• Deliberate Living

    Unexpected Things I’ve Done During Isolation

    I really didn't expect my life to change much during the social distancing/isolation of COVID. Other than knocking some forced socialization off my schedule. But I've done some things that I couldn't foresee, and have surprised those who know me. Here are some unexpected things I have done during the isolation.

  • podcast
    Podcast

    Podcast Episode 22: The New Balance

    COVID has completely uprooted just about everyone's lives. We're working, schooling, shopping, exercising, and socializing differently. Every aspect of our lives has been turned upside down and shaken - HARD. Three months ago life balance meant a completely different thing. Today we'll take a look at the new balance - and I'm not talking about shoes. Today we will look at the three types of boundaries that made it easier to have a balanced life, and how to apply them to the new normal.

  • Planning,  Productivity

    How I Do Longer-Term Planning

    Daily and weekly planning will get you through the day-to-day without having tasks pile up for a massive weekend task-fest. But isn't there more to life than just the day-to-day? For a long time I existed on daily and weekly planning only. Partially it was because I was just so busy juggling all of my commitments (work, child, house, spouse and volunteer) that I didn't have room for anything more. I would plow through my days, insanely productive, falling into bed at night exhausted. But there was never anything more. The novel I wanted to write remained a remote dream, and my craft closet morphed into a craft room with supplies for unstarted projects. Partially it was because I was completely flummoxed by the thought of thinking of a 5- or 10-year plan. I couldn't even see the end of the week for the enormous pile of…

  • Planning,  Productivity

    How I Do Daily Planning

    Doing a weekly plan (see How I Do Weekly Planning) is a great way to frame your tasks in your schedule. But it isn't enough, because you need to be able to figure out what you will do on any given day. Today we will look at how I do my daily planning, based on my weekly plan. As I have shared before, I learned how to do daily planning when I purchased my first planner. It was a two page per day spread, with a time grid on one side, and a list for tasks on the other. Every day, I would fill in my schedule, then list the tasks I wanted to get done that day. If I didn't get them done, I rewrote them onto the next day, adding new tasks. Regardless of what my schedule looked like. Since I was a full-time engineering…

  • Planning,  Productivity

    How I Do Weekly Planning

    I do three different types of planning in order to keep myself on track and productive: daily, weekly and long-term. This month we will be looking at all three. We'll start with what I consider the most important for my productivity: the weekly plan. When I first purchased my first planner, I didn't know anything about planning. And the system didn't educate me either. I had a 2 page per day Daytimer, and the instructions were just about how to plan a day. I was in college at the time, and I could never figure out how I always had so much left to do at the end of each day! The problem for me, as most people I have talked to, is that the schedule is not constant. Some days are busier than others. And yet we never step back and take that into account. Getting…