Motivational

New Season, New Start: Goal Setting for Autumn

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Happy AutumnHappy Autumn! It is now officially autumn and I can see some of the leaves starting to change color here in the northeast. I love fall but I sometimes feel that it is the shortest season of all. Before you know it the cold temperatures will be here with the excitement (notice I didn’t say stress) of the holiday season.

A new season for me means a new start but also serves as a reminder that the year is coming to an end. In fact there are only 98 days left to the year. Isn’t that scary? The reason I know that is thanks to Gary Ryan Blair who runs a “100 day challenge” program. I love the concept that it is not time to give up but rather time to push harder to get those goals off the list so come January 1st you are proud of what you have accomplished and motivated to keep going.

So, I’m taking a different approach this season. I am not going to go crazy (please hold me to that) by taking on EVERYTHING I want to get done between now and winter. Instead I am going to focus on three goals for October, three for November and maybe one for December. The reason I say three is because you can’t just look at one piece of your life without realizing how everything else is related. For instance, if you have low energy, then you can’t possibly be as effective at work or at home. Coaches may use different names for each category but the basic “parts” of your life can be broken down into categories such as; health, money, career, relationships, fun and recreation, physical environment, family, spiritual and personal growth. So I picked three goals for October in the areas of health, home and business. I know that announcing them publicly is the way to make me more accountable. You will check in on me, won’t you?

Here are my SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time specific) goals:

1. Health: I will work out or be physically active three or more days a week for 30 minutes or more for the month of October.

2. Home: I will redo my son’s room by the end of October.

3. Business: I will keep track of the hours I work and separate “work” from “my time” throughout October.

There! Now I am committed to those three goals. I deliberately made them easy to do so that I could be successful without killing myself. If I had said I will work out 5 or 6 days a week for 45-60 minutes, then once I failed, I wouldn’t want to keep going. So, make your goals not so tough that life events could cause you to fail, but also not so easy that you aren’t stretching yourself.

Now please use the comment box below to share your October goals (I’m giving you the last week of September to get ready) and let’s hold each other accountable.

If you’d like me to hold your son or daughter accountable for staying organized with their homework, then check out my End Homework Hassle E-Learning Course.

Thanks,

Laine

Spring is coming….are you ready?

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Spring AheadDaylight savings time begins this weekend. That means the days will start off a bit darker but the afternoons will be lighter longer. That always seems to help my energy level. I must run on solar power.

We actually can lose an hour of sleep this weekend if we stick to our regular routine bedtime. Most people set the clock ahead as they are getting into bed on Saturday only to discover it is now an hour later than their usual bedtime. My recommendation is to set your watch (not all the clocks in your house unless you want to drive someone crazy) a ½ hour ahead on Friday afternoon so that you get used to the difference in the level of light. Check it several times and eat dinner according to the new time. Then on Saturday afternoon turn it back the rest of the way. Go by the new time as your bed time and keep the alarm set the same. You’ll actually sleep an extra hour and wake up feeling better instead of worse. I know most weekends you might not stick to your regular bedtime but by staying up longer or even sleeping in you can throw your circadian rhythms off. The reason Mondays are often so hard is because the circadian rhythms have been thrown off by two or three hours. That’s like flying back from California making Monday mornings feel like jetlag.

Now what will you do with your new found energy? First, change the batteries in your smoke detectors and then in your carbon monoxide detectors as well. You do have a carbon monoxide detector don’t you? These two simple actions can save your life. Please go do that now. The rest of the day is for you to do something that recharges your own batteries. Whether that is a walk outdoors, taking time to read a book or the Sunday newspaper…..whatever it is that will help re-energize you. Now go do that. Happy Spring!

Goal Setting for Teens II

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In my previous post I mentioned that SMART goal setting for teens can provide a direction, focus and a measurable path for achieving the success they want. Whether it is to make the team, ace a test or make the honor roll a teen can benefit from clarifying what it is they really want rather than just making a general (and often empty) statement. We have already mentioned that a goal must be specific (S). The easiest way to do that is to answer the “wh” questions of who, what, where, when and why. The answer to the “why” question should resonate with your teen and not with someone else’s wishes for them.

A SMART goal is also measurable (M). In the case of improving grades it would be easy to track the progress on a simple chart. If a teen was trying to make the varsity team, they might want to track their practice time, workout time or the amount of weights they are lifting. This works for tracking a new habit as well. Darren Hardy, Publisher of Success magazine uses a rhythm register to track his new habits throughout the week. Having your teen track their progress makes the intangible, tangible. Now they can see the effort they are putting in and judge whether or not it is enough.

