Masterful Mindsets

“There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither.” ~ Alan Cohen

We are coming to the end of the mini-series on how to organize your day for maximum efficiency. Today I’ll take on the last of the concepts that caused resistance from my original article. So, if you feel guilty for taking breaks or just believe you are too busy to pause during your work day, this post is for you. Because pushing yourself to keep working without taking breaks in hopes of getting more done, is actually causing you to get less done. The truth is, taking a break isn't a luxury, it's a necessity! Studies show time and time again that there are huge benefits to taking breaks - and increased productivity is just one of the many benefits.

I was talking with a colleague recently who was feeling extremely overwhelmed and overworked. She was under a deadline for a project she was working on and felt so much pressure to finish that she’d been skipping her workouts, spending l...

“Busyness is an illness of the spirit." ~Eugene Peterson

Last week I got on my soapbox about how multitasking or task switching, as it really is, doesn’t work and is just a lie we believe, which ends up sabotaging our productivity because it makes even the simplest tasks take longer to complete.

So now before we go on to the last concept that I’m going to cover for organizing your time for maximum efficiency (which I’ll talk about next week) I want to jump back on my soapbox and address a bigger issue. One that perhaps is the underlying cause of all this need to get more done.

You see, I believe that habits like multitasking are just a “symptom” of a bigger issue, which is that many people are simply busy being busy because they suffer from busyness sickness. When and if they do get caught up, they add more to their list and cause themselves to become even busier. Busyness sickness is often caused by being afraid of not being enough and failing because of it. But unfortunately, ...

“To do two things at once, is to do neither.” Publilius Syrus

To continue responding to the messages from my recent blog about how to organize your day for maximum efficiency, this week I’ll be talking about a statement I made that caused a bit of a stir with some people. I said that, multi-tasking does not work. (“Multitasking is a Lie.")

Of course, I had a couple of people tell me that they are great at multitasking. Which, I’m sure they are. But being good at something that isn’t a good thing… still doesn’t make for an effective practice. (It’s kind of like saying you’re good at drinking. Doesn’t mean getting drunk is good for you.) 😉

There is a common misconception that multitasking is a great way to get more done in a shorter period of time. Quite the contrary actually. Multitasking is really not as time efficient as you’d think. As a matter of fact, studies show that the time it takes you to complete tasks can increase up to 25% for even the littlest, simplest tasks. And ...

“You’ve got to wake up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.” ~ George Lorimer

Last week I shared several big tips for organizing your time for maximum efficiency and I got a lot of response from subscribers and followers about them because I think it definitely hits a sensitive spot with so many people who are feeling overwhelmed and over-extended.

So, for the next few weeks I thought I’d respond to some of your inquiries by breaking down the concepts more specifically, starting with the one that I got the most inquiries about… which is how to create a positive morning routine. I’ll be addressing the following questions from readers:

What does a good morning routine look like? - Do you have to do it every morning? - If you don’t have enough time as it is, how can you add a morning routine? - What is your morning routine?

First let me say that there’s no one size fits all routine. Each individual is different so your lifestyle and your...

“With organization comes empowerment.”  ~ Lynda Peterson

If you had a dollar for every task on your To-Do List, would you be a millionaire? If you are like most people (myself included) you probably have a million things you want to get done. But of course, the reality is that there are only so many hours in the day so you have to choose what will get your time. And if you read last week’s post, you know that choosing how you spend your time is ultimately, how you spend your life. And that… is priceless; so you must choose wisely.

You must visualize your goals and prioritize your tasks. But once you’ve done that, if you really want to spend your time well, you’ve got to organize your day with maximum efficiency. So if you are someone that has a long To-Do List that never seems to end or you have a hard time staying focused and on task, its time you maximize your time and get more done in your day.

Last week I told you I’d be writing more soon on helpful tips to organize your day...

“The decisions you make determine the schedule you keep. The schedule you keep determines the life you live. And how you live your life determines how you spend your soul.”  ~ Lysa Terkeurst

Time management isn’t just about organizing your tasks and your time. It’s about making soulful decisions. So ask yourself: Do you have a desire burning deep inside your soul but can’t seem to find the time for it? Do you find yourself feeling overwhelmed BY life but feeling underwhelmed ABOUT life? Is how you spend your time in alignment with what’s important to you?

We all have the same 24 hours in a day yet some people seem to waste their time or fill it up with things that just really don’t matter or light their soul on fire. For some it may be because they are people pleasers. So they don’t want to say no to others and consequently, put everyone else’s needs in front of their own.

For others, they may be stalling or finding distractions as a defense mechanism because they are afraid to ...