Size Matters and other Insights into Planning your New Year

Getting a planner for the New Year is always an exciting time for me. A new planner represents the opportunity to be a new you. But how many of us wait,
procrastinate and avoid until we are scrambling last minute looking to find an organizer we can squeeze those appointments for January into before we lose the scraps of paper they are jotted on?

This year can be different. Here are some quick tools you can use to get the planner that suits you to a tee.

Size Matters
Yes, size does matter. Don't buy the tiny cute planner with no space to work in if you need a large version. Don't buy the ginormous organizer that looks like the mysteries of the universe could be solved inside if you need something small that can fit in your bag. Size matters because you need to know what size you need.

How tactile are you?
Do you need a paper version? I am visual and need it all laid out for me. Electronic does not fit me. But could it fit you? Take a look at how your mind works and figure out the best planner venue to use. Electronic could be for you! No need to be afraid to try new! A test? If you are visual and need it all laid out at once, paper could be your man. Do you lose notes all the time and think putting it into an electronic planner could reduce your lost notes? Give it a go!

Last Minute Larry
Don't be last minute Larry. Give yourself some consideration. This is going to be the cornerstone of your organizing life for a whole year. Give it it's due and spend some time thinking about what worked and didn't work this past year, so you can get what you want and need this year!

Good luck searching. Give it some thought and feel free to send any questions my way!

Contact Maria here.


To check out my planners, click here.

How To Make Halloween Work For You - From last year's column

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

When it is Halloween, I can be whoever I want, go to places I would never go, and do things I would never do. When it is Halloween, I can be a witch or a mermaid, or even a swimming pool. My son can be a ninja or a ghost or whatever he pleases. My daughter might be a movie star or Indiana Jones. Maybe we could be a family of pirates. My husband can even be my Hawaiian groupie, complete with coconut bikini top, while I am Don Hoe. How silly.

When it is Halloween, I can do what I want. I can put spiders around the house and save dusting for later and make blood red syrup for my kids, so gross they cannot even eat it. When it is Halloween, my husband will hide behind the tree and jump out to terrify us all.

When it is Halloween, it is getting cooler and darker outside and somehow that is quite exciting.

When it is Halloween, we knock on the doors of people we don't see all year long and we all laugh together and chat. There is always someone who is unkind, but that is so rare that it is all part of the fun.

When it is Halloween, countless strangers and friends pass each other on the sidewalk and sometimes the street, laughing and ooooohing and aaaaahing. The rustle of costumes and the loud voices of teenagers are all in the air.

When it is Halloween, we are all a little different, our doors a little more open, our hearts a little softer, our silliness a little grander. How wonderful.

This is Halloween week and we have so many frightening things happening in our beautiful country. Maybe just for this week we can all remember to keep it simple. Buy the good candy, wear costumes and revel in the costumes of others, be silly and scary and full of life and remember the joy of opening our doors to each other.

Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy Halloween!

When was the last time you.......

When was the last
time you did something you really love? There are so many things we love to do, yet struggle to make the time for. The other day, my husband and I were sitting on the back porch talking. Our yard backs up to a mini nature preserve. Real mini. Like 30 feet. Which, by the way, is perfect for me. Although our neighbor had a bobcat in her yard a couple of weeks ago. Yipes.

Anyway, safe in the confines of the screened in porch, we were chatting. And some birds started talking to each other. They had the same “voice,” whatever you call bird talk, I don’t know. But they were about 30 feet apart from each other and kept talking and hoping from branch to branch till they were next to each other. It was pretty amazing.

We couldn’t help, but stop and watch the show. It reminded me how much I love to sit on that porch and watch what is happening. Being in North Florida, there are so many incredible birds just a few feet away. It had been a long time since I sat in my oversized rattan chair and just watched and listened. This morning I found myself out there again, after everyone had left for the day. Cardinals flitted around in front of me. It was so
peaceful. I didn’t stay long, but what I saw was so pleasurable. It made me so
happy.

Such a small thing that I enjoy. Such a silly thing to deny myself. No cost, just a little time and the ability to shut off my mind for a bit. Okay, I am not going to suggest sitting in a park and staring at trees looking for birds. But I will ask, when was the last time you did something that you really love? When was the last time that you allowed yourself to stop your busy
schedule and just do something that makes you happy, peaceful, joyful, excited?

