Road to Clarity

I just read that the creator of Thomas the Tank Engine passed away yesterday as a result of a heart attack. He was 69 years old. It’s ironic, a little eerie, and very sad, that George Carlin also died yesterday from a heart attack, at age 71. Children all over the world know George Carlin not as a brilliant, edgy stand-up comedian, but as Mr. Conductor from PBS Shining Time Station - a show about Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends…

For me, this is a subtle reminder of upcoming change …and I know that Mr. Conductor will live in the hearts of those he touched for a very long time.

Ahh, summer…the time of long relaxing days in the sun, lounging by the pool, drinking cold lemonade…

That just isn’t the case anymore for me. The kids are working, I’m working, and I’ve been working very hard on developing my business, writing and reading tons, and trying to squeeze in a little family time in the process. The biz just can’t happen fast enough. It’s tough to transition to F/T when you’re already F/T in something else. Plus, I like sleep.

On Wednesday I take my oldest to college orientation. Just last week we watched as he accepted his high school diploma. I swear just a few short years ago we were blowing bubbles together and singing itsy-bitsy-spider. Now he has a diploma, a girlfriend, and he’s headed off into the world…except that he doesn’t have a car, so he still needs me.

I think we’re both a little scared, but he’s a great kid, and really smart, and he’ll do fine.

This post is recreated from an earlier post - recovered after a nasty upgrade fiasco…so the date is wrong, and comments were lost!

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Yesterday morning I woke up tense. I had planned to get up and run on the treadmill, but I just wasn’t in the mood. Of course, that didn’t help matters because now I was annoyed with myself as well as just being generally grumpy at 6 AM.

Over the course of the next two hours, the antics of the dogs, the cat, and the kids was enough to get me completely wound up. Our dogs like to steal socks from the laundry basket for fun and attention, and this morning they were in rare form. Every time I turned around there was a new sock on the dog bed, or a tissue from the bathroom trash can, or a hat that had been hanging on a chair. I’ve also realized that our cat is now teaming up with the dogs, knocking things off the counters so they can snatch them up and run off. She got into the act, and then proceeded to chew off the top of one of my birthday roses and run off with it, holding it in her teeth like a matador as she bolted upstairs.

Amidst all this chaos, the dishes needed to be done, the trash taken out, lunch to be made, and I still had to make myself presentable before I left for work.  By this time I was WAY past tense, to say the least.

Last night my husband said to me "you’re going to run after dinner". Now, let me say that I have been making a completely lame attempt to get back into an exercise routine for months now, but I haven’t been able to grab hold of one shred of motivation. We both knew I’d feel better if I ran… "But I don’t WANT to (insert whine here)" , I told him. He pointed me in the direction of the weight room. "But I’m TIRED (another whine)" , I insisted. He gave me a nudge. I gave in. Reluctantly, I changed my clothes, tied my sneakers and grabbed my ipod. I yawned as I reluctantly stepped onto the treadmill.

Running has never been easy for me. I’m what I call a "wannabe runner" I want so badly to be one of those people you see logging miles every single day, in the rain, sleet, snow, and <em>smiling</em>. In reality, I’m a recreational jogger. I doubt I’ll ever get to that sense of bliss, but at one point in my run last night it actually felt easy - I had settled into a groove - something I had only read about but never really experienced firsthand. I smiled.

After 36 minutes I stepped off the treadmill, drenched in sweat, having gone 3 miles. I also ran MUCH more than I have lately, only taking a few very short walk breaks. I even threw in a few sprints for an extra push. That pace won’t win any races, but I WENT 3 MILES , and it didn’t take me an hour. I stretched on the rug while the dogs came in to check on me and lick the sweat off my face.

I felt better. I always do. Right away I thanked my husband for pushing me. Instantly my head was clearer, I felt calmer, and I had accomplished something. I slept better last night than I have in months. I need to remind myself of that feeling when I’m ready to blow off a workout.

