Procrastination & Productivity

You’ve Got Time

YOU’VE GOT TIME [I-IX]. Series. Watercolor on 7.125×10.25″ paper.  $300 each includes US shipping; $10 off on each additional if they are going to the same place at the same time. Painted at Lake Winnipesaukee in summer 2023.

Buckle up–we’re going on a journey through time and sunset and the human psyche!

This series was born one evening at Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire last summer. I was sitting on the steps down by the lake doing what I had looked forward to all day–painting by the water. So much sooner than I was ready, the sun began to set, and I was seized with the familiar symphonic juxtaposition of emotions, thoughts, and sensations that tend to come up in me in these sunset moments: joyful overwhelm at the beauty; awe at the fact of getting to witness it; a desperation to have more time with the light; protestation at how little time of lightness was left; an ache at how quickly the day had flown by; gratitude and delight at the luxury of having a little bit of time at the end of my day to paint in such an inspiring place; awareness of the insane privilege inherent in same; urgency to soak up every second of beauty and opportunity. 

And an existential mandate to make the most of every bit of light before it’s gone. In these moments, I’m flooded with the awareness that I still have a tiny bit more time before darkness falls and all activities of the light are unavailable until tomorrow. 

The sun is still up–it hasn’t set on the day yet. There’s still a little bit of time left!! 

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Are You Bringing Your A Game? (a Super-Simple Strategy to Get More Done)

Do you have the feeling that you could be accomplishing soooo much more than you are?

I had a day like that recently.

I did some important things—had an awesome foundation session with a new client, Skyped with my mom (we are determined not to fall out of touch!), and completed some writing…but I still felt a little underwhelmed with my productivity.

Looking back on the day, I knew that some potential had slipped through my fingers.

So I woke up the next day determined to GSD*.

I used a strategy that I think might help you too. …

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Why You Need to Share Your Scary Goals

Who’s cheering you on?

I’m gearing up for an opportunity I never imagined I’d have, and it got me thinking:

How do we take care of ourselves when we’re venturing into new territory?

When we’re going for something that we really want?

If you are doing something a little scary that really matters to you (and I hope you are—because that means you’re growing!!), tell at least one person what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and that you are scared.

Here’s why: …

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My iPhone, Myself

Baby's first Instagram...
Baby’s first Instagram

This may shock you, and it’s a little hard for me to admit…

…because I don’t think of myself as a tech dinosaur.

But here’s why there was no article yesterday:

I left my house to meet a new friend for coffee in the morning, and ended up finally—unexpectedly—completing a project that has been incomplete for over a year.

When you can feel in your gut that you’re on the verge of completing a long-procrastinated task, sometimes it’s good to accept the gift of inspiration and allow your day’s plans to change.

Though I had different plans for my day (including writing to you), I knew that I should ride the wave of motivation to complete this epic (hey, one gal’s mountain is another’s molehill) task: …

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How to Stop Wasting Your Time

If you’re like—oh, just about anyone—you’ve had that moment.

Perhaps you have it many times a week.

One minute you’re sitting down “just to check something real quick,” and what seems like the next, you’re an hour or two in.

An hour into Facebook commenting and sharing, Hulu clicking, TV watching, or thumb twiddling, you realize that you have just completely wasted an hour of your time.

You’re not recharging, relaxing, or replenishing.

Instead, you’re procrastinating, and further draining yourself, sinking further into inertia.

Stalling on taking action—any action—that will actually move you forward, feed your soul, or enhance your relationships, business, or life. …

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Ignorance isn’t Bliss: Why You’re Avoiding What You Need Most—and How to Coach Yourself into Action

What are you avoiding because you feel like a total newbie?

What physical pain are you not getting checked out, because it’s scary to think of what might actually be wrong?

What unmade phone call or inquiry is draining your energy?

How would it feel to have that action behind you?

What would you be able to do with that extra energy? …

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How Bad Do You Want It?

I used to think that people who created certain things—who built businesses, or were on the radio, or wrote books—were fundamentally a certain kind of person.

A kind I certainly wasn’t.

As if there was some sort of predestination involved—and I was not one of those people.

Because who the hell am I to think I could do that?

I always felt I had something inside me to share on a bigger scale, but it seemed downright silly or deluded to even share that feeling with myself—let alone anyone else!

Everyone and their mother thinks they have a book in them, I thought.

But one day, I was in the shower, listening to an interview of a researcher/writer on NPR, feeling a slight twinge of envy, and suddenly, I had a Duh Moment (this is my term for an Aha Moment that seems obvious to the point of idiotic in retrospect): …

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How to Break through Procrastination…by Procrastinating

Never in my life has my living space been neater than it was during college finals.

Truth be told, I have never been the naturally neatest person.

(Somewhere out there, my parents are laughing and thinking, “That’s the understatement of the year!”)

But you would not have guessed that to see my room in college.

For four years, everything had a place.

My bed was always made, my desk always organized, with nary a paper clip astray.

How?

How did I maintain such a neat and tidy space when my room at home was always a disaster area? …

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