Consider taking the time today to do just that. Maybe even make a list of 10 or 20 things you love to do. Is it hard? Do the activities come easy to you to write? Do it and see how much more
meaning you can bring to your every day with one small but thoughtful change.

What are the thoughtful things you like to do for yourself?

Share them here!

Simple Ways to Save Money!

Check out this great article with simple strategies to keep your wallet as full as possible!

Click here to read.

Have a great week!

Maria

Are you Pathological? Shouldpathology

My grandma died this week. She was a pretty amazing woman. Not amazing in the traditional way you would think. You know what I mean, being a great volunteer or a champion for some cause or some great sacrificial person for others. Not really. Grandma was great in other ways. She loved to play and eat and laugh and have a good time. Grandma loved her stuffed animals and her sweets and loving up the grandkids. Lucky us. No one ever got in trouble with grandma because we were too busy playing games with her, snacking on treats, and getting all those endless hugs and kisses.

Grandma’s house was cluttered and not so neat. She wasn’t the pinnacle of fashion either. She didn’t work much and did a whole lot of ordering odd items off the TV. Her biggest strength? Absolutely no shouldpathology. Most of us suffer from that one way or another. “I should skip desert.” “I should clean the bathroom.” “I should visit with that neighbor that I just don’t like.” Not my grandma. She was incredibly happy and she lived a life without shoulds. In fact, she lived it so well, that I think she had no doubt, no second-guessing whatsoever. She did what she wanted with her life and because of that, she was happy.

I am not into doll collections like my grandma, especially talking dolls and windup toys. Yes, she loved all of that. But there are so many things that I love that my shouldpathology gets in the way of. In case you weren’t aware, pathology means disease. Shouldpathology is like a disease, something that can make us sick. No wonder my grandma lived to be 89. She never had the angst so many of us put ourselves through all the time. She lived free and filled her life with the things that were important to her. Fantastic. I wonder sometimes if she was born that way, or did she practice her way there? She certainly had it down by the time I was a kid.

It kind of makes you think, you know? Of course there are things we need to do, but those are different from shoulds right? Many of us practice “shoulds” so much; they become our own pathology, our own disease. Instead of living freely and happily with our choices, we chain ourselves. Yuck.

I think my grandma had the right idea. Think of our shoulds as a shouldpathology and maybe we can train ourselves as I suspect she did, to live our lives as we were meant to. Living our passions and our desires and freeing ourselves from the chains of the unnecessary.

Have a wonderful week and remember to make the moment happen.

Get my book, 365 Days to Simplicity here.

Get Organized and Have a Hassle Free Morning with the PM Prep

Picture this: It is Monday morning. You oversleep. You are trying to get everything moving. There’s a stain on your shirt, the kids are fighting, and you can’t find your keys. You remember as you pull out of the driveway that you needed to drop off the dry cleaning this morning, but you are already 10 minutes late, so you get that nasty sinking feeling in your gut and tell yourself you are just going to have to “make do” without those clothes for your meeting tomorrow.

Hey, let’s face it. Most of us have been there. And it ain’t pretty. But there is a simple organization tip organization tipthat can save you every morning. The PM Prep. There is nothing worse than starting off your day chasing your tail. I know. I have had enough days doing just that. Instead, when I practice the PM Prep, everything seems to go better. This is not really about time spent, it’s more about intention.

The PM Prep is planning for the next day with intention. Simple really. I know we are tired by the time the end of the day rolls around, but a few minutes of intention will make your morning run so smoothly.

Try these simple PM Prep strategies.

1. Check your planner and look at your schedule for the next day.

2. Make all lunches the night before.

3. Lay out clothes for the next day. Don’t forget shoes and socks. It’s the little details that burn us.

4. Prep all bags, briefcases, book bags, etc.

5. Charge the cell phones.

6. If there are clothes in the wash, make sure they make it into the dryer.

7. Make sure you have all the documentation/files that you need. I.e., school picture forms, that file you need for work.

8. Errand prep. Take a minute to make sure you have anything you need for errands the next day and place it by the front door.

Consider printing out this list and keeping on your fridge. Practice the PM Prep and see how much smoother you morning goes. A good momentum in the morning can last all day long.

You can get tips like this every day. Check out my book, 365 Days to Simplicity.

Remembering September 11th with Heroism, Not Hatred

Please read last years Sept. 11th article here.

Would you like to share your Sept. 11th story here?

Add it to the comments section.

All comments are welcome, anonymous is okay with me.

Maria