organize your life

Oops! Video link added: Are you an “active couch potato?”

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A new study out of Finland shows that even if you exercise for a half-hour to an hour each day, you can negate short-term and long-term health impacts of that activity if the other 23 hours of your day are spent sitting still.

The study showed that short activity breaks throughout the day help to lower cholesterol, reduce body fat, and lower your blood pressure. What’s cool about this study is that it shows you don’t have to do a lot during the day – but you need to do it often.

So set your alarm to remind you to take more breaks. And then make a list of things you can do to keep moving throughout the day. Want some ideas? How about take a coffee or water break. Tidy up. Take a walk. Make a call while you walk. Play with your pet. Or simply get up and stretch!

Organized Zen is about getting to your best work. To do that, you want to live a long, healthy life. Taking little breaks each day to keep your body moving is a simple way to help you get where you want to go today and WAY down the line.

What’s a baby step you can take today to get started?

Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Time to stretch with a little Social Exercise!

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Don’t you love it when you’re new to a group and someone makes an effort to get to know you and helps you feel welcome? We are a social species, and when someone is friendly, kind, warm, and welcoming we take a deep breath and are grateful.

In a recent article by David Brooks at the New York Times, Brooks cites a study that shows how much people underestimate the impact of talking to strangers. We underestimate how open most people are to having a conversation, how much we’ll enjoy a conversation, and how much we can learn.

I am a big proponent of trying out new things. So why not practice a little Social Exercise this week and see if you can be that warm and welcoming person in a group you’re part of at work, school, in your neighborhood, or at home?

Organized Zen is all about getting to your best work. Sometimes a stranger is just the person you need to help you figure out how to do that.

Click here for more thoughts.

How’s your work-energy balance?

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Does the work you do for pay or as a volunteer boost your energy? Or drain it? Organized Zen is all about getting to your best, high-energy work. So what do you do if your work drains you?

I spent most of my career in the “creative” departments of two large direct marketers, but my work was far from creative. I excelled in my career choice because of my organizational skills. I was paid well. And I met some really terrific people. But my energy was drained by the work I chose. I needed something with a deeper connection and I needed to be more creative.

I filled those needs and lifted my energy through volunteer work, first at a Grieving Center, and then running a children’s acting workshop. The cool part about energy is that once you find it, it spreads. In my case, doing volunteer work that touched my heart helped me stick with energy-draining but lucrative professional work until my kids were raised.

In this talk, I share an exercise to help you figure out where and how you get energy. Then I encourage you to ponder ways to bring more energy into your life. Our time here on earth is limited. Today would be a great day to take a baby step that helps you bring out the best of what you have in you.

Cheers!

What gives you energy?

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I came back from working on an opera in Maine ready to write, bike, run, spend more time at the Smithsonian museums, hang out with friends, sew, and sing! (That last one is not so surprising.)

Have you ever noticed that energy begets energy? That when you do something that charges you up, you find a surprising amount of energy to do more?

Here are more thoughts on this! I hope you are having a great August!!

Summer says: Time to slow down!

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I love it when I hear a message from one person. And then another. And then another! Sometimes the Universe has to stand directly in front of me to get me to pay attention. What message did I get this week? Slow down!

When you slow down you have time to make sure that where you’re going is a place you want to go. One very cool way to slow down is through art and music which can mendyour mind as well as your heart.

Okay, Universe. I am listening. I promise I’ll slow down. It just may not be until August :).

Here’s more.

I hope the start of your summer has been a joyous, slow time for you. 🙂

Feeling the quiet as you consider a leaf…

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Making time for quiet each day has all sorts of healing properties. Taking a deep breath and pausing to think and be in the space you’re in can help lower your blood pressure, improve your ability to focus, and elevate your mood.

Getting to your best work isn’t all about doing – sometimes it’s about stopping to “consider.” And sometimes, it’s about stopping just to stop. 🙂

Here are a few thoughts on finding ways to bring meditative moments into your day.

And I have to add a picture of my granddaughter Brooke as she considers her toes. Bliss 🙂

What are your superpowers?

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Your super powers show up when what you’re doing feels challenging but easy.

They’re talents that live at your core and kick in across all sorts of situations.

When you’re using your super powers, time feels like it either races by or comes to a standstill because you are so engaged with what you’re doing.

When your super powers are in play, you feel so joyous and full of energy it tends to spread to people around you.

The really cool thing about super powers is when you combine more than one.

And, at home or at work, when you add those super powers to something you’re deeply interested in – you can be unstoppable.

I had a cool encounter last week that demanded a mix of my super powers and deepest interests. Click here to hear the story!

I’m sending you a powerful wish today that you puzzle out what your super powers are so you can bring them out to the world!