The next two letters (A & R) go together. A goal must be attainable (A) and realistic (R). Aiming for the honor roll is wonderful but it may not be realistic if grades are low or tests are few. It is wonderful to aim high but when forming goals they should be out of reach enough that you would need to stretch yourself and not so easy that you could attain it with minimal effort. Keep in mind that the further you have to go to reach your goal (especially academic ones) the longer your time frame needs to be. In our example of raising a grade by 12 points to an 83%, if only one more grade was added it would need to be a 91% or better. That may not be realistic. If instead there were three or four more opportunities to be graded, then the goal would be much more realistic and ultimately more attainable.

So you can see how important it is for a goal to be “time specific” (T), which is the last letter of the SMART acronym. Have you ever noticed that when you had a deadline coming up that your adrenaline kicked in and you were able to focus and get it done? Perhaps you have joked about “working better under pressure?” This is what happens when you set a time frame for accomplishing your goal. The impending deadline creates all kinds of action in the brain and kicks you into overdrive. It provides the motivation you need to get it done. Use it to your advantage.

A great time to set goals is at the beginning of the school year, but each new term brings another opportunity to create, review or revise them. February brings the start of term three in most schools and this is a great opportunity to prove to yourself what you can do. Start today to create two or three SMART goals. The more practice you have at setting and reaching for goals that meet the SMART criteria, the more likely you are to experience success. Celebrate the direction you are going and the changes you are seeing and let go of any guilt or negativity. Share your goals in the comment box below.

Next time we will take the goal setting to the next step of goal attaining.

Happy New Year!

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new year magicI wish each reader a happy, healthy and prosperous new year where all your dreams come true! I love the start of a new year (new month and new weeks work for me too). I feel like it’s a chance to start over with a fresh, clean slate and wide open, empty calendar spaces.

Part of my “getting ready” process is to go through the past year’s planner and transfer any important dates like birthdays, anniversaries, deaths, milestones, etc. into the new planner. While I am going through each month I also see what was actually planned and what was accomplished. Most years my plans are overly ambitious as Super Woman couldn’t complete my lists even if she never slept.

This year though, I want to stay more positive and so I’m not berating myself about what didn’t get done – I am celebrating what did. Jack Canfield’s recent blog mentioned a Wins List. He listed a number of questions to get the reader thinking about specific kinds of “wins” they had throughout the year. I started doing that and noticed that not all “wins” were simple. Some were the results of derailments or serendipitous experiences that weren’t planned for. Had I stuck to my (often) rigid plan I would have missed these surprises and the delight they brought to my life.

For example, the 5pm phone call that led to dinner out with friends at 5:30pm and a lead to an administrative assistant who is now working with me. Or the rescheduled haircut appointment that coincided with a long lost college friend’s appointment, giving us time to catch up.

Life is unpredictable and the tighter we try to control it, the more it seems to throw at us. Loosen up and enjoy the ride….that’s what I’m aiming for this year. What will you do differently this year? Let me know by adding a comment in the box below. Thanks for reading.

Exercising – What's stopping you?

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Sometimes when you least expect it, someone says something that really resonates with you and your life changes. I recently had this experience and it has made such a difference in my life that I wanted to share it with you.

I am in a coach training program and as part of our training, we practice coaching and being coached.  Each week we need to present an issue that is affecting us. My coaching issue was the fact that I just can’t seem to get on the treadmill regularly. Sounds simple doesn’t it? You might think blocking out a specific time each day or rewarding myself when I do it would be helpful, but no. These were all suggestions I came up with and then dismissed because I had tried them before and failed.

Then my coach asked me how I felt about each part (beginning, middle and end) of exercising. I realized I don’t mind the treadmill, once I am on it. The part I do not like is getting ready. It seems I always forget something (heart monitor, water, sneakers, mp3 player, etc) and that means another trip downstairs. Sometimes I could be up and down the stairs three or four times.

That’s when my coach asked me how much time it takes to get ready. My answer was 3-5 minutes. Here’s the revelation. Three to five minutes (of disorganization) was stopping me from working out regularly!  Three minutes of aggravation stopped 45 minutes of fitness. I was stunned!

