Category: Taking Care of Business

Low-to-High Tech Solutions for your Menu / Coupon / Shopping Clutter

A friend recently asked “What should I do with the menus, coupons and special offers cluttering up my kitchen?”  We can all relate.  We keep these menus and coupons because we want to use them, how do we actually find what we need when it comes time to order / buy dinner or go shopping?

Here are some ideas to face this challenge!

  1. The Low-tech Answer: Use a binder with clear pockets or page protectors to corral your menus and restaurant special offers.
    1. Why? Having just one location to stash such items helps cut clutter, and makes it easier to purge the old outdated menus and coupons.
    2. In addition, keeping these items in just one place makes it more likely you will find what you need when you need it.  Imagine, a random Thursday evening and you’re jonesing for pizza or Chinese food.  Having the menu and coupons to your favorite restaurants in the same location makes dinner that much easier!
    3. Keep your store coupons portable, too.  I’ve used coupon holders, but I’ve realized I rarely use food coupons, so now I carry the useful ones in my handbag in a small clear envelope with my retail coupons (like office max/ depot, bed bath and beyond, etc.)
  2. The Mid-tech Answer:  I am moving toward non-paper coupons and offers, cutting paper clutter big time!  Try these techy but not too techy suggestions:
    1. Bookmark websites for your favorite restaurants and retail destinations.
    2. Also, subscribe to their emails, to receive special offers in your inbox. Create a folder in your in-box just for special offers, so they don’t clutter your inbox and so you can find them again when you’re looking for them (on your smart phone, in line at the store!).  And purge the oldest and expired offers periodically.
    3. I also have the Key Ring App, to scan my loyalty cards into my phone, so I always have the codes with me.
  3. High tech answer:  Make your Smartphone even smarter.
    1. Download the apps for your favorite restaurants and retail destinations. Start with the stores you know and love; for example, I primarily shop at Jewel (MyMixx), Target (Cartwheel) and Costco, so I have apps for those on my phone.  I have a new Meijer and Mariano’s near me, so if I was looking for new places to shop, I could download their apps.
    2. Honorable mentions from my Facebook Friends include Meijer, Target Cartwheel, Ibotta, checkout 51, CVS, My Mixx (Jewel), Snap, Saving Star and Fooducate.
    3. Sign up for push notifications for coupons and special offers on your smart phone (so long as you don’t get charged for texts) from your favorite restaurants and retail destinations.  For example, I receive multiple texts a week with special discount offers from Macy’s and Lakeshore Learning.
    4. Sign up for shopping apps like Coupon Sherpa and RetailMeNot, to receive coupons via your smartphone based on where you are.  And finally,
  4. Know yourself, and how you choose to shop.  I choose to go to certain restaurants or shop at certain stores based on needs and wants, not on whether or not I have a coupon.  However, if I’m going to a certain place anyway, receiving special offers while I’m there sounds like a great idea!

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions, and to LR for asking the question.  As is often the case, writing this blog article inspired me, too! I’ve added apps to my phone, specifically Target Cartwheel, Panda Express, Panera, Starbucks and RetailMeNot as I’ve typed this up!  Give one of these solutions a try!

4 Things I Love and Despise About Working From Home

According to a productivity blog I follow, this week is the UK’s National Work From Home Week (ours is in October, I’ll have more to say then!)

The very things I love about working from home are also my biggest challenges.  If you work from home, like me, or are considering a change this year, understand there good and bad in the following points:

Flexibility in my schedule.

Working from home allows me to attend school events, day-time doctor appointments, re-arrange my schedule when my kids get sick, and other freedoms if needed.  Professionally, I can take clients or speaking engagements almost any day or evening.  I love doing 10 different things in a day.

But that means a choppy schedule, and perhaps completing work late at night or early in the morning in exchange for those day-time hours.  And, as flexible as I may be, my schedule is dictated by client and family needs, so there is a lot of juggling most days!  I secretly envy those who go to work at the same place for 9 hours, and can focus on just work there.

