Fluent French and Spanish.
Are there any other languages you wish you could speak?
Fluent French and Spanish.
Author: K
25 Time Management Strategies
In January and February 2011, I attended a two-part session on time management by Heartwork Organizing. Here’s a list of 25 strategies I obtained from that session with the ones I am working on in bold. Let me know three of the 25 strategies you think you could use.
- Keep a weekly (not daily) to-do list.
- Note 3 top priorities/projects/tasks to complete each day.
- Using the 80/20 rule (only 20% of your tasks are most important), ensure the tasks in your 20% are the first ones you tackle.
- Carry your planner everywhere, even to church, gym, and dates/appointments.
- Be aware when you are making a commitment to yourself and others.
- Make written appointments with yourself, and keep them as routinely as you would with your hairdresser.
- Separate making your to-do list from accomplishing your to-do list.
- Separate projects from tasks.
- Schedule time on your calendar to work on projects.
- Never check your email before __(insert customized time here)__.
- When working on projects at your computer, don’t leave your email and browser programs open.
- Use a sheet of paper as a “time container” and only write until full.
- Use “sticky notes” as disposable containers, not permanent records.
- Use “Prince/Princess time management” because you are a Son/Daughter of the King.
- Keep your calendar free enough to entertain angels.
- Beware of the latest electronic gadget as a time waster.
- When spinning, ask “What is the next thing I have to do?” and do it.
- Build in rewards for your efforts (e.g, I will get a snack after I finish this proposal).
- Remove technical issues when they exist.
- Ensure written goals are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound.
- Practice conscious breathing. Schedule it if necessary.
- Decide if your tasks pass the five-year test. (What’s going to be important five years from now?)
- Use a time to chunk out unpleasant/large tasks 15 minutes at a time.
- Learn how to use your cell phone or microwave timer.
- Prioritize people over things.
Not all of these are practical tips for me. For example, I wouldn’t check my email before 5:30 in the morning because I’m likely sleeping, but if I don’t check it before noon, I’m at work where I really can’t view it. It’s also the primary means of contacting me during the day.
Personality Test: DiSC Assessment
In September, I was required to attend a course for determining my personality style. I’ve previously blogged on this topic before and determined that, of the four temperaments, I was melancholy sanguine. Well, the DiSC assessment is a bit different (although not by much). DiSC stands for: Dominance, influence, Conscientious, Steadiness. Responses can vary based on the environment. For example, I am an I at work (29) but not too far off from an S (28). This would probably change for my personal/home life. I found myself identifying with the steadiness category much more than the influence category, but I was borderline for each. Here’s an overview of the different DiSC styles. Click on the image to enlarge it or click here to download the PDF.
PersonalityStyle.com has a free DiSC assessment, but I’m sure it’s one of those assessments that won’t give you the results unless you give the site your email. I hope you will instead try to find your personality according to the overview above and tell me who you think you are.
The Story I’m Telling Myself vs. The True Story
Inspired by Michael Hyatt’s post: http://michaelhyatt.com/change-your-story-change-your-life.html
The Story I’m Telling Myself
- I’m too young.
- I’ve failed before. I’ll fail again.
- I’ll never be as successful as other people.
- I am not a business person.
- I don’t have a business mindset.
- Getting these clients is a fluke; I won’t get any more.
- I don’t have enough experience against other people who have been doing this for decades.
- I’m a newbie; no one will want to use my services.
The True Story
- I am young and new at this, and I may stumble along the way, but I can view my failures as a learning experience and overcome them.
- I can think of new ways to market myself and focus on professional customer service.
- God has given me two clients to show me that He trusts me with this work.
- I cannot measure my success as competing with other people but by gaining steady work.
- I have one fully edited book behind me which shows I can get work done. I can finish what I start.
- I will read and learn how to conduct a business and charge competitive rates to lure new clients.
Now, I just have to believe what’s true. Believing it is more difficult than writing it.
The Queen Bees of Social Media (It’s Only a Dream)
This post has probably been stewing inside of me for the past couple of years, and some women might find it offensive while other women won’t care while others might agree and others might disagree. I don’t care. This is how I feel. Continue reading “The Queen Bees of Social Media (It’s Only a Dream)”
Bad Advice from a Pastor: Separation of Christians and non-Christians
Toward the end of my semester at New York University (NYU), my roommate threw up all over my carpet after getting drunk with her swimming buddies. I made the mistake of relaying this to my pastor at the time. Let’s call him Pastor Joe. I honestly never found the appeal of getting drunk and having a hangover, and not only that, I considered drunkenness (even ingesting alcohol at the time) sin.
