Setting priorities

This week I sat down and figured out where I needed to be spending the bulk of my time.  The list is still impractically long, at least to be working on simultaneously. It does show me what I need to stop doing, or relegate to spare time so I’ll be working on that.  Blogging and photography remain high on the list.

I’ve been putting a lot of time in figuring out how to best attract and keep the right audience. One step in that direction was to decide to phase out the Google ads; not that they’re bad but I don’t pick them and I can do better with a little time and attention – the same way I handpicked the items in the Amazon book widget.  I think in the long term it will give me and readers better service, but I admit I’ll be missing checking those analytics!

I’ve also decided to bite the bullet and get e-commerce going on my photography site. It’s something people have asked for but I’ve always been leery of dealing with the ordering and payment aspects; an easy thing to push to another day, but I think that day has finally arrived.  I haven’t modified a pixel yet but my plan is to get that in place within the next 60 days.  Feel free to hold me accountable to that, it might help;-)

Also in top place is my brilliant idea from Wednesday, which I’ll wait to discuss until I have it in place – more because it’s likely to morph a bit than for secrecy.  Lower on the list but not requiring much effort right now is submitting two class proposals for continuing education at the local community college.  I’ve got the form downloaded so all I need to do is fill it in twice and get them submitted before June.  I’ve learned my lesson from the last time I did this, when I spent hours crafting the course materials only to have it cancelled at the last minute for not meeting the minimum number of students.

I’m already feeling guilty for not having the vegetable garden in yet and various other chores have slipped while I worked on this but I think the fog is thinning a bit and I’m looking forward to moving forward.

Technorati Tags: achieving goals, inspiration, setting priorities, time management

4 Reasons to keep books for re-reading

I had an epiphany yesterday. (That alone is newsworthy, but not really the point I’m trying to make.)  An idea that would pay my bills, feed the homeless, and get home sales moving again.  Who knows if it will really work – I’ll be finding that out shortly.  The thrill is in the confluence of thoughts that brought the idea and a whole new world of possibilities and things to learn. As I was thinking about why I hadn’t thought of it before and how I got to it now I realized that books played a vital role and that re-reading is not given enough credit as process.

1. The inspiration for my new idea came from many sources and that’s the first reason for re-reading.  I was going through one book that I’ve had on my shelves for close to ten years and read at least ten times and another for the second time that I acquired last week.  The mixing of voices in my head gave me a new perspective.

2. Like many, I am an impatient reader, whether it’s a novel or a textbook or a self-help book I want to know the plot, point, or critical information as quickly as possible.  Once I’ve got that down, I find that each subsequent read I retain more nuances, sidebar information or a non-essential dialogue that adds a little more color.  I should point out that if I didn’t like the plot or find the key information helpful, I’m unlikely to give it a second chance!

3. Things change. The people,  jobs, politics, and technology in your life are probably different in some way than they were a year ago.  You’ll bring that new perspective to a book each time you approach it so new things will jump out or recede.  You may have different answers to exercises in a book that will lead you to new conclusions.

4.  I have heard from several senior acquaintances that one of the impacts of aging is forgetting books that they’ve read. I can hardly wait!  I have kept several old favorites around for just this purpose – having re-read them so many times I practically have them memorized they are no longer a joy to turn the pages. But someday, they’ll be new again. So I keep them.

Technorati Tags: inspiration, perspective

Reality check; what is real vs concept

I’m currently reading The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander. It’s intriguing me on several levels and one particular idea immediately captured my imagination; that the optimists who see the glass as half full are in fact, the only realists – not the cynics as popular culture would have it. The logic being that those that see it half empty are seeing what they think should be there, or could be there, but not what is.   To remark on the absence or lack of anything is an abstract concept, not reflecting the world as it actually exists in this moment. To look at it another way, the glass is technically half full of water and half full of air. To put a priority on the water is making a judgment.

I can’t help but think that my cat is both extremely good at forming abstract concepts (the food dish is empty) and judgment (it should have been filled half an hour ago) so I’m not sure that this isn’t natural wiring for many animals, including humans.  But it’s an interesting concept to ponder; to stop and realize that where we feel lack; no romance, less success, not enough money, we are thinking more than we are seeing.  That zero really is a number that does not exist in tangible form; it is purely conceptual.

If you stripped away everything that was simply perception, what would your world look like?