Don’t make excuses, as you make appointments.  Try this: “Thursday morning, no, I can’t do Thursday (or whatever).  Do you have another suggestion?” Period.  People don’t need to know why you are busy Thursday afternoon, whether with a client, appointment or pre-school program.

Working from Home is a misnomer.

I may not work in a traditional downtown office anymore, but I also don’t always work from home.  This week, I may work in other peoples’ homes and offices more than my own.  And many other “Work from Home” professionals do the same, completing their work in other people’s homes, offices, in the car, at Starbucks. The rough draft of this was written in my car, sitting in the garage, because that is where inspiration struck.

Working from Home needs a new name, one that reflects the myriad of professions and awesome work that we do in new and independent ways and places.  Since I use tech in my work, I often say I work Virtually, but I often have to explain that. Any suggestions? 

Some people will just never understand.

For 12 years, I’ve Worked From Home, and in that time, my choice of workplace has become commonplace.  But some people will just never understand what it means to work from home.  I’m not in my jammies, watching TV – like ever!, and I can’t chat for hours. I may be at home, but I am still accountable to my business.

Just as we practice our 30 second elevator speech, practice the explanation of how you spend your day. Don’t fumble.  Assert.  And then get over it and move on, because they may never understand.  And that’s ok. 

Quiet and Alone.  Noisy and Lively.  You Choose.

I love my quiet empty home.  I am easily distracted by other peoples’ noise and conversations, so working from home is ideal for me.  And yet, too much quiet can also kill my focus.  Pandora and my local library are lifesavers some days.

I love when my family comes home, but then I miss my focus.  I wake up early.  I’ve made phone calls from my closet, and may write blogs in my car.

Working From Home gets lonely. I miss co-workers, birthday lunches and water-cooler chats. If you work from home, make sure to keep regular routines and get out in the world at least a couple times a day.  Keep in contact with your co-workers, or join networking or professional groups. I guess that’s where that flexibility comes in, to make it work.  Know yourself, determine if Quiet and Alone work today, or Noisy and Lively.

We who work from Home are productive, flexible, awesome, and still figuring it out some days, just like everyone else. Celebrate the benefits of Working from Home the next time you face the challenges of the same!

National Clean Off Your Desk Day and The 80/20 Rule

Now The Real Work Begins!  Now it’s time to get down to business, and what better way than with National Clean off Your pile of mailDesk Day, the second Monday of January!  Think about it – Cleaning Off Your Desk makes room for motivation, clarity and focus.  What are your Goals for this year:  Clear the clutter; get a handle on your money and finances; read more; stress less; do / get a better job?  It all starts with cleaning your desk!

Let me (re)-introduce you to the Pareto Principle, a.k.a. the 80/20 Rule.  The Pareto Principle says 80% of what you need is in 20% of what you have. Say it a couple times out loud until it sinks in.  The 80/20 rule applied to Paper management says we need about 20% of our papers, and we can probably get rid of the rest.  As an example, a client returning from a trip mentioned collecting 2 inches of mail from her mail box, and keeping… 4 items.  That’s it.

Let’s clear that cluttered 80%, so we can work on the 20% we need to act on and keep.

Here’s What To Do:

Grab a recycling bin and shredder, a letter opener, and pen and paper.

Grab the first pile of papers on your desk, and get started. With the most recent pile of mail, open it all.  Yes, really, Standing at your work space (standing is better), open it all.

  • Recycle immediately the ads.
  • Start piles for Common Categories, like these:
    • Bills to pay
    • Action Items (notes to send, reminders of phone calls to make, forms to complete and submit, etc)
    • Items to Read Later: magazines, articles
    • Errands to Run (coupons, receipts for returns, etc)
    • Papers To File
    • Tax Related Papers 2 years ago
    • Receipts
  • Recycle all the catalogs, but first tear off the back page off and set them aside.
  • Open every envelope, and toss / recycle / shred anything you don’t need for action or filing.  Recycle outside envelopes and inside inserts for your bills, etc.,
  • Set the bills-to-pay in their own pile, and the action items (same pile for me)
  • Grab a magazine holder and start a reading pile for your magazines and articles you plan to read later

Make some magic, and STOP MORE MAIL FROM COMING!

