getting things done

Secrets revealed

organizationalhabits Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Decision making, Organizational Exercises, Planning impacts on your health, Working with your guides , , , , ,

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 →

Finish what you started

organizationalhabits Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Organizational Exercises, Productivity tips for work, Staying focused , , , , , , ,

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 →

Tackling organizational basics

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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.

  1. Take care of yourself. If you don’t feel well, aren’t eating right, aren’t getting enough sleep, or are feeling generally stressed out, guess what? It’s going to be very hard for you to get organized. Being organized takes focus and energy. If you haven’t already done so, make health your #1 organizational priority.

Continue reading →

Choosing to be consciously cozy

organizationalhabits Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Organizational Exercises, Planning impacts on your health, Setting organizational priorities, Staying focused, Working with your guides , , , , , , , , , ,

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 →

Ideal teamwork and the concepts of SCRUM

organizationalhabits Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Organizational Exercises, Productivity tips for work , , , , , , , ,

I’ve talked to a number of companies about changing corporate habits. In the midst of one discussion, a friend and former colleague at L.L.Bean recommended a book about SCRUM. SCRUM business concepts started in silicon valley and are now crossing over into all sorts of new thinking.

Picture your next group project and…

Imagine redefining the concept of “team”

  • Each team is cross-functional, autonomous, empowered, and has a transcendent purpose.
  • Team members know their work is important to the company and is personally meaningful.
  • Each team has the necessary skills and mix of experience and thinking they need to solve issues they’re tasked with solving.
  • Hand-offs are limited or eliminated; keep the work with this one group rather than have separate teams develop individual parts and pass their work along, group to group.
  • Teams work without titles and no one is limited to one type of work on a team; you contribute anywhere you have strengths.
  • Each team has the direction, freedom, respect and authority to do things without asking permission.

Continue reading →

Getting to the BIG stuff

organizationalhabits 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, Tips on using a planner, Working with your guides , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

When you’re thinking of BIG things you’d like to do in this lifetime, block out some quiet time, do a little quiet breathing (in through your nose and out through your mouth helps you think more clearly!), and make a couple of lists.

  • List #1 is stuff you’re already working on that you want to do more of.
  • List #2 is stuff you’ve always thought of doing but have never dared start.
  • List #3 is an outrageous brainstorm list, weird stuff that is super compelling, that raises your energy just to think of it, and that you’ve never given much thought to – until maybe right now.

Set the lists aside and go about your day. These need to cook for a while. Continue reading →

The possibilities of tomorrow

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, Setting organizational priorities, Staying focused, Tips on using a planner, Tips on using a planning calendar , , , , , , , , , , ,

History is filled with facts which makes it really solid. When we look back, it seems like what happened was the only possibility, that what happened was inevitable.

But then there’s “today”. You look ahead. You wonder what will happen. And you know it’s not pre-ordained because there are so many potential threads. Tomorrow could take you south, or west, or north. It could be wild or calm. Big things could happen. Or nothing special could happen. Continue reading →

The importance of spending time alone

organizationalhabits Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Decision making, Finding your "why", Meditation, Organizational Exercises, Staying focused, Working with your guides , , , , , , , , ,

An artist needs time to create. A writer needs time to work out a story. A musician needs time to play and to compose. A saint needs time to pray.

Alone-time lets you refill the pitcher of your life from all the little daily leaks and keeps your soul from running dry.

Such are the musing of Anne Morrow Lindbergh in Gift from the Sea. Anne was married to Charles Lindbergh and was a fellow aviator and accomplished author. She survived the abduction and murder of her first child, went on to have five more children, and outlived her famous husband by decades finally passing at the age of 94. Continue reading →

Make one New Year’s resolution

organizationalhabits Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Decision making, Organizational Exercises, Setting organizational priorities, Staying focused, Tips on using a planner, Tips on using a planning calendar , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Here are the top four New Year’s resolutions. How many of these have been on your make-and-break list?

  • Lose weight
  • Get organized
  • Spend less/save more
  • Enjoy life to the fullest

I’m not big on making New Year’s resolutions because I don’t like to waste time. Statistics say that only 8% of us stick to New Year’s resolutions. Why spend time wishing for something that doesn’t happen most of the time for most people?

But these are great goals! So what can you do to make a resolution stick this year? Continue reading →