We all experience unfortunate situations that throw a big old wrench in our plans. For me recently, the wrench was a power outage on a Friday morning in December. Whatever its nature, the wrench is almost guaranteed to create internal dialogue like mine when the power went out at 8AM: “Ugh! How am I going to shower and get dressed in the dark before the painters arrive?“ “Oh no, the painters! They can’t possibly finish … Read More
It’s been almost a year (September 2015) since I shared with you in this blog. In September 2015 my husband and I were on the verge of minimizing our world by moving to a smaller house nearer the city center and closer to my husband’s office and our favorite activities. It was a move that would allow us to experiment with living a life more closely aligned with our emerging values of a healthier lifestyle, simplicity, a smaller … Read More
I’ve written before about paying attention to your productivity time preferences, and how knowing whenyou’re most productive and using those hours for your most important work can yield increased productivity. But sometimes, even though we’ve factored in our time preferences, we still find ourselves in need of a productivity boost. That happened to me this morning. It’s been a busy month at our house with out of town guests and kids returning home from college, going back to college, … Read More
My husband and I aren’t big on exchanging gifts of tangible things, so Mother’s Day at our house has historically been about gifting time and attention. It’s a day where we typically do what I feel like doing. As such, I probably could have lounged in bed this morning reading, while my dear husband cleaned up and braced himself for a trip to the nursery to go flower shopping, which is something that he doesn’t enjoy, but … Read More
I’d like to share a comment from a reader who played the #MinsGame in February. She was excited to report the release of a significant number items and sent me the following message: Hi, Andrea – week one of the challenge – Collected things throughout the week and escorted them out of the house today. 28 items and 40 more pounds gone – YAY!!! Items included blouses/shirts, a mini trampoline, my cross-country skis (I used to have so much fun … Read More
Spring has sprung and I wish I could say these beautiful blooms are residing in my garden, but alas, winter, not aware of the calendar, is too slowly releasing its grasp on the North Coast. I am confident though that within the month spring flowers will be blooming somewhere along the shores of Lake Erie. Wherever and whenever those spring blossoms burst forth for you, I wish for you the opportunity to enjoy those all-too-brief blooms. Sadly I’ve noticed over my … Read More
February has come and gone. A number of you played the #MinsGame along with me in February, venturing to release 406 items over the course of 28 days. Today I’m anxious to hear your success stories! What was it like attempting to meet this goal? How many items did you end up letting go of? What are you most proud of releasing? What did you learn about yourself in the process? I’ll get us started. As I look back over … Read More
When do you do your best thinking? Your most productive thinking? The thinking that yields the most AH-HA!!! moments? When do you have the most energy? When are you most ready to take on the world? Morning, afternoon, evening, or after everyone else has gone to bed? Which day of the week do you get the most done? Are you a hit-the-ground-running-on-Monday-morning person or do you need Monday to ramp up so you can knock it out … Read More
This is a big month for releasing! I’m playing the #MinsGame with a number of you this month. If you’re like me and you value the environment it’s important to keep as many discards as possible out of the landfill. Today I want to share a few of my favorite tools for more environmentally friendly disposal of your cast-offs. 1) One of my favorite tools for helping my local clients find an ideal release site is the Cuyahoga … Read More
Today I’d like to introduce you to Eric Tivers, ADHD Therapist and Coach, who spoke at the 2014 CHADD Conference this past November on the topic of productivity apps. His presentation was so engaging and informative I not only tweeted about it, but I asked to interview him for my blog. Hopefully you’ll appreciate what he has to say as much as the roomful of people at the conference did. Andrea: Eric, I know I was already searching … Read More