  • Low Tech: Call the 800 #s on the back page of the catalogs, and request to be removed from their mailing list.
  • Go To http://www.catalogchoice.org/, create an account and “Unsubscribe” from catalogs
  • Using your catalogchoice.org account, Get the Mail Stop app for your smart phone and get rid of unwanted mail in your mail box, too
  • Contact and create an account with the Direct Marketing Association,  http://www.dmachoice.org/, to get off of mailing lists and stop unsolicited mail
  • Another option is the Paper Karma app for your smart phone, to unsubscribe from mailing lists.
  • Unsubscribe from Magazines you no longer need or want, and digitize your subscriptions, so they come via email or on your IPad or Tablet.
  • Make a regular appointment to get to your reading pile (mine is early on Saturday morning for an hour or 2)

I’ve blogged extensively on setting up the actual Paper Management structure, the files and things, so please check out those, too, as you proceed to the next step:  http://colleencpo.wordpress.com/?s=paper+management

Here are related blogs, too, from past National Clean Off Your Desk Days:

You Can DO This!  Now get to work!

Conquer Email Overload:  Do This, Not That

A coaching client asked for email suggestions last week, so I thought I would share with all of you! email

I’ve been researching a lot about email this week, in preparation for writing this article.

There are the “don’t open your email in the morning” people, who work on their chosen work for a few hours when they get to the office, and then check their email.

There are the “check your email all the time on your smart phone or device” people who do just that, too.

I’ve read about the “zero inbox” movement, but I don’t agree with it.  It uses sophisticated filters to move messages to folders, but folders don’t work for everyone, and just moving email around doesn’t actually complete the work.

There may be people like me, somewhere in the middle: I work virtually. I wake up and check emails just to make sure there are no schedule changes for the day or major crises to handle, then step away from it as I get my family and self and home ready for the day.  Then I step back to it when I can focus on working through what is in my various in-boxes.

Here are some strategies to help you conquer your own email overload!

  1. Do: Recognize that Email is our work, or at least part of it.  We cannot forgo email to do our work, at least not all the time.
  2. Do: Focus on Flow.  Work has flow, and email is part of your work.  So emails need to flow, too: Into your in-box, through your work process, and back out again, responded to or forwarded, then filed in a folder or trashed.
  3. Do: Be grateful for email.  I would never be able to do as much as I do, or communicate as fully with as many people, if I didn’t have email.
  4. Do: Decide when and how to handle your email.  Don’t be a victim of your email!  You. Decide.
  5. Do: Block time to process your emails.  And I mean to read, act and file them.  Here is my process, determine for yourself what types of emails get your attention first, second and third!
    • Log in, then delete everything you can, like all the ads or obsolete newsletters.  Better yet, un-subscribe from mailings lists you no longer need (I’m going to try something called Unroll.me).
    • Check for client correspondence, especially about today (usually important and urgent), which will impact my appointment schedule.
    • Check for presentation correspondence (important, not typically urgent).
    • If there are multiple replies to a conversation, read the most recent reply, which should hold everyone’s responses to date, and file or delete the rest.
    • Mark as urgent (a Star on outlook) the most important messages.
    • Move non-urgent reading items to their own folder, to be read later.  And carve out time every day or a couple of times a week to specifically read through that folder content.
    • Now that you have cleared the email clutter, go back and tackle the emails designated as urgent.
    • A couple of times a day, I also check my personal email, and my facebook messages, too, as FB is the chosen communication method for some of my clients.
  6. Do Not leave your in-box open all day, or have your devices set to send automatic notifications for new email.  DO limit your email-checking to fewer and more purposeful moments during the day.  I’ve changed my settings, and am working on the closing the in-box, too.  Remember, You. Decide.
  7. Do Not send an email message now to say that you will send an email message later.  Set an autoresponder, if you must, with an “email received” message.  “Respond immediately to your email” is one of the least useful tips I read this week in my research.

Take a deep breath, friend.  Think a little differently about your email.  Then get to work!

7 Motivation Boosters That Worked This Week

What is Motivation? Energy? Drive? Google defines it “the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way, or the general desire or willingness of someone to do something”.  Finding and keeping “Motivation” is a recurring theme with my clients and the rest of the world, too!

