10 Tips to Live the Life You Imagined

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live the life you imagined

 

 

 

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you imagined.”

 

We can spend our days not following our dream or our path.  Move forward in your personal direction by having a plan for your day.

 

1. Start the day with meditation, exercise or spiritual pursuits. It will start you on the path you want for the day.

2. At the end of each day write down your 3 most important tasks for the next day. You will start the day knowing and being productive.

3. Let go of activities that have become meaningless or lost value. Not really into knitting but now love cross stitch? No longer biking or lifting weights at home? Not loving the volunteering you used to love? Share them with other who love that activity.

4. Create a routine then ensures connection to others. Have a weekly Sunday supper with your family. Call your Mom and Dad every Tuesday when you drive home from work. Go to the waterpark with your grandkids every Friday afternoon.

5. Practice an attitude of gratitude. Write a thank you note, text to say thanks, and start a phone conversation with a thank you.

6. Be fabulous.  Keep only clothes, shoes and accessories that make you look and feel fabulous.  Have nothing in your home or office that is you do not believe to be useful or beautiful.

7.  Take good care of yourself.  Eat and hydrate well. Nourish your insides with water, fresh fruits and veggies. Get a great night’s rest.

8.  Take extra care to be kind to yourself.  When a bump in the road happens, graciously accept it as a small stop rather than the end itself.

9. Pace yourself.  Build in transition times during the week, between activities and meetings and between the week and weekend.

10. Surround yourself with positivity.  Nurture and support others and accept the same in return.

 

 

It’s truly about not only creating a life you envision, but acting on your plan too.

Making the Most of Summer with Summer Organizing

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summer organizing

 

All the signs point to summer time is here!  Our weather is warmer. Pool season has started.  Days are longer.  There are lots of ways to celebrate the arrival of fun in the sun.  Summer organizing helps you make the most of summer fun.

 

 Organizing

Start off the season organized!

  • Switch out your seasonal clothes.  It’s time to release those winter items that were not worn in the last few years.   Move your summer items into your primary closet and organize them in a way that work for you, whether its by color, sleeve length or set.  Use a bin for flip flops and organize your shoes so you can see them best.
  • Replace your winter linens with summer light weight cottons.  Swapping to lighter weight linens gives you the opportunity to clean your bed covers.  Eliminate extra decorative bed pillows and freshen up the look of your bedroom.
  • Give your pantry the once over.  During winter we cook differently.  Think of fresh new menus and ways you can start a new plan for eating.  Mark your calendar for your grocery runs that will include fresh fruits and veggies.
  • Set up outside areas.  Scrub down the patio or have it power washed.  Freshen up outdoor seating cushions and furniture.  Add in patio lighting, candles or lanterns.   Create a pool toy play bin to corral balls and floats.  Be ready for outside fun with storage designed for outside toys.
  • Get your activity bags ready to go.  Create travel or activity bags for you and your kids.  Your bag can include chargers, reading material, sunscreen, bug spray and other goodies while you watch your kids at swim team.  Your kids’ bags include whatever they need for an activity. Have one bag per activity so everything is ready to walk out the door.
  • Pick a single flower from your garden or pick up a small fragrant herb from the store.  Bringing in the smell of the outdoors is a great pick me up in the summer.

 

Work Life Balance

Start off summer with a plan.

