treasured

My grandmother passed away in January at the age of 94.  She was an an amazing woman;  always calm, always supportive and always happy to see me.  She was a constant in my life and I miss her every day.

She and I shared a love of cooking, as well as a great meal in a nice restaurant.  It was because of her appreciation for good food that I loved to cook for her.  From as young as I can remember, I would decorate the table with china and specially folded napkins for her.  She was always so considerate to notice my efforts and compliment me on them.  I swear that even if the food was burnt, she would tell me that it was fantastic. 

Every time we had supper together, she would wear a particular black diamond ring. Every single time she wore it, I noticed how beautiful it was, how it rested on her finger and how it was her to me.  I have now been handed down that ring.  I have no idea what that ring is worth and quite honestly, it doesn't matter to me in the least and it never did.  What matters to me, is that every time I look down at my hand, I will remember her, our many meals together, the laughs we shared and how unbelievably special she was to me.  This ring means the world to me and somehow, I feel her very essence is in that ring.  I will treasure it every day.  Do you have an item from the past that is as special to you and if so, how do you treasure it?

inspired productivity

In January, my office was relocated to another building in the same city. Since, I believe that you should continually edit your belongings, packing up my office space was a great way to get rid of
some things that I didn’t love, didn’t use and didn’t inspire me.  I had documents that were outdated and quotes that were no longer relevant to me.  The more I packed away into boxes the more I realized that my life had moved forward, I had edited my home, but I had not changed my office space in quite some time.

So, I edited my office belongings, packed only the personal items that I needed and wanted and moved to my new building. I unpacked the boxes, put files into the cabinets and then got right back to work. Unfortunately though, I had noticed that my productivity was WAY down.   I felt unsettled and uneasy and not at all at home. My space was just a workstation and not at all reflective of me nor my personality.  Interior Designer Sarah Richardson once said, “If you can create a space that inspires you … you’ll work well. Simple as that.” It is the absolute truth and I know that THAT is why I was not productive. My space was not inspiring and it did nothing to motivate me to work harder, to be better and to achieve greatness.

I spent a number of evenings, considering my new office area, looking for pictures and quotes and things that I love, to add to my space. Most importantly, I really tried to focus on what it is that I want to create in my life. What are my goals and what objects can I place in my area that will remind me to keep my eye on them?

I put up pictures of my family, added a few plants and a contemporary desk lamp to add in some positive energy. I balanced the space with artwork that reminds me of where I wish to go with my career and placed a quote in my space that says “Do More of What Makes You Awesome”. I LOVE my new office and guess what? I am way more productive now and not-so-surprisingly … I seem to have fewer struggles than I did a month ago. Amazing how that works out.

So, while you may not go to work every day and have an office or a cubicle to consider, my guess is that there is at least one place where you do most of your work and spend most of your time, even if that is your kitchen or the home computer that you are sitting at right now. Take a minute and look around you. Are you inspired?

cyber-clutter

Somewhere at some point, I read a blog on organization and computers.  The author stated that not only do we need to consider the clutter that we surround ourselves with in our homes and our workplaces, but also in our computers! Most of us spend a lot of time on our computers, but we don’t stop to think about the excessive emails still sitting in our inbox, facebook friends that we no longer connect with and documents that we no longer need. This is cyber-clutter and it can affect us as much as physical clutter does in our living spaces.   

The author recommended editing out the emails that we get from companies we do not use (why DO I get two of the same emails every day from Pottery Barn Kids?). I have unsubscribed to a number of sites and I have to say that I feel a lot lighter because of it.  My inbox is less cluttered now and when I go away for a week, I no longer come back to pages and pages of emails, most of which I delete unread. Whew. That feels better. 

How much cyber clutter can you clear away?