There are lots of techniques to relieve stress, but they don’t work for me. I don’t do drugs, so Valium, sleeping pills, etc. are out. Yoga makes me sick to my stomach (literally), massages are expensive, and meditation is just downright boring. The only thing that really works for me is either sitting in the warm sun in a vegetative state, or exercise. As I get older (and a little wiser) I’m realizing that I probably should limit my sun time a little, so sitting in my chair basking for hours probably isn’t such a great idea. But exercise, well, that’s a no-brainer. Run, walk, lift weights, snowboard, bike, hike, whatever - just MOVE. It works.

Move some today and see how it makes you feel.

This post is recreated from an earlier post - recovered after a nasty upgrade fiasco…so the date is wrong, and comments were lost!

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What’s your organizing setup? Mine has gone through many changes over the years, and will probably always be a work in progress as my needs and responsibilities change.

For a number of years I used a Franklin Covey classic size 1-page-per-day planner, but I always felt like I wasn’t using it to its full potential. I used the To-do list, and the calendar, but the notes pages stayed pretty much blank. I didn’t have many appointments, so even the calendar wasn’t utilized very well. The planner was also much too thick and bulky to carry around. Then, FC came out with wire-bound planners. I purchased two covers, a year’s worth of booklets, and extra accessories to complete the set. The binder was thinner, which was great, but the basic design issues remained.

I gave up and migrated to Outlook, leaving my jumble of paper planners (and a lot of wasted money) behind. I used Outlook with a Palm T|X until last year, when I decided that juggling my palm and a cell phone made it impossible to go out without carrying a purse or wearing cargo pants. I purchased a Palm Treo and fell in love. I was now able to access my calendar, task list, phone, email, weather, Google Maps, etc…all in the same place. Aside from the occasional random crashes, the Treo was awesome. I unlocked it, customized the software, flashed the ROM a few times, and added a slew of utilities to assist with my productivity.

Still….I found myself wanting paper - most would agree that paper has certain qualities that no gadget can compete with. I secretly wanted my paper planner back, but was at a loss as to how I would make it functional. Then, while on vacation last summer, I stumbled on David Allen’s Getting Things Done , and that’s where it all started to come together - and fall apart at the same time.

With a fresh outlook, I was ready to start over. I was so eager that I fell into the trap that so many GTD’ers do…I became slave to implementing GTD and "finding the perfect system". The methodology of GTD made perfect sense, but I was constantly frustrated beyond belief when trying to make it work for me. Contexts? Next actions? Areas of focus? What seemed so simple was making my head spin. I tried out Remember the Milk but never quite got the hang of it. I gave Sandy a spin but wasn’t impressed. Same with Jott - cooler, but…not for me. Google calendar rocks, and I can sync it with Outlook AND my Treo…but why? Cool, yes, but also a bit redundant.

It took months of agonizing over my apparent ineptness and failure to conquer this simple system before I realized that I wasn’t an idiot. I already WAS organized…in fact, very organized. Allen’s methods, though perfect for him and for millions of others, just weren’t at all perfect for me. I got too caught up in the "rules" of how to "do GTD" that I paralyzed myself and lost my common sense.

So, six months later, I am no longer trying to "do GTD", but I am still working on my system. I have left Franklin Covey behind for Levenger Circa notebooks and DIY customization. I like the flexibility and endless possibilities that Circa offers. I invested in my own Circa hole punch and a paper cutter so I can print my own pages. For a while, I was using DIY pages based on Corrie Haffly’s designs . I liked the simplicity, but couldn’t quite come up with a design that I was completely happy with. The daily sheets, combined with the weekly sheets and the compact project task cards are a very cool concept, but I began to feel like I was shuffling too many pages around and wasn’t able to see the whole picture (I’m the kind of person who needs to have everything laid out in front of me to understand it). I created a number of designs, and tossed them all.

Just last week, I went back to the drawing board. I noted what I wanted to track, what worked and what didn’t, and more importantly, what just felt right. In order for a system to work, it has to flow naturally. The end result was a 2-page-per-day format, similar to FC, but customized for me. I used a basic design from DIY Planner , and hacked it to meet my specifications and design preferences. It just feels better.