How to stay focused

Breaking the habit loop

organizationalhabits Changing habits, Organizational Exercises, Planning impacts on your health, Tips on using a planner , , , , , , , , ,

Have you ever noticed when you’re doing something out of habit, like taking a shower or driving to work, that you think of all sorts of things that have nothing to do with taking a shower or driving to work? That’s your brain on autopilot. You are in a habit loop.

Think about the last time you learned something new, drove a new route, or started a new job. When something’s new, your brain slows down to make a myriad of decisions. Once you’ve done something for a while, your brain shifts to autopilot.

Because your brain saves energy being on autopilot, old habits can be hard to break. And new habits can be slow to form because new habits take full brain power.

So how does a habit loop work? Continue reading →

Getting grounded in self-care

organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Decision making, Organizational Exercises, Planning impacts on your health , , , , , ,

When I give talks on Organizational Zen, I always end with a slide that says, “Take Care of Yourself”. It occurred to me recently to move this slide to the front of the pack because if you aren’t healthy, getting organized is the last thing you want to tackle.

“Take Care of Yourself” sounds simple, but we know it’s not. Are you careful about what you expose your body to? Are you getting enough sleep? How are you doing for exercise? Do you have quiet time each day to help manage stress?

How could I give this only one slide? 🙂

In this post, I’ll tackle my favorite part of self-care: Things you expose your body to.

Food
I’ll admit it: I’m a foodie. I read every ingredient label and agonize over the food I eat. Where was it grown? Does it include additives? Did anyone suffer from the collecting of this food?

Bottom line: Is it healthy for the planet, and for me to eat this? 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 →

Consider a leaf

organizationalhabits Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Finding your "why", Meditation, Organizational Exercises, Staying focused, Working with your guides , , , , ,

I just finished listening to Eckhardt Tolle’s audio book A New Earth. I love audio books and listen to them regularly when I drive. This started as a habit when I was driving long distances, but has evolved into an everyday habit. It’s weird to look forward to running errands or heading to the grocery story because you get to learn something new – but it’s a great use of time when you are in the car.

So back to A New Earth – there was so much to take in. Here are three big take-aways that relate to getting organized and finding the peace within that.

  1. Consider a leaf.
  2. Be present.
  3. Do good work.

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 →

Finding your balance

organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Big project ideas, Decision making, Organizational Exercises, Setting organizational priorities , , , , , , , ,

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.

  • Picture your life as a cairn of rocks where each stone supports the one above it.
  • What are the essential rocks that give you a feeling of peace and balance – bottom to top?
  • What’s missing from your stack?

I did some thinking about what the rocks are in my cairn and came up with a long list. Continue reading →

Getting started with meditation

organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Changing habits, Getting started, Meditation, Organizational Exercises, Planning impacts on your health , , , , , , ,

If you aren’t healthy, it’s pretty hard to stay organized. Eating good food, getting outside, going for walks, and getting enough sleep help you focus on the tasks of the day.

And a big part for me of being grounded in a healthy lifestyle is meditation. I started meditating a couple of years ago after resisting for the longest time because I thought mediation was something you had to “do right”.

What finally got me meditating was a book by Lissa Rankin called Mind Over Medicine. The book isn’t about meditation – it’s about how powerful your mind is in helping you heal.

Here’s Lissa talking about this in a TED talk. Continue reading →