[2 Minute Read or Listen Below]

What happens when your productivity increases? You're probably thinking, seriously? What a silly question; you'll get more done.
 
While it is accurate that you will get more done, there is so much more to it. Like most people, you probably feel overwhelmed. Your to-do list won't stop growing. Your email inboxes keep filling up, not to mention your packed calendar and general information overload.

​[2 Minute Read or Listen Below]

​We often spend much of our time and energy dwelling in the past and waiting for the perfect future while the present moment slips away.
 
Writing this on National Carpe Diem Day is a beautiful reminder to live in the present, as Carpe Diem means Seize the Day. We often place happiness on hold for 'someday,' delaying using new or treasured items or perhaps postponing action on resolutions until next January.

​[2.5 Minute Read or Listen Below]

Getting organized is consistently among the top five most common new year resolutions. So, it's no accident that January is Get Organized month.

But I want you to look beyond being 'organized.' January is the big exhale for many businesses after a (hopefully) busy holiday season. You should invest this time, or whenever it's off-peak for your business, to focus on improvements that will pay dividends long into the future. One of those improvements is systems.

​[2 Minute Read or Listen Below]

My holiday season officially starts only after watching the Walt Disney Pictures TV short, Prep and Landing, with my husband.
 
It tells the delightful story of an elite team of elves, known as Prep and Landing, that helps Santa get in and out of millions of homes worldwide in one night. By preparing each site and guiding Santa and his reindeer in for landing, the team saves the Big Guy an incredible amount of time, allowing him to accomplish this monumental task.

​[2 Minute Read or Listen Below]

As we hurtle down the runway toward the most hectic time of year for many of us, both personally and professionally, let's take a moment to keep things in perspective.

Recently, as I attempted to set my priorities for the day, I became acutely aware of my sense of overwhelm regarding what the next 8 - 10 weeks would bring. That's right. I felt profoundly overwhelmed even with my fancy-schmancy task management system and my weekly review.

[2.5 Minute Read or Listen Below]

Let's listen in on a quick conversation between a man and a woman. As the woman pulls items from their bedroom closet, the man lies on the bed looking at a magazine.

 Woman - "..., I cannot do this job without you. Most of these things are yours."
​
 Man - "Well, honey, why don't you leave all that junk in the closet?"

​[3 Minute Read or Listen Below]

How often do you say to yourself (or others), "there aren’t enough hours in the day?"
 
Time management is a popular term. It conjures visions of stopping clocks and herculean feats of efficiency, squeezing in one more task or commitment. In reality, it's less about managing time and more about managing ourselves and our decisions. We know that ineffective time management results in stress, anxiety, depression, sleep disruption, burnout, low self-esteem, and low confidence. Arguably, nothing we want.

[2.5 Minute Read or Listen Below]

​What does this quote say to you? It tells me in our quest for growth, the best time to act is now. So, what holds us back as we try to improve ourselves? Usually, fear and mistaken beliefs.

[2 Minute Read or Listen Below]

I know this about myself and suspect many can relate - sometimes, I have an all-or-nothing mindset. If I can't complete something from start to finish in one shot, I procrastinate starting at all.
 

[2 Minute Read or Listen Below]

A quick Google search of life's top stressors returns arguably positive events such as getting married, starting a new job, retirement, and moving to a new residence.
 
One might expect the positive nature of these events would negate their stressfulness. However, their persistent appearance on stressor lists contradicts this theory. At first glance, one explanation may be these life events create fear or concern about the unknown. A few of these events also involve daunting project management.

​[2.5 Minute Read or Listen Below]

I had a Zoom video meeting scheduled on my calendar. These days, who doesn't, right? Shortly before start time, the person messaged me saying their computer had gone into an unexpected update, they couldn't access the Zoom link, and they would have to reschedule.

[3 Minute Read or Listen Below]

What do you think and feel when you hear the word "routine"? For some, it brings thoughts of rigidity and mind-numbing boredom. For others, it evokes calm and a sense of accomplishment. 
​
No matter your reaction to the word, I promise you - you have routines. You may not have intentionally crafted them, but you have them. When we allow detrimental habits to play out on auto-pilot, these routines can work against us. When we use our routines for good, they create consistency and intention around positive behaviors.