During the summer, my summer roommate decided to bring a guy home and sleep with him in the same bed in our room. Wow. They thought I was sleeping but I crept out of the room and went home to my mother’s house on Long Island that night. After telling Pastor Joe about this particular incident, he said to me:
You don’t need live in filth and ungodliness such as your roommate throwing up on your carpet and other roommates bringing guys into your room. You need to get out of that and go to a Christian college where you can grow in your faith, love, and knowledge of the Lord.
I did as Pastor Joe said. And while God used my decision to bring about good, I now recognize that leaving NYU was one of the worst decisions I could make as a Christian. Continue reading “Bad Advice from a Pastor: Separation of Christians and non-Christians”
Would you rather go bungee jumping or skydiving?
Skydiving. Just let me fall and get over my fear of heights. Thanks.
What makes you smile like nothing else can?
- My husband (He looks like Sean Connery on Facebook for some odd reason.)
- The Beatles
- Good company (friends & family)
- Good music (it’s like hearing a slice of heaven)
Describe what you’d do with an extra four hours today.
- Clean the entire apartment (and I mean, white glove!)
- Sign up for Weight Watchers
- Cook
- Write another blog post
Favorite Concert Venue: Jones Beach Ampitheater, Wantagh, NY (Long Island)
Jones Beach has an open outdoor venue so that when artists are performing on stage, you can see beyond them to the bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Sometimes, you might see boats sailing in the distance. When it’s a really hot, a cool breeze blows in and you can breath in the cool, salty air. As the sun sets, the blue sky changes into beautiful shades of red, orange, and purple before settling into a a dark indigo as the stage lights up the night. The last time I was there was for the Blink-182/No Doubt concert back in 2004. Didn’t seem that long ago but it was tons of fun and I loved every minute of it.
One of my first concerts was at Jones Beach. I’m not sure I remember my very first concert, but the one that stands out is Lilith Fair when I was 16. It was a concert that had the biggest impact on me: a celebration of women in music. Read more on my experience with Lilith Fair in “What Lilith has to do if it hopes to stay alive for next year…“
Personal Failure and a Gospel Living Mindset
I suffered a personal failure recently and found God challenging me on how I would respond to it. To be honest, my first instinct was to check out on life. But through the failure, I learned that I do not know how to handle failure. As a child, I was never taught how to handle failure. I was always taught that if at first you don’t succeed, you don’t accept failure as an option, you try harder.
I recently learned that’s not the way to handle things. The chart below is helping me to accept that failure is
- a part of life
- okay
- a way to learn grace
- a learning experience
- something that reminds me I won’t be kicked out of God’s kingdom
Remembering my identity, who I am in Christ, will help me to navigate the ups and frequent downs of life as I should. Thereby assisting in me in trying to take the easy way out of life.
Forgiveness
Yesterday, I discovered some communication that took a potshot at my work, which was very painful. I suppose the worst part of it was that I didn’t think it was so bad. I had the feeling I’d been getting the runaround in some way, which has really been frustrating, and quite frankly, unprofessional.
My husband encouraged me to forgive the person who hurt me, but honestly, I just could not find a way to. Not yet. I Corinthians 13: 4-8 lists the key qualities of love (which the followers of Jesus are supposed to live out):
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.
The NIV translation says this:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
On Sunday, my pastor preached a bit on forgiveness and said challenged the congregation:
Is it really forgiveness if you say, ‘Oh, I forgive you but you really hurt me!’ or ‘I forgive you but you have to pay’ or ‘I forgive you’ then bring the incident up again later? No, it’s not forgiveness.
I am not forgiving because I will talk about this again. I will bring this up again later. I currently am all the the things I should not be: irritable, resentful, unkind, impatient, self-seeking, and keeping a record of wrong, among many other things. My pastor said forgiveness is not a one-time act; it’s a process. I will need to forgive the person who hurt me again and again.
I just can’t right now. Not yet. But I am determined to.
And somehow, I’m supposed be thankful in all things, which actually, this situation has made a bit easy in that I’m thankful I will not have to interact with these people on a daily basis!
Google’s Broken Tasks Promise
I am a dedicated Google user. From Gmail to Google Calendar to Google Search, I like the ease of use of most Google products. (Yes, they have too much information on me.)
Google Calendar is the Google feature I most next to Gmail. After Google Calendar, the feature I use most (or would use more often) is Google Tasks.
Let’s talk about Google Tasks. Continue reading “Google’s Broken Tasks Promise”
Top 10 Favorite Books Read in 2011 So Far
Here’s a list of my top 10 favorite books read in 2011 so far.
1. Unlimited by Jillian Michaels
2. Soulless by Gail Carriger
3. Changeless by Gail Carriger
4. Blameless by Gail Carriger
5. Heartless by Gail Carriger
6. Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider
7. Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas
8. Go the F**k to Sleep by Adam Mansbach
9. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
10. The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen
Spam WIN
Happy to do as you say.
This Journey Is My Own 