(Not-so) common courtesies

I never cease to be amazed that my ordinary, everyday way of conducting business impresses my clients and team mates. It turns out not everyone operates like I do. What I take for granted–my normal–isn’t normal for everyone.

A checklist

What do these things look like, you may ask? Here’s a short list. Continue reading

4 Tips for Getting Difficult Tasks Done

Piece of paper with "to do" written on itHere are my four favorite tips that I use to motivate myself to do something I don’t want to do:

  1. Double check to make sure that you really need to do the item on your to-do list. On a good day, I cross of about a quarter of the things that I’ve added to my list. They’re just not that important and they get in the way of getting real work done. It’s easy to be busy doing things that don’t matter. Continue reading

Breathing

By Mary Rarick

Photo of a cat lounging on a bench under a painting.

Perry Mason understands the value of stepping away and breathing.

It’s a good thing that I’d already lit a candle and settled down to work with a hot mug of Awake tea before I realized that my computer was going to be having hiccups today. And by hiccups I mean it urped when I suggested we take a look at Excel, Word, Outlook, or the Internet. You know…pretty much anything I might ask of it. Continue reading

How do you align your time with your goals?

Sepia-toned pocket watch photo

It seems like every couple of weeks I need to stop, take a deep breath and regroup. I find that it’s easy to get wrapped up in the everyday work-a-day world and to forget what’s important to me. Work will always be there. And what do they say? No one every says from their deathbed, “I wish I would have spent more time at the office.”

And so here I am again, pausing to reflect and consider. What do I value? How am I spending my time? Does my use of time reflect my values and priorities?

What about you? How do you align your time with your goals?

It’s the Little Things

Image of a black and white swirly vortexAfter taking a couple of days off to regroup and recuperate from a particularly challenging work deadline, I knew today would be hectic. And I’ve not been disappointed. In addition to a huge to do list, it’s my son’s last day of school, so there’s a hiccup in the day’s schedule as well.

As I was dropping him off at the park for the we’re-done-with-school band party and heading over to Fred Meyer to get a key cut, it occurred to me that the small things on my list weigh almost as heavily as do the larger tasks.

I’ll give you an example. Continue reading