5 Basic Stress Management Techniques
Stress, either chronic or acute, can have major impacts on your productivity and happiness. Today we will look at 5 basic ways to manage your stress.
Podcast Episode 4: The Power of Three
What do you do when you've done nothing so long that it becomes a habit? Today's episode talks about how I conquered that problem with the power of three: three tasks every day, with a secret weapon.
30 Day Challenge: Life Reboot
For July 2019 I am going to focus on rebooting my life: getting rid of the "programs" that no longer work and deciding what will restart.
Stress Makes You Stupid
Stress, the flight or flight response, is a necessary part of being human. It's what kept us from being eaten by things in the distant past. There are a whole lot of physical changes that occur while stressed, but there are also mental changes as well. Most of us don't have to worry about being dinner for some hungry animal these days, and yet, the stress response is alive and well. In the past week, I've heard from three different sources that "stress makes you stupid." Given my recent experience with extreme stress and the brain fog that went with it, I have to agree, and so I wanted to look into this phenomena as well as give some tips to get through it.
30 Day Challenge: Early Rising Wrap-up
The challenge to myself was to craft and implement an early-morning routine. This was created because I wanted to have consistent time to read non-fiction, write, and do some basic self-care activities like journaling and stretching every morning. While I had some challenges in working with my natural rhythms, I accomplished much more than I expected and gained a sense of satisfaction of important tasks done, even on the busiest of days.
Podcast Episode 3: A Primer on Delegation
Whether you call it delegation, outsourcing or automation, turning tasks over to other people or things can get you hours back. Today's episode looks at things you might not have considered outsourcing, and how to tell if it is a good idea to outsource a task.
My Bullet Journal Setup
Bullet journaling, at its core, is a simple system with no frills. Simple text notations; no fancy graphics or headers. However, one quick search on Pinterest will show you hundreds of fantastic expansions - and complications - of the original system. It's always put me off, because I have trouble drawing a straight line with a ruler. It put me off so much that I never really gave the simple system at its core a try. For the past two years I have tried to plan on my iPad. I bought a PDF planner and used that as a basis, adding in a formatted page for each day. But the system wasn't working for me, and I experienced planner blindness. Planner blindness is a fancy way of saying I started ignoring the planner. So after setting up a system (again, that didn't work for me) for 2019…
The Night Owl’s Guide to Early Productivity
To people who are night owls either by nature or circumstance, getting up to do a productive morning routine can seem impossible. But it's possible to claim this quiet and uninterrupted time for yourself. I am biologically wired to do better at night. I catch a second wind at about 9 pm, and then I am off to the races, mentally alert and ready to flex my creative muscles. If I give in to it, I will work until 1 or 2 am, at which point I force myself to go to bed because I know the consequences rather than because I'm tired. I don't allow this to happen often. After all, I am employed outside the home, and I adhere to my employer's and client's expectations that I will be in the office during business hours. Taking advantage of that second wind means that I am…