Below are 7 ways to increase our “desire or willingness to do something”, that worked for others this week.  Give one a try!

  1. Recognize the BIG DEAL OF MOTIVATION isn’t so big after all. It’s one simple decision. Yes or No. Left or Right. Up or Down.  From moment to moment, choose to do the productive thing over the unproductive thing, organized over disorganized, the healthy choice or the unhealthy choice.  Motivation shows up in little tiny steps in the right direction, as opposed to large sweeping gestures or drastic life changes.
  2. Change your Perspective.  Be someone else.  A friend hates filing his papers, and wants an assistant who would file for him. So, as silly as it sounds, once a week, he plays a little mind game, pretends to be his own assistant, and takes care of those mundane tasks that he dreads.  Knowing him, he may even send himself out for a cup of coffee as a reward.  If I lack motivation to take care of tasks, I might pretend to be my favorite concierge ever, Angelo, who helped me plan a girls’ weekend.  Step outside of yourself, be that helper for 30 minutes and take care of all those things you want to hand off to someone else.
  3. Accountability.  Here’s how: Agree with a friend to accomplish a list of tasks, and report to each other via texting or email when you accomplish each task (phone calls take too long).  The act of reporting our successes can be so motivational!  On the other hand, wanting to avoid the embarrassment of having to admit we didn’t accomplish something may be motivating enough to get us to accomplish the tasks!
  4. Tackle big projects in small pieces.  Perfectionist thinking says “I only want to start the task when I have time to complete it”, even when the task takes 10 hours.  And we rarely will get 10 hours in a row to dedicate to a task.  Try little pieces to move your projects along.
  5. Employ Hard Stops.  Hard stops go together with “little pieces”.  We hesitate to start projects because we have no idea how long they’ll take to complete. Try scheduling time to just work on the task, not necessarily complete it.  Set a timer, commit to stopping at a certain time, then STOP! And go do something else!  You’ll make progress in a couple of areas, and feel more motivated to get back to your tasks next time.
  6. Pay attention to people sapping your motivation.  Perhaps your boss, a needy friend, a cranky family member?  Even after you finish speaking with them, your brain mulls over the conversation, and your focus and energy are gone.  You can’t avoid them altogether, but you can take back your energy and focus.  Consciously decide to return to Yourself, Your Plan, Your Day.  I know, it is easier said than done, but it can be a powerful feeling, to take back your motivation.
  7. Pay attention to other drains on your motivation.  I worked with a client recently who mentioned she felt terrible every Sunday evening.  So the question is not “How do we take off every Monday from work”, but instead, “What do we do differently over the weekend that makes us feel poorly by Sunday?”  Poor food choices, staying up late, sleeping in?  What if our headache or upset stomach are from anxiety about the coming week?  Be aware, and take action.

So, the next time your get-up-and-go gets up and goes, try one of these ideas to give your motivation a boost!

I Bet Having A Robotic Clone Would Boost My Productivity

robot

Speaking with a client last week, we decided we need our own housekeeper to take care of stuff for us! But as I am unlikely to find an electronic Me any time soon, I need to accomplish my tasks as efficiently as possible!

I recently wrote about Finding Productivity in little bits of times (click here for the article: http://colleencpo.wordpress.com/2014/07/22/5-ways-to-find-productivity-in-little-bits-of-time/).  As I wrote that article, I recognized that several of the Errands / Tasks listed, “Post office, newspaper, library, make banking deposit”, could be completed electronically.  For example, I bank and pay bills online, receive subscriptions via my IPad and read books on my kindle.  Since then, I have worked to simplify my errands and tasks using technology.

Even before the Productivity article, we had eliminated a number of regular errands through technology or automation, and you can try these, too!