A quick analysis of the disorganization showed a number of ways I could make that 3 minutes easier on myself. I now have everything except my water upstairs. I bring the water upstairs with me after breakfast. Now I don’t need to go downstairs for anything and getting on the treadmill is almost enjoyable! It is certainly easier and less painful. What part of the whole exercise routine is preventing you from getting fit? Let me know what changes you make so that 2010 is the year you get and stay fit by using the comment box below.

Thanks for reading.

Stop! No New Year's Resolutions in 2010

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Happy New Year!

          Yes, I know that January is just about over and that any resolution you may have set for yourself is probably long forgotten. In fact, according to research by the Franklin Covey Company, 33% of people will give up on their resolutions by this time. By the end of March, 75% will have given up.  They must know me!

          This year though, being the start of a new decade (and me loving numbers like I do) I decided to do something different. Hubby and I set off for a few days to have some fun and do some “serious” planning for this year. We talked about the good, the bad and the ugly of 2009 and our hopes and dreams for 2010. We used Jack Canfield’s Success Principles book as a guide and used his seven categories to define the areas of our lives. They are: work/career, finances, recreation/free time, health and fitness, relationships, personal goals and contribution to society. We then came up with a (S.M.A.R.T.) goal for each and then listed some “to do’s” under each. When projects like redo the dining room and clean out the basement started showing up on the personal list we decided to add an eighth category called physical environment. That took my “organizing projects” and hubby’s fix it projects off the personal list and into its own category (whew!).

          The whole thing was a bit overwhelming so we decided we would think ahead only one quarter – just January, February and March. We took a yearlong calendar and added in the Big Rocks (commitments, vacation, holidays, etc.) first so we could see what time was actually left. (Don’t tell anyone but I have a SLIGHT tendency to overbook myself J.) Then we went month by month for the first three even getting down to the nitty gritty tasks we want to do and making sure they were balanced with non “work” type activities.

          This was such a learning experience for us and we are already moving ahead because we are both on the same page. I’ll be sharing more in future blogs. Stay tuned by using the RSS feed button on the right sidebar and be automatically notified of new blog posts.

Thanks for reading!

Learning + New Friends = Great NAPO Conference

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napo-conference-friends1       What a way to get inspired! I spent three days and nights laughing, learning and rubbing elbows with 750 other professional organizers in sunny, WARM, Orlando, Florida at the NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers) Annual Conference. See that’s me on the left shown with Elizabeth Hagen (in the middle) who has been instrumental in pushing me to do more public speaking and Monica Ricci (far right) who’s role on Mission Organization actually got me interested in becoming an organizer several years ago (and I love the way she runs the Ask the Organizer panel each year). Standing next to me on the left is the incoming President of the NAPO-New England Chapter of Professional Organizers and my roommate during the conference, Kelly Deering. Also shown is another NAPO-New England friend and fellow ASL signer, Kelly Santos (next to Monica).

          I love to learn!!  The annual conference is three days of presentations, networking and a product expo with over 50 vendors. The new ideas, new products and all the business related topics are what inspire me at Conference. My head is full of great ideas and new products that I will be sharing with you in upcoming blogs so check back often. In the meantime, let me know what inspires you? Is it going to a conference, a workshop, reading a book, joining a success group or what? I’d be interested to hear from you solo-preneurs too – since we are responsible for motivating ourselves.

Thanks for reading.

Set Three and Be Free: End Multitasking

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multitasking

Are you “crazy” busy all day multitasking and then come home exhausted wondering what did you actually accomplish?

No matter where you work or what you do you are exposed to the “instantness” of technology. The cellphone rings, the email dings and the fax hums. People want information or solutions instantly and often that means interrupting others, including you, to get it. You could spend an entire day responding to emails, phone calls or interruptions and never get a single thing crossed off your to do list. Sure, you may be accomplishing a great deal but is it the important stuff or just the “urgent” (louder, more in your face type)?

The facts are in from several studies indicating that we not only lose time when multitasking but also efficiency and mental capabilities. Some estimates indicate 20-40% decrease in our IQ when truly multitasking. If that is interfering with our ability to get things done then it’s no surprise that we often feel that nothing significant gets done. So, the first step is to determine what is important.

Usually, we wait until some deadline or time limit (usually imposed by another) puts pressure on us to complete the task before we force ourselves to focus long enough to complete it. Needless to say, this adds stress to our lives and possibly to others that we need to get information or help from when they are forced to adhere to our time table.

