happiness is a skill
Last week, I attended a wellness workshop at the my office. The focus was on wellness as an integrative practice. Giving yourself a score across across 8 dimensions would help you identify how "bumpy" your life might be currently. The goal isn't to get each dimension to a perfect 10 on the satisfaction scale. The… Continue reading Planning as a path to wellness
My planner is always with me. I’ll occasionally show someone as a self-deprecating way to show that yes, I am a Planner with a capital “P”, and my need for grids, deadlines and advance logistics is just part of my DNA. When I did this recently in a meeting, a co-worker called it a “scrapbook”,… Continue reading It’s NOT a scrapbook!
Yesterday, a friend texted me about an insane situation at her work place. Emotions running high, communications breaking down, exhaustion and frustration setting in. My text back: Observe over engage. Not everything needs an immediate response. It's the action-oriented view of "important vs urgent". Full disclosure: sometimes we give the advice we need to hear.… Continue reading My “rules” of working happy
On the first Wednesday of each month, I send out an email with a list of articles and ideas that made me think over the prior month to friends and other interesting people. If that's something that sounds interesting to you, subscribe here. Here's last month's highlights! Health: Managing your energy might be harder than you’d… Continue reading First Wednesdays: “mini newsletter”
One of my best friends practices what I think of as "conscious memory making". During one of her visits to my home, she asked if we could just hang out in the living room, watch goofy TV and chat. You know how Luna Lovegood says things that are so honest it can be uncomfortable? Well,… Continue reading Anticipation + Met Expectations = Powerful Energy
My #currentmood is everything New England fall. Started with a giant Dunkin' pumpkin-is-back billboard, a candle sale at White Barn, and then right through the new episodes of the Great British Baking Show. A cornucopia of fall cozy pretty much exploded. Other than channeling my most #basic self, these things collectively led to increased productivity.… Continue reading #currentmood
New ideas give me energy. Specifically, ideas on how to make work better. You know, so we’re all a little happier at work. So I’ve created a bit of a “class” for myself: reading up on what makes work “work” for individuals, the economy as a whole and our communities. If pumpkin spice can be… Continue reading Back to School
One of the questions for the September Journaling Challenge* is to reflect daily on what gives you energy. Not what makes you happy, or what are you grateful for, but focusing on what gives you energy. Less than two weeks in to the challenge, and I’m already surprised at what an impact that mental shift… Continue reading Happiness isn’t energy
Vanessa Shaw prioritizes her week in under 30 minutes using sticky notes to physically categorize, organize and prioritize work. I have a similar-in-intent strategy with my paper planner. Vanessa captures why I love my paper planner: it allows me to both visualize and interact with my time. As I re-read the article, I realized that… Continue reading Visualizing and Interacting with Time
I know that when my car has a flat tire, there’s no way I can drive it without doing serious damage*. I’d pull over and fix it, then get back on the road. I’d be both annoyed at the inconvenience, and proud of myself for fixing it. But if anything else more serious happened, I… Continue reading Call the Experts
