This rock fits in the palm of your hand. Could you stretch out your arm and hold it for five minutes? Sure, no problem. Could you hold it for an hour? Now how heavy is it? It’s heavy. How about if you had to hold it for a day? For a week? For a month?
Oh, and I should have mentioned – there isn’t just one rock I need you to hold. Here are the rest of them. Continue reading
Want to change a habit?
A couple of months ago, FastCompany published a great article on ways to change the habit of exercise.
I’m a big proponent of using a paper planner over a digital planner. Here’s why.
The Internet
When you log into an e-planner, you face all the time sucking temptations of the web: checking email, surfing YouTube, reading Facebook or Instagram posts, and, and, and… If you are trying to get organized for the day – or keep organized during the day, the last thing you need is a temptation to lose focus.
Working in a quiet place of your choice
You may keep a paper planner at your desk – or you may work in a quiet place away from your desk. Wherever it works best for you to plan and focus, a paper planner goes with you. No electricity or log-in required! Continue reading
The cool part about habits is that they’re your brain’s way of saving on thinking. When you try something new, your brain records what you’re doing and after you do the same thing multiple times, your brain says, “I’ve got it! You can run on auto-pilot now.”
That’s why you don’t have to think about how to drive every time you get behind the wheel of a car. And how when you take a shower or brush your teeth your mind can wander. How many of us come up with brilliant ideas in the shower? You can thank your shower habit for taking over giving you time to think.
A great way to form a new habit is to tie it into an existing habit. Then your brain can use some of the same cues you had for an old habit and re-purpose them into a launch pad for a new habit.
Let’s say you want to start exercising. What habit can you tie into to make this a successful launch? You have thousands of habits strung together that make up each day. What are you going to bump out or add to? Continue reading
One of my favorite bloggers, Leo Babauta at ZenHabits, often writes about TMIs: The Most Important Stuff. This is the stuff that you know you need to do and whether you write it down or not, you are probably going to get it done.
So why write TMIs in your planner?
Because you want to stop thinking about them. Once you are organized, you learn to trust that if you write something in your planner, it will either get done today or you’ll move it to another day. But it will get done. Trust that. Because you are organized 🙂
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
Going task-to-task can leave you feeling like a hamster on a wheel!
That’s not a great way to get good work done.
I love the idea of getting off the wheel and making space between projects. It’s great to be organized. And it’s great to get a lot done. AND it’s important to take a break – especially between big projects. Continue reading
Zen organization isn’t about being neat and orderly – it’s about being focused and mindful of how you use your time. Are you using your time to do good work? If not, maybe you need a big project to work on. Get through the daily tasks so you can get to the good stuff!
Feel like your big project list is lacking? Add a dose of curiosity and see what stirs your soul. Continue reading
Getting enough sleep is a vital part of being organized. If you head isn’t clear, you can’t plan, you can’t focus, and it’s hard to get anything done.
Besides messing with your ability to organize, lack of sleep makes it hard for you to learn and retain information, affects your judgment, and makes you more forgetful. It has a clear impact on many aspects of your health, messes with your immune system, can decrease your sex drive, and your skin ages faster. Studies have also found direct links between lack of sleep and depression. AND you are more likely to have an accident.
So how can you add some sleep magic to your life? Change your sleep habits. Continue reading
Organizational Habits 