  • Our regular prescriptions come by mail in 3 month supplies.
  • Our vitamins and nutritional supplements come by mail every three months, too.
  • I upload digital photos to the Walgreens website and pick up the printed items in-store.
  • Since 2012, I shop for cleaning supplies and personal items directly with a manufacturer that is USA based, eco-friendly, cost effective and ships directly to me. (If you would like to hear more about this opportunity, I encourage you to call my friend Mary Damiani, 708-699-6538, who shared it with me.  She can help you understand the value, plus answer your questions.) I’ve saved time and money by NOT shopping in stores for these items! Once a month, I place my on-line order and my items arrive a few days later.
  • Last November, we subscribed to Amazon Prime through Amazon.com. We pay an annual fee but no shipping costs for Amazon.com orders.  The membership paid for itself by Christmas.  Now, instead of shopping in stores, I check Amazon – for example, my husband has been watching Amazon.com prices on a replacement electric razor, and ordered it during a sale last week, with free shipping, of course.

To save even more time running errands, since July, I have tried these, and you can, too:

  • Set up my IPad to download books from my library.  It’s free, easy and I read more now than ever!
  • Fully embraced my PayPal Reader, so that I can receive client payments on my smart phone.
  • Downloaded my bank’s mobile app, but decided for safety sake not to make deposits from my phone.  I am, however, exploring how to deposit checks from my home computer.
  • Established a credit card for my business, so that I can use electronic transactions more.
  • Ordered items on-line for pick up in actual stores, like Lowes or Home Depot.  I don’t have to walk around the store and find what I need, instead its waiting for me when I arrive.
  • Downloaded apps for favorite restaurants to view menus, order food and / or organize special offers.

There are still some errands and tasks I have to complete in person.  Dropping off our dry-cleaning, getting a haircut, trying on clothes, getting my vacuum repaired.  But when I do run errands, I plan ahead.  I know exactly where the vacuum repair shop is located, or I make a haircut appointment so I don’t have to wait.

So, look at your errand or task list this week.  Imagine how you could simplify your list and your life by taking care of some tasks electronically!

Other great blog articles I read this week re Productivity:

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/10/amazons-brick-and-mortar-store-shouldnt-come-as-a-surprise/

http://bennisinc.wordpress.com/2014/10/13/have-you-fallen-into-the-deadly-trap-of-time-management/

How to Cross “Organize My Medical Information” Off Your List!

October is National Organize Your Medical Information Month.  “Organize Medical Papers” is an often neglected task.  And if our health becomes an unexpected roller-coaster ride, we find ourselves struggling with our info AND a medical setback.

October is the right time to organize your medical info since employers offer their insurance enrollment period in November for the upcoming year.  Take this opportunity to look back and review, and look ahead and plan, and get those papers in order!

Remember, I’m a certified professional organizer, not a health care professional!   Always consult a medical professional for health-related questions.

Your Medical Information may include, but is not limited to:

  • ID numbers for your health insurance(s), prescription or dental plan, etc.
  • Lists of and information on current medications and supplements
  • Durable power of attorney for health care
  • Immunization or Medical records
  • Progress reports for various therapies
  • Information on acute (once in a while) or chronic (on-going) medical issues
  • Discharge instructions from current and past events
  • Correspondence with insurance companies re current and past treatment

First, purge old or obsolete information!  It’s clutter and can even be dangerous.  For example, keep only your updated prescription list, so no one confuses the old list for the new one.

You can purge papers if you won’t need them again, the information is no longer pertinent, or if the information exists elsewhere and you trust the keeper of the information.  For example, my three sons were delivered uneventfully by the same doctor at the same hospital.  That was more than 10 years ago, so I can confidently purge records from those events.  Remember, SHRED anything containing personal information!

Now that you have a better idea of what papers you have and what to keep, set up a system for your papers.

Make It Portable.

  • Purchase a 3 Ring Binder from your local office supply store for keeping medical information portable.
  • Take your medical binder to doctor appointments, so you have all the information you need at hand.
  • High Tech. The August edition of Woman’s Day offered suggestions to improve your health, and a handful of them were high tech:  Asking about on-line Patient Portals with your healthcare provider, or trying these mobile medical apps like PocketPharmacist or iTriage.

Make It Easy and Keep it Updated!

