getting things done

Holiday organizational tips

organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Decision making, Organizational Exercises, Setting organizational priorities, Tips on using a planner, Tips on using a planning calendar , , , , , , , , , , ,

Getting through a holiday-laced December can be fun – and it can be exhausting. Having a plan in place will help you feel more in control and help tilt things more toward fun and less toward stress. Planning also helps you stick to your priorities rather than making last-minute decisions on the fly.

Good planning starts with a schedule. Take a look at December and block out time now for:

Special events and family events

  • Is there anything that needs to be done or prepared before the event? Games? Food? Decorations? Invitations?
  • Plan in time to clean for any events that are at your house – but know that this is probably not the best time of year to start a big decluttering project!
  • If you have a special family event, try to keep a solid block around that time so you can focus on family and be present! Continue reading →

Could you live a simpler life?

organizationalhabits Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Organizational Exercises, Setting organizational priorities, Staying focused , , , , , , ,

Thanksgiving is a great time to focus on what you feel grateful for.

If you aren’t feeling grateful this week, try brainstorming a list, or make a cool graphic like the one to the left, of everything in your life that brings you joy. Push yourself to make the list as long as possible so you remember to include the goofy things and the cool things – like chocolate. Or playing with your dog. Or sunrises.

Continue reading →

Living your dream time

organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Big project ideas, Decision making, Finding your "why", Organizational Exercises, Setting organizational priorities, Staying focused , , , , , , , , , , , ,

When you have a million things to do, everything feels important, and whatever’s next on the list gets done. You may have an edgy feeling that you’re missing out, that there’s something you should be doing, but who has time to think about it, right? You’re getting stuff done, so go go go.

Then you wake up in the middle of the night. You glance at the clock. It’s 4:00 AM. It’s quiet and dark. You can’t go back to sleep and start to think about things that never intrude on your busy days.

  • What would it be like to take a year off to travel to all the national parks in the United States?
  • If you wrote a novel, what would it be about? Time travel? History? Mystery? You have ideas that are just at the corner of your thinking.
  • Continue reading →

How do you spend your time?

organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Decision making, Finding your "why", Organizational Exercises, Productivity tips for work, Setting organizational priorities, Staying focused , , , , , , , , ,

How do you spend your time? Do you choose with focus and intent? Or are your days more random?

When you’re surfing the net or watching TV, is your energy up, or down? When you stop, do you feel lighter or heavier? Are you learning something? Sharing something?

Do your activities make a difference in your life or in the lives of others? Are you using your time well? Does what you’re doing affect you at a soul level? Continue reading →

We’re in this together

organizationalhabits Building your personal brand, Decision making, Meditation, Staying focused, Working with your guides , , ,

In times of uncertainty and divisiveness, it helps to be mindful of the people around you and to recognize that we’re all in this together.

Patriot’s Day weekend, 2007, I was at an Omega Institute class in mid-town Manhattan with Zen teacher Sharon Salzberg. The topic was mindfulness. At the end of the class, Sharon asked us to look around the room and imagine that we were going to be stuck in a subway car with this specific group of people – for eternity.

“If you know you’ll be with this group for eternity, does that change how you feel about them? Does it make you more curious? Are you going to get to know them? Or are they going to continue to be strangers?” Continue reading →

Stand tall and get more done

organizationalhabits Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Organizational Exercises, Planning impacts on your health, Staying focused , , , , , , ,

Does slouching contribute to procrastination?

According to a study highlighted this week in FastCompany, Erik Peper, PhD, says that when you stand tall, chin up, shoulders wide, your body relaxes into a safe and confident state. He says that when your body is erect, whether sitting, standing, or walking, you have more energy and more positive thoughts.

Conversely, when you’re hunched over, you don’t breathe as well, put pressure on your stomach, and don’t think as clearly.

“When you collapse, you signal to the body that you are in a defense reaction. Your cortisol goes up and testosterone goes down,” says Peper. “In our research, we have demonstrated that in the collapsed position, you have easier access to hopeless, helpless, powerless, defeated thoughts and memories, and it takes more brain activation to think of positive empowering thoughts than it does in the erect position.”

Peper calls depression a “sitting disease” and attributes it to too much time spent at a desk, on a couch in front of a TV, or hunched over a screen.

Let’s test out this theory. Continue reading →

You are an expert

organizationalhabits Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Finding your "why", Organizational Exercises, Staying focused , , , , ,

You are an expert. When you do that thing you do, energy flows through you and time slows down.

How do you do it?

  • You focus on the subject at hand
  • You take classes
  • You read books and listen to audio books
  • You practice
  • You write about your expertise so you process the information you’ve learned
  • You find others who do what you do, ask them questions, share what you know, and compare notes
  • You are curious and listen and watch for information that relates to your expertise
  • You spend time thinking

Continue reading →

What’s a single moment when you were living “the good life”?

organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Big project ideas, Finding your "why", Organizational Exercises, Setting organizational priorities , , , , , , , , ,

Organizational Zen is about the peace you find prioritizing your time by working on the big stuff in your life. Not sure what your “big stuff” is?

I recently attended a class taught by the very wise, Dr. Alice Bandy. Alice helps people figure out their “Why”. Why?

  • Because you were born with unique gifts to share with the world and it’s hard to share something that you don’t know you have.
  • Most of us underestimate what we can bring to the universe.
  • If you don’t do the work that’s in your heart, it’s a big loss for all of us, and you won’t have as much fun while you’re here on earth.
  • Your work isn’t what you do – it’s who you are.
  • Your gift to the world is to take action.

To get a glimpse of your “why”, take a deep breath and ponder this question. Continue reading →

Making writing a habit

organizationalhabits Big project ideas, Changing habits, Organizational Exercises, Setting organizational priorities , , , , , , , ,

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.

Continue reading →