Emails piling up? Yeah…me too. It can be scary how quickly inboxes can become clogged with junk. Here is what I do if I let down my guard for a day or two and my inbox becomes too full of spam.
1. Highlight all junk mail, chain emails, newsletters, offers for weightloss pills, shopping notifications, auto-replies, etc., and delete them unread. You’ll never miss them…I promise!
2. Highlight 50% of the other emails that you can tell are not important from the subject line and archive them. You probably won’t miss these either.
3. Skim through the rest and archive 98% of these. Choose a few that need replies or actions from you and save these.
4. Reply to these few emails as succinctly as possible immediately and file the email away in the appropriate folder as taken care of.
Email is a great barometer of life. Do you feel you need to reply and act on every single request that comes in? Wouldn’t you rather take control of your time and do what you feel is important instead of letting outside forces dictate this for you? You don’t need to respond to every email or even read everything that lands in your inbox. Choose what is important to you and focus on these. After you get good at doing this with your email inbox…try it out on the rest of your life!
Some days are hard, right? Often you can start the day feeling fine and full of energy. Toward the middle of the day you start feeling like you need a nap though. Other than a power nap, there are other ways of feeling refreshed. Here are some ideas:
- Take a walk outside. The fresh air will invigorate you. Indoor air is stale and contributes to “brain fog”. Breathing fresh clean air can alleviate this.
- Eat a high protein lunch. You will feel more energy with more protein than if you consumed more carbohydrates. This is good to remember if you tend to feel a slump after lunch.
- Get up and stretch. If you sit most of the day, try to getting up and stretching every hour for about five minutes. This will increase your energy.
- Do concentrated deep breathing. Most people breathe too shallowly. Notice the way you are breathing right now. Concentrate on taking slow deep breaths instead. Feel the difference?
- Try aromatherapy. Essential oils are helpful in easing certain illness and discomforts. Effective energy boosters are peppermint, bergamot, patchouli, and neroli. Place a few drops of an oil on your wrists and inhale to boost energy and lift spirits.
- Turn on some energizing music. Use your favorite music to get you going. Download uplifting music to your MP3 player or iPod.
Try some of these simple strategies to tap into more energy and productivity.
Any ideas here? Could it be procrastination, lack of motivation, lack of direction? Sure…sometimes. I submit that the number one obstacle to dreaming is this, though.
COMFORT
Think about this for a minute. If we stick to a safe and easy route that should not result in any surprises we will be nice and secure…right?
But is life just about security? Don’t you think we should strive for more than just being secure? Being stuck in security is merely SURVIVING.
LIVING is much more than this.
Realizing dreams necessitates a new path…maybe even a risky path. Leave conventional wisdom and walk purposefully without always following. YES…I’m talking about leaps of faith here. Never easy, yet always exhilarating.
Two things to start doing TODAY:
Caring too much about things that really don’t matter is a huge obstacle for many of us. Caring about buying more and more things we don’t need bogs us down. This money could be put to great use to accomplish goals instead. Caring about what other people think prevents us from asking for what we need or want from others, which is another stumbling block toward goal achievement.
Simply retrain yourself to stop caring about things that aren’t important. Yes, this involves relearning how to think about things, but the benefits are HUGE.
- Stop the Uncertainty that Paralyzes
To pursue and achieve dreams the next step is to stop caring about the unknown. Encourage yourself to be able to tolerate bigger risks. Start small with something that makes you uncomfortable and work your way up to some bigger goals. Recognize fear and try to figure out where the fear is originating. Is it really something to fear, or are you making something bigger than it really is?
In order to reach goals, you need to make yourself able to tolerate uncertainty. This takes practice, but the more you do it, the more success you’ll have, and you will be able to work yourself up to bigger risks. Dreams will begin to be realized!
Don’t wait until you have a reason like mesothelioma to get moving on this! Get yourself out of your comfort zone and moving toward big dreams!
Americans are finally catching up in the kitchen.
The recession is pushing people to curb their eating-out habit. However…Americans have grown used to eating in style and are not willing to give that up when they eat at home. That means…cooking lessons! Interest in cooking has been growing due to the many reality cooking programs and celebrity chefs.
Grocery stores are reporting a sales increase because people are cooking more and eating out less.
Cooking courses can be very expensive, however this cost can be absorbed by the money saved by cooking and eating in.
Restaurant visits fell 3 percent in 2008 from 2007.
Have you changed your cooking and eating out habits yet? Do you plan to at some time? Is there a point financially where you will feel compelled to make some changes? My family has never been big in to eating out and I have focused myself on equipping a kitchen that is capable of creating all of the meals that we love to eat. When you have a well-equipped kitchen full of nice cookware and gadgets it becomes not only possible, but pleasant to cook.
Visit your library and look at their cooking section if you need cheap inspiration! You might be amazed at some of the newer cookbooks that are out there nowadays. The internet is also a great source for inspiration and information.
I would like to challenge you to cut your eating out/ordering out habit and begin to prepare more meals at home. Your family will not only benefit financially, but your health will improve because what you cook at home is almost always more nutritionally sound.
How often do you just sit quietly, and allow the world to pass by you in its haste? Not very often, right?
Why not?
What is so important that it can’t be put off for a bit? What life-changing email has to be answered immediately? Does the TV, radio, and internet need to be connected and on all the time?
Is life disappearing at an alarming rate as we keep our minds too busy? Could we be we missing out on the world around us while we constantly stress over the future…thinking about what we need to do, worry about events that might happen, agonizing over the past…the list goes on and on.
