I love spreadsheets. I use them frequently in my job. But I never use them for doing things with numbers. Instead, I used the functions of Excel to take text apart – and consolidate it. I deal with a lot of information, for my job, for my classes, and for Girl Scouts. When I get information in a form that is readable, but not quite usable, I have the option to re-type it…or I can put Excel on the task and let it do the work. Most people assume that Excel, as a spreadsheet, is just for crunching numbers. Truth be told, I use Excel more for text manipulation than I ever do for numbers. Today I ..read more

It starts out so innocently. You have a project to crank a widget. But you realize that you have to oil the mechanism before you crank the widget. And then you find you have to go to the store for oil. And before that you have to put gas in the car. Before you know it, you’re standing with a razor and shaving cream and a very clean-shaven yak in front of you. You, my friend, have just experienced yak shaving. I can go down a rabbit hole or get distracted (squirrel!) or get ready to shave a yak faster than just about anyone I know. It is incredibly easy to do, and most often I am not aware of ..read more

“Help! My to-do list is overwhelming! It’s too long and I can’t get anything done!” We’ve all been there. We have a task list that has more tasks than we can ever hope to get done today, this week or possibly even this month – and that’s without all the other stuff that comes at us each day. Too Much To Do The first thing you have to know when you are faced with an overwhelming task list, is that there is simply too much to do. Knowing that your task list has become an un-doable pile of work is the first step. The list has become the problem, and we have to pare it down. Avoiding Overwhelm Pa ..read more

My grandmother Esther was a notable farm wife. She raised 8 children, including two with physical challenges, on a small dairy farm in the middle of Wisconsin. She was capable, hardworking, cheerful, and productive. She was also seldom idle, but she was relaxed as she went about her tasks. And even though she passed before the age of technology, Grandma Esther could teach you about productivity. Single Task Grandma knew the value of single tasking. Not only was it easier for her to remember what she was doing, but in some cases it was necessary for health and hygiene to single task. When Gran ..read more

Have you ever been tempted to upgrade something you own simply because there is a newer version? Or to change the way that you do something because someone famous is touting a new method? In programming circles we call this the shiny toy syndrome. It’s when programmers take the latest and greatest methods/software/tools and use them simply because they are new, rather than because they can provide any value. The sad thing is that most of us do it. You might call it “keeping up with the Joneses”, but it’s essentially the same thing. Places Shiny Toys Are Found You’ve probably already thought o ..read more

We live in a time when people are going all the time. Rest seems to be unobtainable, and many people sacrifice sleep in order to get more done. But you have to be able to give yourself a break. But there is a time in your life when you need to step back and relax. Unfortunately, there are many people who can’t stop going full steam ahead, even when signs of a burnout are impending (I’m one of these). After a rather chaotic time in my life, which involved a new job for me, my mother’s ill health, a job for my husband 3 hours away, and a whole slew of shifting responsibilities, I knew I needed ..read more

The details aren’t important, but I had a sudden, unplanned and unexpected shift in the host for my blog last week. While massively inconvenient, I decided to make some positive changes. Firstly, I got rid of a bunch of stuff that was slowing the site down. So new theme, new look, and zippy. I also took the opportunity to clean out years of old and irrelevant content. And to flag a bunch of content for updating. So for the next few months, you will see lots of updated articles sprinkled in my feed. Let me know what you think! The post A Move…A New Look…And Updates appeared first on Laura ..read more

Over the past 10 weeks, I have been writing about the book Tranquility By Tuesday* by Laura Vanderkam. It came back into my life at a time when I was able to apply it to my quest for a more deliberate life. Today’s article will focus on a look at how, or if, I am applying the rules during my reflections on Tranquility By Tuesday. All The Rules Have Value There is not a single rule in the Tranquility By Tuesday* book that I thought about dismissing out of hand. Each one of the rules I could see would have value when applied to my life. They were selected for having a lot of impact on a life, a ..read more

Doing meaningful things doesn’t require more time. It requires better use of time. We all know that mindless scrolling and social media are not a good use of limited free time. (But they’re so enjoyable!) By applying Tranquility By Tuesday’s* Rule #9, Effortful Before Effortless, you can have your meaningful and your social media. I Do This, Don’t I? When I first read this chapter, I felt kind of smug. Because after giving up social media a few years ago, I don’t waste my time on it. But after really looking at how I spend time, I find that I have other effortless activities that are crowding ..read more

One of the biggest time savers you can implement is to group like tasks. This grouping can be by location, piece of equipment, type of work or other common thread. Tranquility By Tuesday* Rule #8: Batch The Little Things explains how batching will work to not only save you time but also add to your peace.. Little Stuff Can Suck Up ALL The Time Have you ever had a day when you had some big important stuff to do, but decided to clear the decks first? Did you ever get to do the big important things? It happens to me all the time. I want to sit down to write, but first I need to clean the kitchen ..read more