Achieving Simplicity

It’s the beginning of our busy season at work and so I found myself at work on Saturday trying to get a few things done so I wouldn’t be as stressed during the week. I was amazed how much I accomplished in three hours. It was probably the equivalent of five hours of work on a weekday. I also thought about the following difference between working on a Saturday and working during the week.

Steer clear of distractions.

Simply by being alone in the office, there was a number of distractions that were avoided. This made me think about adjusting my workweek schedule a bit so that there was more time in the office when less people are there. An hour or two a day without distraction would make a huge difference in the amount of work accomplished.

Keep in mind that the time your using is your own

During the week it’s easy to fall victim to the idea that you have to be at work for so many hours, so there’s no reason to be more productive. On a Saturday, it’s much easier to keep in mind things that you’d rather be doing with your weekend - playing with the kids, watching football, taking care of things around the house. This line of thinking helped stopped rather wandering of the web.

Take breaks, but keep them to reasonable lengths.

It’s okay to spend a few minutes here or there reading a news article or making a phone call if you’re stuck a problem. Breaks are important. It’s when the length of time spent taking a break gets out of hand that they become a problem. I also found that with no one in the office I could do some stretching/yoga without worrying about appearing silly.

Remind yourself of why you like your work…

or at least how you came to be doing this sort of work. Without having to deal with clients or coworkers, there was less emotional stress involved in the work, and I was just able to enjoy the technical aspect of the job which I enjoy greatly.

A Fan of New Year’s Resolutions

Though it may be a seemingly unpopular thing to say these days. I’ll admit it - I’m a fan of the New Year’s Resolution. It seems that I’ve read a lot of blogs lately about how New Year’s resolutions don’t work and how it’s silly because, really, New Year’s is just another day.

But I’m taking my stand. I’m all for making resolutions. I made a number of them for myself.

1. When given the option while eating out - go for a salad. I know not all salads are the healthiest options, but compared to what I normally order, it’s a step in the right direction.

2. Switch from soda to tea for my caffeine consumption. With my busy season at work, it’s silly to think that I could give up caffeine right now, but I can at least switch to healthier sources.

3. Get my professional certification. With my husband’s support on this one, it can be done by the end of the year.

4. Continue working on trying to be a better mother, wife and person. Hard to measure, but there it is as always.

So why not take a day and join everyone in reflecting on the past year, and looking to next year with ambition? The latest statistics say that by Valentine’s day 80 percent of people have given up on their resolutions but that’s not reason enough for me.

Of course, there is no comparison to the number of people that make goals the rest of the year. Maybe the percentage of people that stick to New Year’s resolutions is far greater than the percentage of people that make goals on June 25th or August 18th. I doubt there will ever be a study that calculates the number of people that fail on those other days.

Let’s all take the time and reflect; let’s try to make ourselves one of those that stay on course and make some positive changes in our lives.

And let’s focus on the positive. This year, let’s be proud of the 20 percent that stick to their goals (at least for six weeks). And let’s remember that all statistics lie.

Everyone has moments of negativity, but these are a few ideas to change your attitude, or start working on a poor attitude quickly.

1. Find something easy on your to do list and get it done.

Give yourself a sense of accomplishment. This also has the added benefit of briefly changing your focus. Nothing that can be accomplished that quickly on your to do list? Then get started on something. Maybe you can’t write an entire paper in 30 seconds, but you can come up with a great title, topic or opening line.

2. Compliment someone.

Nothing changes a negative attitude as quickly as trying to make someone else smile. The key here is to be sincere. Compliment someone’s hard work, sense of style or thoughtfulness. No one around but yourself? Send an email, text or pick up the phone. This is the age of technology - run with it.

3. Make a phone call you’ve been avoiding.

Don’t limit yourself to the phone. Email is another option. Of course, this may take longer than thirty seconds, but make the commitment that once the phone starts ringing, you won’t hang up. Then, within thirty seconds, you’ve commited to getting something unpleasent done, and trust me, afterwards you’ll feel better. And it’s not going to get any easier the longer you avoid it.

4. Tell a good joke. Or come up with a clever facebook status. Or wave to a small child.

This goes along with the compliment idea. Take the focus off of yourself for a while and try to change someone else’s attitude. A little change of focus goes a long way.

5. Take 5 good, deep breaths.

Bad attitudes are often accompanied by a lot of muscle tension. Deep breaths give you a chance to pause and release the tension that is building. Thirty seconds of relaxation can go a long way.

6. Ask yourself what the goal of your current activity is.

If the bad attitude is caused by your current activity, ask yourself why you started doing this in the first place and what you hope to accomplish. Maybe you’re not thrilled about your job, but if your goal is to put food on the table then remind yourself that you are, in fact, working towards a goal. If you’re currently wandering the internet and avoiding dealing with something, recognize that. Figuring out what goal you’re currently working towards isthe first step towards figuring out if it is 1. worthwhile and 2. you are going about it in a positive manner.

