Having a passion in life helps you resist the urge to waste time. Writing is my passion but it took me years to develop it into a habit.
What I learned along the way was that for me to write a novel, I had to treat writing like it was a job. It took time, intent, commitment, focus, and prioritization to turn an idea for a historic story into a book.
Here are my big take-aways that can be applied to any new habit.
Organizational Zen is about being organized in a way that brings you peace. It’s not about trying to nail down every aspect of your life, to be neat as a pin, or to always be perfect and in control. And it’s not about trying to organize others – you’re concentrating on your own good work.
Organizational Zen is about deciding how you want to spend your time, then prioritizing and focusing on what you’re doing.
Here’s an exercise I learned in Lissa Rankin’s book Mind Over Medicine that gives you a visual of the essential things you need in your life to feel balanced.
I did some thinking about what the rocks are in my cairn and came up with a long list. Continue reading
If your life was a play, is it something you’d go see?
If your life were a play, would you live it differently than you are now? Continue reading
If you find yourself saying, “I wish I could get more done,” stop for a minute and think about exactly what it is you want to get done.
If you find yourself complaining a lot, it’s time to stop. Complaining is a waste of your time and other people’s time. If you don’t like something, try to fix it.
If you don’t know how to fix it, that’s awesome. That’s your challenge! Study the stuff that bugs you to see if you’re complaining about things that really matter to you. Or is complaining just a bad habit?
A few things of note: If you’re complaining about a person and you’re doing it behind their back you’re not going to change anything. Continue reading
At the end of one of the first talks I gave on Organizational Zen, a participant said he understood that if he wanted to stop wasting time it would be great to have a larger goal in mind.
It’s just that he didn’t have any bigger work to do. He had raised his children and run a successful business, and as a retiree, felt like no one needed him anymore. He asked how he should spend the last years of his life.
Oh, my. No one can answer that question for you; it’s something that comes from inside and only you can bring it to life. Continue reading
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been organizing people – neighborhood kids, playground antics, school functions, friends, and businesses. I like getting things going. I like getting everyone involved. I like big conversations. I like to make things happen.
So it’s no surprise that I ended up working as an account executive for an advertising agency. I thrive on being the organized one amidst chaos. And ad agencies are the epitome of business chaos. Get a room full of Art Directors and Copywriters. Add in Presidents and CFOs who are former Art Directors and Copywriters. And try being the only one who has a deadline to meet. Yeah. I can do that. I can make that happen.
Then how about a bigger challenge? How about keeping an entire direct marketing company organized? Boston. Appleseed’s. I thrived.
As a business professional, I am known for organizational efficiency. But as a kid, my parents used to refer to me as “the messy one”. Why couldn’t I keep my room clean? Why did I never pick up?
Because:
1) It was my room.
2) I liked seeing my stuff. Continue reading
If you’re feeling disorganized, it may be that you need to get organized. OR it may be time to make changes in your life. Just like you can’t reorganize a room or house until you declutter, you can’t get organized if you have too much junk floating around in your head.
Here are some signs you need more than an organizational fix: Continue reading
Organizational Habits 