  • In the front of the binder, keep a list with your physician and other practitioner’s contact information.
  • Purchase a clear set of binder pockets, to help you divide up the important info within your binder. Assign pockets for categories such as:
    • Prescriptions and prescription information
    • Copies of the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and other pertinent directives
    • Discussion topics for your doctor, like recent lab / test / radiology reports, articles about new health care innovations, nutrition, supplements, etc., to discuss at your next appointment.
    • Pending insurance issues
    • This year’s paid medical bills and insurance EOB (Explanation of benefits)
    • Perhaps a folder per specialist, or per issue

Make it Personal:

  • Each family member may need their own binder! Thankfully, my family has unremarkable medical histories.  But every year, we fill out physical forms for my sons for school athletics and camp.  I keep a copy of each yearly physical form, to help complete the next one.  And as information changes, for example my son had oral surgery last December, I note that on my copy of the physical form.  The actual medical record exists with his doctors, but I now have an informal yet compete history for my own use.

Tell your family where the medical information binder is kept.

  • For example, our family recently faced some medical challenges, and my siblings and I all knew where my parent’s medical information binder was kept. Thankfully, everything went smoothly, but we were glad to have the information!

Spend a little time with your Medical Information now, and feel better all year long!

Taking National Preparedness Month to Work!

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Did you know?  September is National Preparedness Month!  The 4 steps, from www.Ready.gov, are:npm logo

  1. Be informed – Learn what protective measures to take before, during and after an emergency (from Ready.gov);
  2. Make a Plan – Prepare, plan and stay informed during an emergency (from ready.gov);
  3. Build a Kit – Build a Kit for disasters to be prepared (from ready.gov); and
  4. Get Involved – Find Opportunities to Support Community Preparedness.

We should have positive and useful conversations in our homes, families, workplaces and community to prepare for emergencies BEFORE the emergency actually occurs. In an ideal world, we wouldn’t need to plan for emergencies, but as wonderful as our world is, it is not Ideal.  And so, emergencies and disasters may happen.  But family and community members of every age benefit from having and knowing the plan to activate in the face of an emergency.

I have written about NPM in the past, click here for information:  National Preparedness Month: Get your Kit

This September, I want to talk about preparedness in the workplace.   We spend up to 60 hours a week (or more) at our work place, or more than ½ of our waking hours.  It makes sense to have a plan for emergencies at work.

I work from home, or in other people’s homes.  We have preparedness plans for home, but I have one for my travel and organizing time, too.  Examples of my preparedness plan for my “workplace” are habits like:

  1. Keeping my cell phone fully charged;
  2. Carrying an extra charging cord, first aid kit and non-perishable snacks in my car;
  3. Keeping my car keys and phone on me at all times; and
  4. Keeping my gas tank always above a quarter of a tank.

There are lots of options for office workers, too.  A client who works in a high-rise building in downtown Chicago has an emergency kit in his desk, supplied by his company and building management.  I researched other kits on-line, and they may contain items such as:

  • a bottle of water and non-perishable snack (management comes around and refreshes these every year);
  • a foil emergency blanket;
  • a signal whistle and crank flash light; and
  • a small first aid kit, face mask and a pair of latex gloves.
  • My downtown client’s kit is in a small soft sided cooler bag, and other kits I have seen are in string backpacks or fanny packs.

If you don’t have a kit provided by your employer, please consider creating your own kit or a kit for a loved one, and keeping it close at hand for emergencies.  You can include any of the items mentioned above, and add others based on your own situation, for example, one kit that I researched included a poncho.  You can also buy pre-assembled workplace preparedness kits on-line or at most office supply chain stores.

Let me encourage you and your family, workplace and community to get involved and get prepared.  Focus on Preparedness now so you can focus better on everything else later!

Refresh and Restart For September

Recently, a friend – a fellow mom and business owner – wished me a Happy New Year, and that is really how I feel about September.  The schedule change, the life transitions, the brisk weather – I always feel renewed!  Use this time of renewal to clear mental and real clutter, and get a better handle on your time management, just like our students do!  Here’s how:


Re-Commit to Good Routines.

I love summer, but all facets of my life, personal and professional, benefit from Back-To-School consistency with waking and bed-times, meal times and nutrition, and more structured workdays.  Use this new season as an opportunity to return to routines that work, or tweak your routines and make them work even better!