7. Do five pushups.

And if you can’t do five pushups, do a 10 jumping jacks. Anything to get your blood ciculating. A little physical activity is one of the best things to shake off a bad attitude. And if thirty seconds leads to continued activity, all the better, but at least get started.

8. Come up with five ways that things could be worse.

Things could always be worse. With 6 billion people in the world, there is always someone that has it worse than you. So when the woe-is-me attitude starts getting you down, thinks of five ways that life could be worse, and then spend another thirty seconds being greatful that none of those scenarios are true.

9. Recognize that it’s hard to have a positive attitude 100% of the time and cut yourself some slack.

Everyone has days where it’s hard to shake off the negativity. If it’s caused by beating yourself about your current state, then give yourself a break. Tell yourself that it’s okay to feel like this and then give yourself a time frame for getting over it. Maybe things will look better after work, or after a good night sleep. Figure it out. Give yourself a deadline.

10. Take the first tiny step towards your goal.

Thirty seconds isn’t a lot of time, but it is enough time to register a domain name. Or brainstorm business ideas. Or order one of the books you’ve been meaning to read. There are a lot of tiny steps that can get you on your way. Figure one out and do it.

Image by the trial

I started this blog with the intention of writing 5 days a week and using it as a way of getting my life in order and cataloging the things I learned along the way. Then life threw me for a loop (several actually) and I couldn’t find the motivation to get started again. There’s always been some excuse.

I spent 10 weeks on bedrest, followed by the delivery of a healthy, happy baby boy. Then we decided to move halfway across the country to be closer to our families, and now we have the stress that accompanies two mortgage payments, two new jobs and two kids to keep straddling the fine line between sanity and insanity.

The thought of sitting down to start writing again was like hitting a brick wall. The emotions ranged from fear (what if it’s not any good anyway?) to apathy (why bother?). These are the things have helped me overcome the inertia.

Tell yourself that you’re doing it for someone else.

Our recent move landed us in Southern California – a place with a high cost of living. We’re currently renting because buying a house is not possible in our current financial situation. I would love to be able to buy a house so that my boys have a permanent house to call a home. So I started asking myself questions like: what if starting to write again could help with the financial situation? What if I this blog did become successful? Maybe we could someday buy a house.

Ask yourself what is the worst that can happen.

Really, what is the worst that can happen? When it comes to writing this blog I might waste a little time. Really, that’s the worst that could happen when it comes to starting up this blog again. And in all honesty, I’m probably waste the time watching tv or with some other time drain.

Focus on the positive.

Maybe this blog will work out. Maybe. There’s no harm, for now, in pursuing this interest and seeing what happens. I enjoy writing; even if this blog never becomes a success story, I’ll have some fun in the meantime. Everyone deserves to have a hobby of some sort. However it turns out, I’m sure it will be a learning experience.

Brainstorm Ideas

Yesterday I sat down and came up with about twenty different ideas for blog topics. Afterwards I was feeling like I had enough quality ideas for the next couple of weeks. Thus, I didn’t feel like I was going to write one article and then be lost again. This has helped allay some of the fears about quitting again so soon.

Lower your standards.

Not every post is going to be perfect. Accept that fact and get started. Most people improve over time. Writing something is better than writing nothing. Raise your standards once you’re in motion.

Sit down with a blank spreadsheet.

Don’t open the browser window. Don’t check your email. Don’t do anything else. Boring, eh? Wouldn’t it be more interesting if you were typing? Write something; write anything. Maybe you’ll have to start over three times (or four like I did), but it’s something. Now you’re moving.

Photo by *Sally M*

Few days inspire more self reflection than New Year’s Day. It’s a day filled with wishes for the next year and flashing back on the past year to see what things went well (and those that failed miserably.) It’s a good time to take stock of everything outstanding in our lives and establish what areas could use some work.

This past year was the first year that neither my husband or I switched jobs, and we made it through a year without moving. In many ways it has been a year filled with a sense of stability and a time to catch our breath.

This next year is looking like it might shape up to be a bit more adventurous – a second child will be arriving in the next few weeks, a few career opportunities might play themselves out and then the general chaos that tends to surround us.

Of course, no New Year’s is complete without a list of goals for the year:

-Finish outstanding quilting projects (one for the baby, one for me)

-Pass one professional exam or go back to school

-Establish productive morning routine (after having the baby)

-Declutter

-Go through clothing and get rid of everything out of date and things that I will never wear again

-Post to this blog 5 times a week.

-Get back down to pre-pregnancy weight by June.

There are several other less quantifiable things that I would like to accomplish this year. I would like to work on my parenting skills. I’d like to be more present when I’m working on things and find ways to improve my productivity and focus. I’d like to take up some form of yoga. I’d like to start running on a regular basis.

I think it’s going to be a good year.