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Pacing Your Holiday Busy; Up Close and Personal

1435817704_optBelieve it or not, some of us already have the holiday table set, gifts already purchased as well as wrapped, and menus planned. But… then there’s everyone else. There are those who slowly and steadily accumulate gifts and check off diligently, and yet there are those who haven’t even begun to think about jumping into the frenzy. So where are YOU on the continuum?  One thing I know, for sure…it’s personal.  Very.

Having already celebrated Chanukah, I’m no longer channeled into the shopping cue, so I’m observing with a more objective eye.  I’m now more cognizant of the frenetic energy in each store I enter, and sense the heightened anxiety on everyone’s faces.

It’s so very easy to get caught up in the tumult around us. The stores are filled with the contagion of holiday busy and TV commercials are selling holiday joy every 10 minutes. Inevitably, we are lured into the madness. These influencers can interrupt our focus.

The challenge is in finding the balance.  Here’s how;  Don’t get caught up in other’s exuberance, find your own rhythm.  Above all, make your own choices. It’s your holiday,  your personal kind of joy. Don’t beat yourself up for not keeping up with the “idealized” version of the holidays.  Not everyone is shopping for cars, and diamonds, and expensive technology. Not everyone has the time or money to shop endlessly.

Keeping pace that’s within your comfort zone will be far more fulfilling than trying to measure up to somebody else’s.

Pacing your holiday busy means beating to your own drum.  It really has less to do with being more organized than the next guy, it’s more about knowing your natural life rhythm,  identifying your objectivesand the ability to manage time.  Certainly, effective time-management strategies play a huge role in customizing your pace. Taking on too much in a concentrated period of time is fruitless.  Evaluate your “busy” and be sure it’s filled with activities you enjoy. Holiday shopping, party invites, and celebratory dinners can overwhelm your schedule. Choose wisely.

Quite often, we burn out and stress out before the holiday even arrives. Instead, take a time out.  Find your personal pace and seize the opportunity to experience the great joy of celebrating your way.

Somehow, it all gets done.  It always does.  Even if your proclivity is to be the “last-minute” shopper, and you’re more inclined to wait it out, you could be just as productive as the early bird “doorbuster” shopper. Choose the kind of holiday busy that works best with your comfort level.

The holidays are indeed a beautiful time to celebrate life, family and friends.  The key is to let it be joyful, not stressful.  Listen to your inner voice and sync your personal pace with the holiday commotion. Perhaps you need to slow it down, or do less.  Pay attention.  Truly, that’s how to create a “happy” holiday.

Are you all “wrapped up” in holiday busy? How are you pacing yourself? If you’ve got a minute, come join in the conversation 🙂

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How Well Do You Know Yourself?… The Secret to Your Personal Productivity

Not everyone is a self-actualized person.  It takes a very insightful individual to pay attention to who they really are.  I like to call this sixth sense, one’s life rhythm. Essentially, it is understanding what makes you tick.

We all approach life so differently in accordance with our own individual personality styles.  I have often blogged before about our unique learning styles and how these different modalities affect the way we understand organization, but I recently have realized that we must also factor in our general life rhythm. Are you in or out of sync with yourself?

Making a real connection with our consciousness will impact how we move through our lives and will organically affect our productivity

Let’s talk about stress. We all manage our anxiety levels in a discriminatory way.  Have you thought about how you handle pressure?  Are you a last-minute person, or do you like to prepare?  Do you delay making decisions, or do you cut to the chase?  Do you get a vicarious thrill from living on the edge, or do you play it safe? When you’ve answered  all of these questions, you will gain a keener sense of who you are, and discover if you are indeed in touch with your inner you.  There are so many layers to all of us, it is so very difficult to identify each and every one of them.

These triggers will formulate the patterns of one’s life organization.  I have seen time and time again from clients that no matter what organizational principles I implement, their natural personality style beats out any systematized solution I provide.  One client in particular, continuously stresses to me that she’s unlikely to prepare ahead of time for any meeting, manage her child’s readiness for after-school activities, or respond in a timely fashion to any social engagement.  She just shoots from the hip, and is very comfortable with that.  I’ve realized that her reaction to cause and effect is immediate.  This formula has always been her life rhythm and will always be.

From a personal perspective, although extremely organized, I understand that I function at my optimum, under extreme pressure.  As a college student and way beyond academic life, I have always preformed best under duress.  Somehow, whenever I leave myself with too much on my plate with too little time, I fully engage in the challenge of succeeding.  The cogs start to rapidly turn, my energy and commitment morph into high gear, and I recognize that I am fueled with the pressure of a deadline.  My organizational skills are heightened.  I know and understand that I perform best this way.

Certainly, there is no cookie cutter pattern to living an organized and productive life.  But before you can even attempt success, you must first really understand who you are at your core. Get in sync with yourself.

Identify your proclivities.  Work with your strengths and outsource your weaknesses.

Think about what feeds your productivity gene. Can you identify your life rhythm?

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