Dec
18
2007
Hustle and bustle, what to get, who needs a present, what do I have left to spend…bah. Think about this:
Better yet, at some point during your holiday celebration, take the time to sit down with each person you care about and tell them that you love them and thank them for being a part of your life.
That will mean far more than any tchotchke you can stick under the tree
this year – and all it costs is a few minutes of your time. Talk about
a bargain.
The Simple Dollar » Christmas, Money, Family, and Love
Oct
12
2007
You may or may not have seen this on the web already, but if not it’s a good read…and if so, a good reminder:
The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee
When things in your life seem almost too much to handle,
when 24 Hours in a day is not enough,
remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.
A professor stood before his philosophy class
and had some items in front of him.
When the class began,
wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar
and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
He then asked the students if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.
He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full..
They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He asked once more if the jar was full.
The students responded with an unanimous “yes.”
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table
And poured the entire conte
nts into the jar, effectively filling the
Empty space between the sand.
The students laughed.
“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided,
“I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things –
God, family, children, health, friends, and Favorite passions –
- things that if everything else was lost and only they remained,
your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter
like your job, house, and car.
The sand is everything else — the small stuff.
“If you put the sand into
the jar first,” he continued,
“there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life.
If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff,
you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
So…
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play With your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.
Play another 18.
There will always be time to clean the house
and fix the disposal.
“Take care of the golf balls first — the things that really matter.
Set your priorities.
The rest is just sand.”
One of the students raised her hand
and inquired what the coffee represented.
The professor smiled.
“I’m glad you asked”.
It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”
Aug
22
2007
One of the toughest aspects of any system for personal management is sticking with it. I don’t care what magical solution is being pitched this week, if you don’t do it consistently then it’s nothing more than another time-sucking task. So how do you keep your butt on the wagon and make progress?
Habits
We all have habits, some good, some bad. The trick is they’re just that…habits. In many cases we do them without thinking or if we don’t do them it nags at the back of our mind until we do. Trick one is to get your productivity tasks to be come habits. You want to feel incomplete without completing them. It usually takes things a few weeks of frequent repetition to become a habit so be prepared to remind yourself often. You can bribe yourself with some small reward for maintaining your habit if it helps or chastise yourself if you fail. The most important part is…find something that works for you.
Testing the habit
“How do I know when it’s a habit?” I hear this one a lot. The easiest way I know how to test this is to see how hard it is to break. If you’re working on capturing everything in a single notebook see if you can make yourself not use the notebook and use a post-it instead. If it feels “wrong” you’re getting close. If it’s easy, you’re not ready grasshopper.
Habits go everywhere
Your habit needs to follow you wherever you go. If your habit is to capture your gas purchase for mileage tracking (yep, something I do every fill up) you have to set things up so you can facilitate your habit rather than skipping it. I keep a pen in the glove box so I never have an excuse to not write down my mileage on my receipt and then I log it in a Google Spreadsheet. I know it’s a habit because if I don’t do it, it bugs me until I do.
Expanding your habit
Try to cultivate habits that can expand and encompass other aspects of your life you need to manage. If you’re working on managing your finances and your habit is “capture everything” find a way to capture your finances so you work on that at the same time.
Keep looking for something that works for you…discard what doesn’t…and work what does over and over again.
Aug
07
2007
Running a household of five can be disorganized and distracting at best. ZenHabits posted an article about creating a family binder that I think we’ll give a try:
What goes in the family binder? Anything you need. Here are some ideas (including some that I use) — but you should feel free to customize it as needed:
Emergency info: Phone numbers for your doctor and
pediatrician, emergency numbers for fire and police and hospital and
poison control, other important numbers.
Important info: Social security numbers for your kids, health insurance info, anything else you need to refer to frequently.
Important docs: Birth certificates, marriage license, insurance stuff, shot records, etc.
Weekly menu: Plan out your weekly dinners for the next week or two.
Family calendar: I actually use Gcal, but if you prefer a written calendar that anyone can look at, insert it into the Family Binder.
Recipes: Your family’s favorites, which makes it easier to make the shopping list once you’ve done the weekly menu.
Gift ideas: write down ideas for birthdays and Christmas as they come up.
Reading/watching lists: books, dvds, cds, other things you want to buy/rent.
Checklists: any checklists that help you remember things: packing lists, chores lists, car maintenance schedule, etc.
Finances: your budget, spending log, bills to pay, etc.
School stuff: school calendars, newsletters, any other papers that come in.
Ideas: I print out lists of activities I like to do with the kids, and other idea lists. Stuff from Zen Habits would be ideal. 
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