips for organizing your house, Tips on decluttering Changing habits, decluttering your life, Defining who you are, forming a new habit, getting organized, organizational tips, Tips on decluttering

If you have a place in your house that feels scattered or drains your energy, try introducing a little harmony.

Think about how different a scattering of single leaves look compared to leaves grouped together on a tree. Or how loose petals of a flower look compared to the look of a full-headed flower. Or the look of singular flowers versus the look of a sweeping field of flowers.

You can create harmony by placing similar items together. By putting prints on a wall in matching frames. By grouping items together that are the same or complementary colors. Continue reading →