its been a while......

Life  has been getting in the way again.  Doesn't it just do that.  But I did very much want to share that I have been PAINTING.  HURRAH!  at last.  AT LAST my studio got used for its proper function.  All that time since DWYL last year.   And finally I got my paint out and got stuck in.

Thing was,  at my new job, where we specifically help people find more time and space for the things they really want to do, we were discussing an exercise which is designed for the Planning Retreat being held in April, and of course it turned out that I was not the only one who was not actually doing enough of the stuff that made us come alive.  How ridiculous!  Its one of those things though, its so easy to do other stuff instead.  Or feel guilty about doing reading, or painting or baking or just taking a nice long hot bath and thinking, when there is so much to be getting on with.

SO the next day, it totally dawned on me, that instead of sitting down and getting sucked into admin.  I would not go near my computer.  I sidelined EVERYTHING else and got my paint out.  Got the canvases out and got into my painting clothes.

The morning flew by.  I was in my element.  And yes, a few things did not get done that day.  But it really didn't matter.  Nothing fell apart.

Sometimes you just have to prioritise what you find most deeply and personally valuable.  Otherwise it is never going to happen and years will go by and your dreams and your pleasures get to stay in the cupboard.  And that can just make you a bit cranky.


So, my sincere advice to you all, is to when you can, instead of being sucked into whatever chores or admin you feel OUGHT be done..... just don't.  Sweep away the guilt, and dive straight into whatever it is that makes YOU feel in your element.

back on track, budgets, books and stepping away from the screen

Am rather pleased to say that Hub and I have managed to have a very friction free chat about sticking to a budget.  We menu planned together the week ahead and we are going to stick to that and only buy what we need.  It seems so simple, but recently our weekly shopping bill has sky rocketed.  I know that prices have gone up and all, and that Hub is eating a protein rich diet, which is not cheap.  But still.  Its outta control.  For quite a while this bothered me, then I decided not to be bothered by it as it was a pointless exercise to try and deal with it on my own. I mean, what's the point of menu planning if Hub went and bought what he wanted to eat anyway.  We needed to both be involved.  And I didn't even bring up the whole sticking to our own cash budget in the week thing.  It was his idea.  Not that we are going to restrict it exactly, but we are going to track it.  Which should help us not be such spendaholics.  So.  In a whole celebration of that.  I shall be doing a tad of daily tracking here.  Sorry if tis dull to anyone!  But this is my personal blog and I can do what I likes!

Another thing I have done of late is switch off the internet at source.  I was finding myself mightily distracted by faffing about on facebook, ambling about finding new tunes on Spotify, blog reading,  checking email and sitting in front of my screen for TOO LONG all of that mallarky.   And it was irritating me and making me feel out of focus.  And given that I am now a Person Who Does and regularly dish out the tips of batch processing email and stuff, I figured it was time to do a little screen time management of my own.

It really worked.  I worked just from my next step lists for about the house.  I actuallly did the food audit I have been thinking of doing for - er - years.  And you guessed it, we have a lot of food.  So this week, as well as the Menu Plan, I am aiming to actually eat up some of it.  And am sure as hell not going to be buying any more of stuff we already have packets of (rice!!!).

I was very pleased to have done a few portraits for Mondo Beyondo folks which I had promised to do waaaay back in the summer.  And I think doing them has both loosened my eye up a little, given me some ideas to create a crafted, individual, portrait / photo / collage which is unique, but the style is replicable.  And I have some new ideas for new styles too.

Ah, and lastly I have been reading some interesting books about small business.  Well I have been reading one of the ones I bought anyway.  The first one is called The E Myth by - Michael E Gerber -  (who I am delighted to tell you did not even start to take himself seriously until he was gone 40) And the other I have bought and am yet to read, is called How to be Excellent at Anything by Tony Schwartz and Jean Gomez (yup, great title, lets see how I get on!) who run an interesting program called The Energy Project - which helps stressed out execs get their mojo back.  Or tries to stop them keeling over and popping their clogs aged 50?  Anyway, its intresting stuff.

Oh and lastly, lastly, am reading Betty Edwards' Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.  As I had a fabulous brief chat with a friend who has an idea for a kind of 'step away from the screen' convention for web designers.  I am also rather excited by the whole idea of R mode (as Betty calls it) thinking.  Which seems to be very much along the lines of what Yoga does,   And creativity requires. And is how I think..... alot of the time.  All this organisation stuff, I love it, because I am the kind of chaotic lass that needs it.  Its not my natural state!!

Well, that's my catch up and NOW, I am going to STEP AWAY from the screen! 