  • Host a family meeting focusing on vacations, camps and time at home. Write your family’s plans on your family calendar so everyone is in the know.  Add in preparation times, when you will be packing and unpacking.  Make a list of what you need to purchase to be prepared for your outings.
  • Discuss what family time routines will be maintained or added this summer.  A little structure goes a long way during the summer.  What will be added responsibilities? What time will bedtime be?  What are ways to keep up with reading and math? Having these conversations now set the stage for summer success.  Once decided,  create a chart or online reminder system to keep your family on target.
  • Scout out additional resources for summer supervision.  Are there neighborhood teens, additional baby sitters or ways to add time with grand parents that can help you in a pinch?  You will be ready for extended meetings or other delays just in case.
  • Check out new collaboration tools that you can use to work at home.  Dropbox offers you access to your files at work from any device.  With Skype you can have a face to face conversation using your device.  LastPass keeps all your passwords accessible and organized from anywhere.  Join.me allows for screen sharing.  Evernote keeps you organized with your lists.  Just one of these tools could be a bonus for your productivity this summer.
  • Take time for real vacation and create real rejuvenation time.  According to The Energy Project,  59% of of workers are physically depleted, emotionally drained, mentally distracted, and lacking in meaning because they need time away from work.  If you are away, post an auto-response giving a heads up.  If you check email while away, keep it to a minimum.  Create space for what you love to do this summer.  Read some of the magazines or books poolside that you have collected all year.  Enjoy time for a pedicure,  exercise or cooking.  Summer is our time to play!

 

Best of all these summer organizing projects can be chunked down to one hour time slots.  You can enjoy the day and not be bogged down all day with organizing.  Make this your best summer ever with your summer organizing.

 

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Your Most Organized Year Ever

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Your Most Organized Year Ever

Each year as we start the new year, we think of ways to make a change and improve our lives.  Did you know that organizing is one of the top three goals each year?  Throughout the month of January, I will be offering 31 tips to help you have Your Most Organized Year Ever.  Implement just one of these tips, tools, techniques or tweaks this year. 

 

Getting a good night’s sleep is critical to everyone, including parents, singletons, grandparents, and kids.  This is especially true in the ADHD home.

 

Why are we bedtime procrastinators? 

 

Setting yourself up for a good night’s rest

  • Get ready for bed way ahead.  When you are in your jammies with your teeth brushed, you are more likely to get in bed at  your designated bedtime.
  • Set the mood for sleep in your bedroom. No paper clutter, your clothes folded, your room cool and your room dark.  You can set up a great space for sleeping this way.
  • Calculate your bedtime for 8 hours of sleep. Get in bed 30 minutes before.  Have the same bedtime nightly.

 

Set your family up for a good night’s rest

  • Eliminate blue light from e-readers, phones or other tech equipment with a central family charging space.
  • Start early with baths and tuck in time to have a relaxing bedtime ritual.
  • According to a National Sleep Foundation (NSF) survey, only 20% of adolescents get the recommended nine hours of sleep per night on school nights. The NSF recommends that children ages 3 to 5 need 11 to 13 hours; ages 5 to 10 need 10 to 11 hours; ages 10 to 17 need 8.5. to 9.5 hours; ages 18 and above need 7 to 9 hours.

 

Sleep helps our productivity and efficiency.  A productive day starts the night before.  Make this Your Most Organized Year Ever with everyone having a good night’s rest.

 

Check out my pinterest page for Family Manager. 

 

Your Most Organized Year Ever

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Your Most Organized Year Ever

 

Each year as we start the new year, we think of ways to make a change and improve our lives.  Did you know that organizing is one of the top three goals each year?  Throughout the month of January, I will be offering 31 tips to help you have Your Most Organized Year Ever.  Implement just one of these tips, tools, techniques or tweaks this year. 

 

Rejuvenation time is time for you to relax and gain back energy.

 

Do you give yourself time to rejuvenate?

 

Research shows rejuvenation is important in order to regain focus, invigorate creativity and be more organized.  It’s a way of taking care of ourself to do our best.

 

Create rejuvenation time in your week. Set aside time each week to have unstructured time.  Set aside time to play and be creative. Set aside time for meditation. Set aside time to be in green space.  Set aside commitments that keep you from having rejuvenation time.

 

Rejuvenation time won’t happen without your mindfulness. Your energy will soar as well as your positivity.  Make this Your Most Organized Year Ever by inserting time for rejuvenation in your week.

 

Boost your organizing and productivity skills with 31 tips to Your Most Organized Year Ever.

 

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