Ready, Set . . .”GO”

With getting organized near the top of people’s lists of New Years resolutions, it is easy to understand why the National Association of Professional Organizers (www.napo.net) worked to get January named GO (Get Organized) Month.

When PhD and internationally acclaimed author, Sonia Choquette published her book True Balance; A Commonsense Guide for Renewing Your Spirit, in 2000 she detailed the attributes of each of the seven chakras, psychic energy centers in the human body.  The first chakra, when balanced and healthy provides the foundation for your Life.  Sonia (www.inner-wisdom.com) asked me to contribute an article on getting organized in the new year because of its importance to a healthy, balanced state of being.

The beginning of the New Year provides us with the opportunity to reflect on what is working and what is not working in our lives.  We pause intentionally to examine the quality of our life and to consciously choose to make shifts in order to experience a more satisfying life.  We are, after all, a higher order of being and are granted the gift of free will, the power to consciously choose or not to choose.

Therefore, getting organized takes on more importance.  Organization enhances our ability to focus and to not be distracted in a meaningless way by irrelevant “stuff”.  And increased focus aids us in living more intentionally, some might call it more productively, each and every day.  And intention is what enables us to be more satisfied, more content each and every day, through the exercise of true choice.

So, …

Time Management for Dummies

Help!  Ever have that feeling you are drowning in your priorities, responsibilities, “things to do”, places to go, people to see” lists?  Do you have too many “to-do’s” and too little time?  Can I get a big “Amen?”!

I haven’t posted since Sept. 28 (in case you haven’t noticed).  Yes, even my time can get overrun by my tasks. 

Time and Trash - the longest lasting challenges for modern society.  Years ago Thomas Edison said, “Time is really the only capital any man has and the one thing he can’t afford to waste.”  So lack of time is at least as old a problem as the invention of the light bulb! 

If this is your challenge, too, don’t allow it to continue.  I thoroughly believe that slowing down is the key to accomplishing more - and with a greater level of satisfaction in doing so.  In this day and age of more choice, myriad options and greater selection of diversions, pursuits, etc we must become masters of choice.  Yes, we must consciously decide what is important to us and what gives our lives the most meaning (read personally and professionally).

Many of us can’t see through the clutter of our lives to determine what is most important to us.  Yet, it’s worth the time to sort it out!  Commit to yourself to take a few challenging, but incredibly simple steps to define “Satisfaction” for yourself.  In an oversimplistic manner, let me suggest the following:

1.  Read The Art of Living by Epictetus; the original and …