When I was in business school, we joked that cleaning the bathroom never sounds as good as when you have an exam to study for. Usually cleaning the bathroom sounds tedious and dirty, but compared to feeling confused or overwhelmed by difficult material, scrubbing the toilet feels like safe harbor.
One of the magical things about decluttering is that it forces you to ask a wonderful question:
What is important to me in my life?
As you tackle a pile of clothes, a cluttered countertop, a shelf overflowing with books, there’s no way to get rid of clutter without answering that question.
I used to think, as many people do, that if we’re unhappy with ourselves, we’ll be driven to get better. And if we were all of a sudden content with ourselves, we’d stop doing anything.
I no longer believe this.
John and I use the shorthand of referring to our “big rocks” — what are the priority items in our lives that we should attend to before anything else? It’s a term we borrowed from this story about putting the big rocks in the jar first or there won’t be room: This post from Zen Habits is a great reminder…
My husband, John, and I celebrated our 14-year wedding anniversary this week, which had us reflecting on our gratitude for our happy marriage and what we think we’ve learned since we first said, “I do.” Just a few days before our anniversary, Leo Babauta included the following tips in his email newsletter, Zen Habits. I thought it was perfect timing, better…
We’re a little more than a week in — have you already abandoned your optimistic New Year’s resolutions? One of my favorite blogs, Zen Habits, recently had a post that spoke to the reasons we struggle to make change, even changes we might really want or need. The Child That Holds Us Back By Leo Babauta It took me a…
One of my favorite blogs, Zen Habits, recently had a post that felt like a richer, better version of several I’ve written on the same topic — setting goals you can achieve. As I’m writing this, I just finished doing crunches in my hotel room. I’m traveling and didn’t much feel like exercise, but I made a commitment to exercise…
One of my favorite blogs, Zen Habits, recently had a blog post that inspired me to share it here — and to supplement it with my own story about letting go of the illusion of control. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqktEPJIX3c] The Unpredictable Freedom and Sweetness of Chaos Post written by Leo Babauta ‘You must have chaos within you to give birth to a…
I’ve shared posts before from one of my favorite blogs, Zen Habits. I know you can read it yourself if you’re interested, but this recent column on dealing with negative people just struck me as such good advice that I wanted to share here. Zen Habits encourages sharing by offering all its content freely, without restrictions. This post, borrowed from…
Zen Habits is one of my favorite blogs, and the author offers full permission to share his content. So today I’m reposting one of Leo’s recent articles that really got me thinking, about what discipline really is. Enjoy. The Myth of Discipline Post written by Leo Babauta It’s one of the most prevalent myths of our culture: self discipline. The…
When I recently returned from South by Southwest Interactive, I couldn’t quite put my finger on why the 20,000-person tech festival fires me up so much. Sure, there’s a lot going on — compelling speakers, rockin’ parties, huge crowds on the sidewalks. But for a woman who lives in New York, it’s not like I couldn’t access those things any…
Zen Habits, one of my favorite e-mail newsletters, offered guidance this week on making New Year’s resolutions using the Six Changes Method. Here’s how it works: Pick 6 habits for 2010. Pick 1 of the 6 habits to start with. Commit as publicly as possible to creating this new habit in 2 months. Break the habit into 8 baby steps,…
I’ve noticed that the socially appropriate way to answer when someone asks how you’re doing is not necessarily “fine,” but instead “busy.” Maybe you add a flourish like “crazy busy” or “swamped.”
Believe it or not, the Internet is good for more than watching videos of skateboarding dogs — you can find loads of help on your journey to become a better person. One consistently great site is called Zen Habits. Articles on their Web site include: 20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life Simple Living Manifesto:…