When was the last time you sat down and challenged yourself to be idle and calm for a bit? Care to try it today?
I predict it may feel weird, foreign, and maybe even uncomfortable at first. You will have to force yourself to do it. With practice it becomes easier, though. I promise! Then you can worry about things like finding a Plano Dentist after you’ve taken a little time out.
Are you stuck in inaction? Having problems with procrastination, distraction, and inactivity? Time to form some new habits instead…some habits that will get you moving and start getting things done. These techniques can be used both professionally and personally. Try this and see what I mean…Soon you’ll be reorganizing the rubber stamps and cleaning out the junk drawers!
Here are some suggestions for moving away from procrastination toward action:
- Make a plan each day for two or three important tasks that must be accomplished. This should not be a time-consuming step. Make your plan and get on with it!
- Pick one and visualize for a moment how it will look when it is finished.
- Get going and start getting it done! Right away!
- Focus on doing the job as well as you can.
- Complete the job, pat yourself on the back and move on to the next job.
- Keep practicing this method until it becomes a habit.
You always hear how breakfast is the most important meal of the day. This couldn’t be more true. After fasting all night, your body is in a state of minor dehydration due to simply breathing all night without drinking anything! To even think about rushing into a new day without eating something healthy is unthinkable. Best of all, it has been found that breakfast-eaters won’t have to worry about what the top rated diet pills are because they are statistically leaner than those who regularly do not eat breakfast.
If you struggle with finding the time for something healthy, here are a few suggestions:
- Oatmeal with cinnamon, honey, and berries. THE absolute best way to start a day, hands down! Totally worth getting up 15 minutes earlier for.
- Whole-wheat toast with almond butter
- Smoothie with fresh berries and yogurt
- Scrambled eggs with salsa
- Granola, yogurt, and fresh berries
- Fresh fruit salad
Do you literally RACE around when you are behind the wheel? If so, I would like to challenge you to consider slowing down for several reasons. One is that you might avoid an expensive speeding ticket which will eventually catch up with you if you speed around long enough. Another reason is to achieve a calmer and more serene attitude. I have found that when I get behind the wheel and I am feeling stressed and frantic while I am driving, driving is a very unpleasant experience.
On the other hand, if I get behind the wheel feeling calm and relaxed I can get to my destination at pretty much the same time as I would have had I been speeding…yet I feel so much better!
Here are some suggestions for how to slow down:
- Play relaxing music – Let your music help you to stay calm and relaxed…don’t rev yourself up with wild music while you drive.
- Ignore other drivers – Of course you must pay attention to other cars so that you don’t have an accident, but don’t worry about what the other drivers think about you and your driving.
- Enjoy the drive - Let the drive be just as pleasant as your intended destination.
- Leave early - This will make it easy to slow down!
- Contemplate - Use your drive time for contemplation and deep thoughts.
- Keep to the right - Let the speed demons pass you right by on the left. You’ll be happier than they are, I promise!
There are two basic schools of philosophy out there. One is to delay gratification and save for future abundance. The second is to enjoy life now while you can. Which do you subscribe to? Which do you pursue? I have always tried to find a balance between the two because I firmly believe that it is possible to live frugally and simply AND enjoy it by living your life to the fullest.
Here’s how:
- Learn to be creative. Find ways to have fun that don’t cost a lot of money. Have a picnic, go to the beach, learn an inexpensive craft, play board games, bake cookies. Make a list of simple activities and enjoy them often!
- Simplify and make it a goal to create a simple lifestyle and have fun doing it!
- Step back and consider what is important to you. Get rid of the extra stuff (that is typically the expensive stuff) and focus on what is really important. Family, friends, exercising, volunteering, quiet time. These things are important yet cost nothing. Items like gadgets, nice furniture, nice clothes, jewelry…when you pursue these things you will need to focus a great deal of time and money doing so. Making people a priority will pay YOU back in dividends that are priceless.
- Make time every day to spend time alone. This practice is instrumental in enhancing meaning and enjoyment in everyday life. Instead of rushing through life with no time to think, spend time in solitude.
- Buy yourself something special from time to time to prevent feelings of deprivation. These things don’t have be extraordinarily expensive in order to be a treat. It won’t always be something like a San Diego California hotel, but whatever you decide to splurge on, make sure you enjoy it to the fullest. Take the time to enjoy it and appreciate it.
- Track your everyday successes and celebrate them.
- Volunteer…and get your entire family involved as well. Volunteering doesn’t cost you anything and you will find it extremely rewarding. It’s good for the whole family!
- Learn to think about the present. This is a key to enjoying life. For example, instead of eating out at an expensive restaurant and perhaps not even being able to enjoy the entire experience, make a delicious meal at home and make an effort to make it special in ways that cannot be done at a restaurant.
- Try slowing down the pace of your everyday life to make your life more enjoyable and less stressful.
- Find the joy of shopping at thrift stores. There are unbelievably cool things there and the deals are amazing. Rummage sales are just as good.
Make it a goal to accomplish these habits for managing your home if you don’t do them already:
- Hang your clothes up or put them in the laundry immediately
- Put every paper in one in basket, and process at the end of each day
- Keep your sink clean
- Pick the house up before you go to bed
- Empty the trash every day
- Clean the shower after each use
- Have a spot for everything and put it there
- Make your bed every day
- Keep flat surfaces free of clutter
Tackle each habit by:
- Writing down your goals
- Keeping note whether you were successful each day
- Rewarding yourself for successes
- Figure out what happened if you fail
- Keeping focused on your goals for at least 2 weeks
- Celebrating when you’re finished – Vegas vacations anyone?