Technorati Tags: abstract thought

Letting go of what isn’t working

I was checking out other blogs this weekend and found myself relating with some chagrin to the latest post on Zen Habits, Productivity tips for people that hate GTD.  The chagrin was due to having recently re-added my tattered copy of Getting Things Done to my to-do pile because not much of it stuck from the last time I tried to follow it.  So this article got me to thinking about all the times we use precious hours trying to get something to work for us that simply isn’t a good fit.  Morning pages don’t work for me either (see Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way.)  I know they work for others, but after three months all I got was notebooks full of nothing.  I think maybe the obvious non-working things are easier to stop doing, but how often have you seen an author address the need for more time by saying “just get up a half hour earlier in the morning” as if theirs is the only advice/exercise/task you are trying to follow.  Pretty soon you’re getting up two hours earlier, and not seeing results because you are now critically deprived of sleep, which you probably were already if you’re like the majority of the population. Maybe it’s time to pursue only the things that add the most value.

As a reminder of what’s important, I have an ideal day schedule posted on the wall behind my desk.  This is simply how I would love to spend an ordinary, everyday kind of day.  What surprised me when I put my thoughts to paper is that without keeping track, everything added up to between 23 and 25 hours a day – guess my subconscious was trying to tell me something;-)

My ideal day looks like:

• 1.5 hours meditation and visualization
• 2 hours physical activity
• 2.5 hours cooking & dining
• 2 hours with family and friends
• 6 or 7 seven hours working
• 1 hour chores
• 8 hours sleep

My real day doesn’t look like this – yet. But living a life where this schedule is a normal day represents success to me, not how much gets done. I have to ask myself if GTD or other things in that to-do pile are aiding or detracting from living this ideal day? And much as I hate to admit it the answer is detracting. I think I’ll stick with the parts that stuck with me from the first time I tried it (I have a bill paying folder and a basket for stuff I need to deal with) and leave it at that.  A new pasta recipe and an after-dinner walk are going to do more to move me towards my real goals.

Technorati Tags: achieving goals, getting organized, getting things done, ideal day, letting go, routine, time management

Rest

The last outgoing wave settled these pebbles into their spots and artistically arranged the sand around them. Until the next tide.  But in the remaining time they are settled and balanced in their place; they are at rest.

Are you allowing yourself to rest in between major endeavors, to simply settle where you are for a moment?

Olympic National Park, Juliet Chase, all rights reserved

Technorati Tags: balance, taking a break, visual meditation

Gaining clarity

In theory this last week had more setbacks than forward progress and yet I feel much better about life than I did at the beginning. Maybe that’s the sign of an eternal optimist, figuring that the good things are now that much closer.

The short romance story I mentioned a few weeks ago was returned to me with the news that it wasn’t a good fit but that I have a commendable writing style (hmmm, what did they mean by that exactly?)  So no sale there and I’m not sure what to do with it since I’m not aware of any other markets for anything that short.  I may just post it on a writing site for the web to find as it wills. If I do that, I’ll post a link here.  Might as well let it all hang out there;-)

I had two go-arounds with enthusiastic recruiters for contract jobs that had me keeping my cell phone closer than I really like.  Both of which disappeared into thin air after a few days – but leaving me feeling more relieved than anything. One had a very long commute and the other would have involved a drastic pay cut. More than likely a savvy manager somewhere along the way noted that, but I can’t help feeling like a guardian angel or two or three intervened to save me from myself.

My mother added a new injury to a pre-existing one and while she will eventually get back to normal, it’s not happening fast enough to suit her.  And since all her frustration and impatience sounds a lot like what I’ve been saying to myself about other things, I’m trying to take a lesson from it while I search for interesting news to help her with the boredom factor.

And to top it all off I’ve committed to spring cleaning my house over the course of the next month; mattresses off the beds etc.  I hate it. But I do like the results.  Since I can’t do that level of effort flat out everywhere, I’ve divided the house into sections and will tackle one per week.

Each thing that looks like a setback, a failure, or a no is helping me to decide whether it’s something I really want to pursue or tackle in a different way.

Technorati Tags: dealing with rejection, setbacks, spring cleaning

The energy for change often comes from adversity

I remember the moment I decided to take charge of my own unhappiness instead of just hoping that something would come along to fix it.  It was a few months after 9/11 when I was working for a large software company famous for its testosterone-driven management style.  Not surprisingly they were having trouble retaining female employees so they decided to offer a series of  forums open only to women. I think it was supposed to make us happier with our lot or something. I only remember two things the first speaker said; one was to take $50 in $1 bills and scatter them in your sock drawer so that every morning you’d feel wealthy (don’t knock it ’til you try it:-)  and the other was that if your manager is publicly undermining you in meetings you need to quit because that’s an unfixable situation.  So I did. It took a few months to work up the courage but I did it and I didn’t have another job lined up.

Then I got the speaker’s slim book from the library and ping-ponged through recommended reading lists until I started to realize the difference between a real dream and a rescue fantasy. I doubt I would have done any of that, or attended that talk if I’d just been mildly discontented.  I don’t think my story is unique; it seems generally true that peaks are paired with valleys.  The more extreme the valley the higher the potential peak.  Avoidance  will result in no pulse; an even line of endurance often masked with Prozac (at least in the case of some of those software colleagues.)