Go to bed.  No, seriously.  Go to bed.

This is an uphill battle for me most days.  As a parent, I daily try to convince my teenagers to listen to their tired bodies and go to bed, instead of staying up late just because they can.  And personally, I wish I could say I get enough sleep, but sometimes I don’t. Most nights, I’m in bed at a reasonable hour, but some really great books have kept me up lately!  This week, now a little colder and darker outside, I will listen to my own tired body, close the book or IPad, and hit the pillow earlier.

We think better, work better, feel better and act nicer when we are well rested. Go to bed.

Remember the care and consideration you spent on that First Day outfit? 

September is a great time to take a look at your wardrobe, and make a few changes!  Cooler temperatures and Autumn colors have us shuffling through our closets in search of something to wear.  Take time to clean summer clothes, review and purge accordingly, and put them away into seasonal storage on a high shelf or in underbed storage. Shop in your closet for surprises (those great scarves I bought last Spring), and favorites. Refresh your wardrobe without leaving the house or spending a cent.

Re-new friendships and strengthen relationships!

I always loved going back to school because it meant I got to see my school friends more regularly.  We can learn from this as adults, too!  It is always a good time to reach out to a friend.  Whenever you find yourself wondering about someone and how they are, reach out!  And I mean via facebook, email, texting or a greeting card, in addition to the obvious “call them”!  Wouldn’t it be nice to know someone is thinking of you?  Your loved ones feel the same way.  Connect!

Out with the old, in with the new.

Out with the old:  It’s also always a good time to clear clutter!  This week I dropped off a couple of bags of donations, arranged donation of some old cell phones and cords, and sold used items on-line.  I cleaned out, cleaned up and made some space.

In with the new:  I love back-to-school for new gear and gadgets, but I don’t really need anything right now.  I did spend my morning clearing memory, installing updates and cleaning up my tech.  That’s all new!  And it feels great!

Learn something new.

Keeping up with your kids on a new technological gadget?  A language? A musical instrument? A cool new app, or a new way of doing something?   You-tube, google or your local library are all great places to imagine and explore new skills!  In addition, I already have a lot of new information right in front of me – I am working through my professional reading pile:  here’s irony, I have two time management books next on my pile, guess I need to find some time to read those!

With the new season comes meetings and events and an influx of new ideas to process and act upon.  It’s energizing!  Learn something new all the time.

How will you choose to embrace the new season this week?  Let’s Go!

Work Now, Play Later.

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Work Now, Play Later.

Most of you know that we should Work Now and Play Later.  Some of you may even do it on a regular basis, or as a matter of routine.

But it still bears repeating.  Work now, play later.

Whatever your work is.  Professional work, homework, working out. Volunteering, parenting.  Housework, yard work or any other phrase that ends in the word “work”.  Maybe all of the above.

Work Now, Play Later. 

Work now because sometimes life gets in the way.  Sometimes WE get in the way.  And sometimes something really great comes along unexpectedly.

Work now and play later because sometimes life gets in the way. 

 

  • Emergencies or accidents happen.
  • Technology fails us.
  • The power goes out. The wi-fi goes with it.
  • The hospital calls.
  • The car breaks down.
  • The alarm doesn’t go off.
  • A loved one needs you right now.

 

Work now, because sometimes WE get in our own way.

  • We’re tired or hungry or unmotivated, and waiting until later just means we’ll be more tired and hungry and less motivated.
  • We forget the instructions to tonight’s assignment, and if we wait, it’s too late to ask a friend.
  • Someone is waiting for your part of a project, so they can start their part.
  • The job takes a lot longer than we expected or even scheduled for it.

 

Work now, because we just never know what great thing could come along.  Working now and playing later means we can:

  • Do a good job and still have a chance to relax later.
  • Say yes to the impromptu dinner invitation, or concert tickets or spontaneous weekend away.
  • Play longer later.  Or take a nap.  Or read a book.  Or go out with friends.  You name it.  Work Now, Play Later.

 

Working now and getting things done means there will be more time to do fun things later.