We have two cats that provide endless hours of entertainment. The oldest, Sundae, is a female calico who is definitely the Alpha over her partner, Max, a male tabby. Sundae's entire mission in life is to be loved, and while she is not the sharpest tool in the shed, she usually reaches her goal.
Recently my husband Larry had rotator cuff surgery and was confined to the couch for a few days - this definitely stirred interest as something "amiss" for the cats. They are not accustomed to see him still for so long. Sundae, in her mission for affection, called dibbs on Larry's lap, and proceeded to make herself comfortable. When Larry did not respond to her royal presence by petting her, Sundae nudged or licked his hand, causing Larry to move it. Undeterred, Sundae repositioned herself and nudged again.
This went on for several minutes until, exasperated, Larry finally bestowed the affection Sundae sought. As I witnessed th
Not too long ago, I visited one of my passions: a national chain superstore. I've visited their stores in 42 states through travel and vacation, and am always fascinated by their retail philosophy. (Obviously, I need a life.)
On this day, I was in my car, stopped at a crosswalk, waiting on a couple to cross the street. Instead, they walked along the side of the street, not cutting through the waiting traffic. My car was partially hidden behind a large armored van making it's daily delivery. I knew the couple couldn't see me waiting for them.
After a few minutes, I decided to drive through the crosswalk since it was not being used by pedestrians. Of course, who decided to cross at the same time but the couple?! My car is a V8 and it roared by them, taking both by surprise. I felt bad yet could not stop without causing a traffic incident.
As I parked and headed to the store, the woman from the crosswalk jumped out
Last weekend, my 12-year-old niece and namesake, Allison Anne, visited for a new family tradition: Camp Allison. My niece somehow inherited my crazed addiction to crafting - give us a hot glue gun, Modge-Podge or sewing pattern, and we can go for days...and we did! Three days, to be exact. The crafting began on Friday afternoon with painted jewelry, followed by decoupage candles, followed by sewing a bath wrap, followed by handmade purses, followed by rhinestone nail art with mall shopping thrown in for good measure. It was crazy, non-stop, crafting mania for all three days. So you might be wondering, "What does this have to do with the title?"
Allison Anne is incredibly bright, catches on in a nanosecond and is completely adept at multi-tasking at least 4 projects at once. She is certainly a product of our crazy-busy environment, and quite comfortable in it. When it was time to slow down and hand stitch the straps onto our purses,
It's been a crazy day and you have a 10 minute window to miss the rush hour crush...you're tempted to run out the door without planning for tomorrow's agenda. What difference could 10 minutes make? Actually, more than you might think. Time management experts use the 1:3 ratio: for every minute you spend planning, you save three in actual application or task. So spending 10 minutes at the end of the day saves 30 minutes in the morning. You can start your day focused and ready to produce, versus floundering and trying to remember where you left off.
Organizing your to-do list is just the first step of a productive day. The second, and possibly most important, is to identify your most critical tasks. Critical tasks are usually activities specified in your job description; tasks delegated by your immediate supervisor; and/or have the greatest impact on company profit or revenue line. NY Times best-selling author Julie Morgenste
In her groundbreaking book, Never Check Email First in the Morning, time management diva Julie Morgenstern states that email is "nothing but interruptions and uninvited distractions" and the "biggest time-suck of the modern work day." We all probably agree with that assessment at some point during our day...and yet, email is definitely a mode of communication that is here to stay.
Many clients complain that email creates a false sense of urgency by the sender. We assume that because our message can be sent instantaneously, it is received with the same response - surely people are awaiting our every message and request! In 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Dr. Stephen Covey urges us to distinguish between important and urgent; he claims that a truly important task should never traded with an urgent one. By responding only to urgent requests, (think emails) we
Have you ever stared at your email, inbox or desk in despair? The reality of our work day is that we all have more work than is physically, humanly possible. What about those wonderful electronics that are supposed to create a paperless, streamlined environment? Instead, they create a mountain of work, follow-up and anxiety attacks. NY Times best-selling author and organizational expert Julie Morgenstern declares, "No matter what strategies we use, we will never - any of us - get to the bottom of our to-do lists in our lifetime." That's certainly not what your organization wants to hear. What's an employee or manager to do?
Simple - take back your life with intuitive and innovative productivity tools. It may mean trying techniques that at first feel awkward but reward you with strong results...For example, most people tend to be reactive vs. proactive: we allow our tasks to shape our agenda instead of evaluating the importa