So if, or rather when, you find yourself in the valley of adversity, let the frustration and the hurt and anything else negative that might be happening fuel you towards positive change.  Look at it as starting from the bottom and just open your ears  and your mind to new inputs.  Check your library listings, community centers, and the local Y for free talks.  Walk into the library and just browse the shelves to see what catches your eye.  Discretely eavesdrop on conversations on the bus. Actively seek to be listening but let the answers come of their own volition. As long as you aren’t looking for justification for staying down you are bound to find some nugget of advice, some quotation or idea that get your juices flowing again. It probably won’t involve anything  quite as drastic as quitting a job, but you’ll know what’s right for you because it will germinate and take root.  It will stay with you until you take the appropriate action.

Technorati Tags: challenges, difficult people, how to find happiness, Importance of Motivation

5 Things you can do now to reclaim your weekends

It’s easy to fall into the trap where Saturday and Sunday are catch-up days for what didn’t get done the rest of the week. But does that really give you the mental break and relaxation you need or does it just heap on the guilt for not getting it all done as you vacuum while staring out at the sunny blue sky?  There’s no one size fits all solution and you may have to sacrifice some “I should’s”  but you can keep your weekends for the other areas of your life that need your presence too.  Here are 5 simple, not necessarily easy, things you can do to get your weekend time back.

1. Divide up the routine chores among family members and among the weekdays.  Have a dedicated chore hour every night when everyone chips in and maybe even put on some great dance music.  For example, clean the bathroom on Monday night, change the sheets Tuesday night, grocery shop on Wednesday etc.
2. Stay in on Friday night and get ready for the week ahead (clothes, frozen lunches, etc.) Use that as your wind-down time from the work week.  That way you won’t sleep Saturday away and won’t have Monday’s demands eating into your time on Sunday.
3. Limit your kids’ sports and club activities to one each.  They’ll still get into college and it’s been shown that boredom can be good for kids.  If the adults in the house are hyperactive joiners; cut back there too.
4. Have some potential ideas worked out for what you want to do with all this free time. Have a tentative plan for a sunny day, rainy day, stay at home day etc. That way if your first choice isn’t quite so appealing because it’s pouring out, you won’t waste the day wandering around wondering what to do.  If you need supplies for a craft project or something, do that shopping earlier in the week. Don’t forget to leave a little free time for just enjoying the moment.
5. Lower your standards on housework, lawn and garden.  Turn your back on Martha Stewart and settle for good enough in these areas.  Your soul needs feeding even more than the lawn and if it’s an inch or two longer than the neighbors’, you’ll be giving them a chance to feel superior;-)

Technorati Tags: getting things done, relaxation, routine, time management

Change your angle

It’s hard to take a really bad picture in the Spring tulip fields.  But it’s amazing how many people only see them in one way – from an adult height and at a safe distance from the mud.

Are you doing the same thing with a challenge in your life?  Try changing your physical perspective (sit on the floor, etc.) while you ponder the issues and see if you don’t get some new answers.

Skagit Valley tulip fields, Juliet Chase, all rights reserved

Technorati Tags: perspective, visual meditation

Subtle synchronicity

I suspect that the last day of March is going to turn out to be a pivotal one for me.  In trying to follow my own advice on problem solving, I was researching in the ‘people also bought this’ section of Amazon for potential expertise. I saved off a couple of interesting books, one of them being Barbara Sher’s Refuse to Choose, but I was a little too impatient to wait on shipping.  So while I was out running errands I stopped in at the local used bookstore just to check.  They had it in stock.  Another book practically leaped off the shelf at me, This Time I Dance!, by Tama Kieves, a recounting of how she stopped being a lawyer and started being a writer (and she’s upfront with the bumps in between.) Getting them home, I poured a glass of wine and read, and read, and read.

I found myself described in both books, pretty much on the first page. One described my personality and the other my journey.  Wednesday and Thursday, I finished my first go through and then re-read certain chapters of each all the while wandering around the house feeling like someone had pulled about the half the stuffing out of me.  I didn’t feel sick; just weak.  I’ve been introspective enough over the years to have spotted my pattern of indepth obsession with a topic or career only to find that I had absolutely no further interest in it about ten years later.  But I’d subconsciously classified it as a character flaw and a case of bad choices combined with poor analysis.  Seeing it all described in Refuse to Choose as normal, predictable, and something to be celebrated instead of fixed was a shock – so was letting go of that internalized profile. Seeing my very same dilemmas and self-doubts described in This Time I Dance! was comforting and encouraging, maybe I’m not doing it wrong after all… I’m very curious to see where that takes me next.

Technorati Tags: self-doubt, self-perception, synchronicity

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