Pleased as Punch: Art AND Money

This morning, I went to a catch up meeting with my new job at, People Who Do .  And its good news.... The focus for the next 3 months is on getting me (and the other associate) to take over delivery of Accelerated Productivity.

This totally coincides with my own aim of getting past the induction and onto fully paid as soon as possible.  We will have more training, and more opportunities to shadow AND we will also be paid more for that training time.  Win Win.

The whole process will be speeded up. I am very happy.  I am totally enjoying being part of helping folk Get Stuff Done.  It's such a good fit for me.  Am really pleased.  YAY!

Other than that, I am delighted to say that this afternoon I have managed to spend some time focusing on my art and portrait business.  It was lovely to spend the afternoon being creative.   Not finished yet but here is a bit of the work in progress.

Bub has been out all afternoon at Monkey Business.  An indoor play place.  With his best friend from preschool whose 4th birthday it was today.  Hopefully he will have worn himself out into an early night and I can get on with my art work.  x

Clearing your head

This post from Danielle La Porte reminded me of what my new job at People Who Do is all about....  helping people clear the way for bigger and better things... 

get immediate relief: energy leaks + enlightenment

 

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the lock that always sticks
the client that can never remember what you said
that kink in your neck
slight allergies, slightly foggy head
the girl on the team who's always cranky
those too-tight trousers
the way your partner greets you (s.he can do better)
the way you greet your partner (you can do better and you know it, and you want to)
those damn e-newsletters that are so tricky to unsubscribe from that you just hit delete and curse at the screen.

the pebble in your shoe is bigger than you think

Small, annoying things. Energy leaks. We tend to discredit the slight aggravations in life + work because our attention is on accomplishing the big things. But think about the trying to walk with a grain of sand in your sock. You won't go more than a block until you frantically peel off your shoe and give things a firm shake 'n swipe. Ahhh, relief. Think about the dramatic effect of a pin prick to an inner tube, the power of a mosquito, that impact of a sliver.
Every time you make REPEATED contact with aggravating tasks and situations, you make a conscious or unconscious choice to endure (the root of the word endure is 'to suffer',) and to settle with less-than-ideal. This kind of aggravation triggers resentment and bad ju-ju. We direct our pissed-off vibe outward, (Damn landlord needs to fix this lock.) Or inward, (These too tight pants are what I get for being so lazy.) And in doing so, we affirm any feelings of helplessness and overwhelm that are floating in our consciousness. And a little bit of our energy zipples out of our sails.

fix the small stuff

Noticing -- really noticing -- what's rubbing on you is part of being conscious. When subtleties grab your attention you are not OCD, you're lucid. When you deal with the annoyances, you're not a control freak, you're the master of your reality.
Look at it this way: energy leaks are usually really easy to fix because they're small. It's simply a matter of stopping to tend to them. When you fix the stuff that's picking at you, you get relief, and that freshness helps you focus on the big stuff.

god + mastery are in the details. so is your freedom.

Where's the rub in your day-to-day? Make a plan to cure, dissolve or absolve it.
What's the mosquito-like thought form that's zifting in your psyche? Visualize rinsing it away, make a phone call that will settle things.
What's broken that you want fixed? Hire a handyman, find a homeopath, reach out and mend it with love.
Your vitality deserves an as-soon-as-possible response.
Get on it. Because you have bigger things to do.

Being Done by People Who Do

Accelerated Productivity.  WOW.  I have to say I feel immensely organised!! It was  a WADE to get through all my notes to myself and things I start up doing or wanting to do, but it has been done.  Processed.  Simplified.

check this.  I have inboxes at zero (and a method, which is simple as pie) of managing them. My calendars and my iphone talk to each other and sync up and I have this super little moleskine which has all my projects listed (currently on the go) and all the back burner projects (soooo many...) and all my 'to do' lists are actions and are grouped into contexts.  @computer  @errands  @YogaTeacherTraining... etc.  So if I randomly think of something I must ask my yoga teacher at class, I can make a note of it and remember to ask it.  Or when I talk to the accountant I have a comprehensive list of all I need to ask him.

I am all set up with a clever little application

I do now see the point of the project files and am hankering after the filing system in which to put all my project plans, as sometimes my planning gets a bit muddled up with my next actions.... but setting this up is in my lists.

It really does feel very clever and ORGANISED.   Get me.  I have to do a weekly review,  without fail, or the whole system collapses.  But I am very motivated and for the next week or so I will have People Who Do on my case about this.  Of course life has it that I am away on holiday again next week.  So the major part of this accelerated productivity will kick in come September.  But hey, watch this space.