[2 Minute Read or Listen Below]

Leadership First recently posted a quote on LinkedIn, attributed to Tim McClure: "When passionate employees become quiet, it usually sends a signal that the work environment has become very dysfunctional."

[2.5 Minute Read or Listen Below]

No doubt, you've heard the statistic that humans have a shorter attention span than goldfish. Human attention wanes between 6 and 8.25 seconds depending on whose statistics you read, while the goldfish hangs in there for 9 seconds. The commonly held belief is that technology has eroded our ability to concentrate with continuous notifications and never-ending scrolling.

​[2.5 Minute Read or Listen Below]

Those who know me know I'm not a fan of new year resolutions. I've stated before there is nothing magical about January 1st, and far too much emphasis is placed on declaring resolutions. That may sound ridiculous coming from a productivity coach, but I will say instead I am a huge fan of goal planning. You may think they're the same, but they’re not.

​[2 Minute Read or Listen Below]

Have you ever felt frustrated that things weren't going your way? I talked with my business coach recently, spouting multiple frustrations and reasons I felt overwhelmed.

[4 Minute Read or Listen Below]

Times of transition can be upsetting, frustrating, and overwhelming. Even if the change is positive, we feel we've lost our footing and cannot regain our balance. A variety of situations can make us feel this way: a job change, a residential move, a corporate acquisition, just to name a few.

​[2 Minute Read or Listen Below]

Have you experienced a moment so perfect it's fixed in your memory? I recently found myself absorbed in just such a moment.

[3.5 Minute Read or Listen Below]

If you've caught the news recently, you likely heard the term "The Great Resignation" of 2021. (For the benefit of those who haven't heard of it, The Great Resignation is a term coined to identify the staggering number of employees worldwide resigning from their jobs in 2021.)

​[2.5 Minute Read or Listen Below]

Every year, on the last weekend of August, one of the largest art festivals in the US comes to my city. After the surrounding streets are blocked, I love watching the artists set up their booths.

[2 Minute Read or Listen Below]

Monotony has set in, and I need to do something about it. How about you?
 
I believe monotony is the reason why, for several months now, I've had the urge to rearrange my office. The world's COVID-19 roller coaster has taken a toll on our collective mental and emotional well-being. For many of us, concerns for our health or the health of loved ones, the sudden shift to remote work, and the resulting feelings of isolation continue to leave us feeling unsettled.

​[1 Minute Read or Listen Below]

Is there anything that brings you so much joy you have to drop what you're doing to savor the moment?
 
As I worked from home a few days ago, three feet away, the window was wide open, allowing me to enjoy the cool morning air before Chicagoland temps reached far into the '80s.

[2.5 Minute Read or Listen Below]

If you or someone you know feels overwhelmed, raise your hand.
​ 
There are a lot of us raising our hands! A Harvard Business Review article supports this, stating most of us feel constantly overwhelmed with the demands, increasing complexity, and frantic pace of work. On top of that, we also have personal and family commitments. The toll this takes on us emotionally, not to mention the hit to our productivity and relationships, is staggering. We're paying the price with our mental health, our self-esteem, and shrinking downtime.

​[<3 Minute Read or Listen Below]

For years, I wanted to start a handwritten gratitude journal. But, the blank page of a journal staring back at me was always so intimidating. I felt this incredible pressure to have something profound to say, or it wasn't worth commemorating. Not to mention the intensity of finding something to write about every single day, or there would be a gaping void to remind me of my failure as a journaler. I also thought, who will have the slightest interest in my thoughts in the future?

How many of us blame ourselves for our lack of productivity and feelings of overwhelm? I'm not talking about the times we know it's our fault because we didn't put in a sincere effort. (And we know darn well when we didn't!) I'm talking about the times we genuinely tried, but things still didn't turn out as we expected.