It’s a little bit later than my usual blog post. But today, I had a very good reason: I had to store all my groceries and other the other things bought while visiting my family last week. And how much I had to put away! Tons! After all, I flew back with 40 kgs (88 lbs). To my defence, not of it was for me. Some things were presents for upcoming birthdays or requests from friends.
Still, I’ve enough food till Christmas and am making October another “No Spending Month”.
“Think a step ahead!” One of my old colleagues used to say it all the time and she was extremely proud to be at least one step ahead of everyone else. Indeed, thinking ahead can have numerous advantages as colleagues, friends and I have discovered over the years.
We all have dreams or so we used to. We dreamt of pancakes for breakfast every day and driving fast cars like Miami Vice. As you’re looking at your life now, are you living your dream?
You’ve seen the slogan “Stop dreaming, start living.” For a lot of people, it’s easier said than done! I remember wanting to become an architect. That university course had one of the lowest acceptance rates and I didn’t make the cut. I didn’t realise for many years what I wanted. These 4 steps have helped me to find and live my dream:
Over the last few weeks, I tackled a number of smaller projects. Going through my paper folders and shredding those no longer needed. Sorting my electronic pictures. Clearing the fancy dress outfits. Decluttering and organising my things created such a liberated feeling!
Do you want to get on a natural high? Declutter and you’ll get this feeling of being liberated! Just follow these simple steps:
Welcome back to the third and final part of the mini-series on running effective meetings. I’m sure by now, you’ve been in a number of meetings and I do hope you could apply some tricks from the first 2 posts. Today, let’s look into the follow up of a meeting.
Last week, I provided you with tips for preparing for effective meetings. Today, I want to focus on the actual meeting, what to consider when running it and how to avoid it become a waste of your and the other participants’ time. This mini-series will finish off with the follow up of the meeting results and actions.
How can you get the most out of your meeting? Let’s look at this tips for running the meeting:
Have you ever been stuck in meetings where you wondered what was going on? Or why you were even there in the first place? Unfortunately, this happened to me! It’s frustrating and makes these meetings appear as a waste of my time.
Companies can help their employees become more productive when setting up and running meetings. In fact, I’ve seen a number of organisations, mainly in the education sector, issue guidelines to their employees. For these teams, it has made them more productive and efficient. Given the limited resources we have, that’s a great achievement and in my view, we all should thrive towards more effective meeting cultures.
Last week, a member of the project team had a crisis. Everything was becoming too much for and she had to step out to regain her cool. It’s an all too common situation for a lot of teams and individuals these days. Deadlines are shorter, workloads are increasing and with smart phones, we’re constantly connected. Recharging our batteries becomes more challenging.
Here are 15 top tips to stay cool when you’re experiencing stress:
Every day, we’re making hundreds and thousands of decisions. To get out of bed or lie in? What to have for breakfast? Who do I call first? Do I need to attend that meeting? Gym or TV after work?
While we may not always realise it, these decisions are actually choices. Think back of the film “Dangerous Minds” from the mid-90s. The teacher is having a discussion with her students about their choices. They don’t see any of them in their desperate situations. And there you have a teacher who made the choice to care about her students. If you haven’t seen the film, read the full passage here.
We always have a choice. Just how do we choose? Follow our heart? Our mind?
Isn’t it ironic to write about national procrastination week a week after it took place? It amuses me as, like most of us, I can also procrastinate certain tasks and am actually quite good at that at times. Even now, I’m procrastinating. Being home alone, I can watch “The Peanuts Movie”. Yes, I hear you. I should either watch the film or write the post. Focusing on one thing is quicker than working on 2 activities at the same time. Sometime, I too have to revert to doing two things at once. And so procrastination starts.
Why do we procrastinate?