So, determine what is important before you start each day. Be realistic and list only 3 tasks that you deem important. If only those three things were done, would you go home happy feeling like a success?

Next find a block of time in the morning that you can work on the first task. Do not check your email before starting on this task. Julie Morgenstern, an organizing expert has written, “Never Check Email in the Morning” with lots of tips on how to be more effective at work. During this block of time which can be as short as 20 minutes or as long as 90 minutes, turn off audible notifications and do not answer the phone, or check email. Each time you switch between tasks you lose your focus and studies indicate it takes 15-25 minutes to regain that same amount of focus.

Lastly, if you are interrupted or must stop unexpectedly, then write yourself a note explaining what your next step is. This will decrease the amount of time it takes you to get back into the “flow”. Continue with each task until completed, then check email or return phone calls. This puts you in control and not technology in control. Dr. Edward Hallowell suggests that, “…despite our belief that we cannot control how much we’re overloaded, we can. “We need to recreate boundaries,” he said. “That means training yourself not to look at your email every 20 seconds, or turning off your cellphone.”

There is no way to escape the onslaught of technology unless you make active choices. Start today and list your three most important, manageable tasks for tomorrow’s success. There, I finished my first task for today by publishing this blog. Next up the treadmill and then visiting a sick friend. Wishing you a successful day that you control. Let me know how you do.

Week 7: One Day At A Time Towards Health

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            I know you have heard it before. We all know we should but then, why don’t we? Exercise regularly that is. I recently stepped back to “people watch” and discovered how many people have difficulty moving about. I take my ability to walk, ride a bike, snowshoe, ballroom dance and swim for granted. I wonder if those I see shuffling along or using a cane or walker thought about what their bodies would be like 10-20 years in the future. It got me thinking. If you don’t have your health or your ability to move then your options are limited and your quality of life may suffer.

            A quick Google of the “benefits of exercise” results in over 22,600,000 hits. To summarize, it prevents certain types of cancers, lowers risk of Type 2 diabetes, improves cardiovascular health, may help you lose weight, the list goes on and on. Now who wouldn’t want any one of those – better yet, all of those?

            So, as part of this 12 week plan I think it is important to consider fitting in regular exercise. Take a look at your schedule, could you get up a bit earlier and work out or walk before going to work? Yes, I know you are already getting up early and it is very dark still and will be even darker next week when the clocks jump ahead but try it for a week and see how you feel. Or try doing something active for 30 minutes when you get home. Take it one day at a time. Sure at the beginning you won’t see any big changes but maybe you’ll notice a bit more energy or a better night’s sleep. If you keep at it you may notice your clothes fitting differently and that I think is a great motivator. Feeling thin and fit reinforces your willpower to continue. Change it up, don’t stick with the same type of activity every day or if you do remember to push yourself a bit extra each time. The body is designed to be worked (I read that somewhere) and you’ll notice that the more you work it, the better it will feel. Of course always check with your doctor before beginning an exercise program.

            Picture yourself 10 years from now, are you active and mobile or are you limited by what you can do? I for one do not wish to wait for someone else to push my wheelchair off the plane. I have been doing this for two weeks now and need another notch in my belt. Just typing that puts a smile on my face. I feel good knowing I am headed in the right direction. I wish all of you, the same success. Please let me know how you are doing.

 

Back in the saddle

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It’s two weeks into the new school year – how are you doing? I hope you have followed some of my tips (see August blogs) and are finding things going a bit smoother than last year. One more week to go before it becomes a habit….unless of course, you haven’t been following the routines each day. Then you are at step one. Baby steps one day at a time for three weeks to a less stressed life. Isn’t it worth a try?

For those with or without children in school, the fall is a great time to do something fun. Check out the adult education classes in your town (or a surrounding town) for ideas. There are classes that meet for one, two or eight sessions depending on what your interests are. Your local newspaper has information on other options such as a Toastmaster’s club, dance lessons or even a scrabble club nearby. There are plenty of options available. I know you are probably thinking I don’t have time for fun. Well, if you don’t take time for fun (which willstar gazing recharge you) then how will you ever take care of your family? Self care comes first and keeping yourself happy and healthy allows you to be at your best for those you love. Isn’t now a good time to start?

I am signing up for a two night class that allows me to look at the stars through a powerful telescope. Time commitment 3 hours, the recharging of my soul as I realize I am only a speck in the grand plan of things…..priceless. What fun will you have?  I’d love to hear about it.