A Tiny Bit of Real Talk and March 2013 Goals

 Posted by at 6:48 pm  Behind the Blog
Mar 052013
 

I’ve had a draft saved titled “March 2013 Goals” for several weeks now. I settled on a final list a few days before March officially arrived, yet I haven’t felt motivated to finish my post detailing which of my February goals were hits versus misses.  I haven’t felt motivated to share the goals I decided on for this month.  I haven’t felt motivated to do any sort of work towards said goals. I haven’t felt motivated for much of anything; especially in terms of sharing myself through this little blog these days.

I’ve been feeling pretty much the way Elizabeth explains in her post from earlier this week; “To say I am feeling a bit stressed lately would be an understatement.  To say I would like to hole up in my condo with a limitless supply of Cheese Doodles (and without contact with the outside world) would not be an understatement.”   [sub kettle corn for cheese doodles, of course.]

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I know that stress and worry is something we create ourselves, and I promise I’m trying to make this confession of said anxieties sounds as least whiny as possible.  I have brought this into my life and I’ve been on a mission to fight the impending “burn out” I’ve felt looming over my head for the past several weeks.  [Mission was launched after an over-emotional, over-tired, weekend of doubt and tears paired with the watching of the docu-film, Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop.]  I am in control of my emotions, my time, my priorities – and yet I haven’t yet found the balance I feel like I’ve been searching for in the past several years.

My biggest challenge has been accepting the fact that my to-do list is always going to be there and there will always be things to add to it, too.   I have a tendency to guilt myself into a black hole any moment I’m not GO!-GO!-GOING!, and it’s been a real fight not to fall into this habit in 2013.  I remind myself that I am the boss of myself and my internet-life and that I can work as many hours as I want to work, and no one is going to yell at me.  If I need to take a step back from one responsibility I have bestowed upon myself, or another, it will all be okay.  If I need to postpone a deadline or push back a project, it will be just fine.

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The funny thing is, these tasks and items of “to-do” all fall under the “my passion” file header.  I love the blogging community, and sharing my life through THS, and every part of HLB, and all that takes place in creating the Summit.   Each and every task is something I genuinely enjoy, no matter if it falls under the THS, HLB, or HLS heading.  Honestly, it confuses me – how can I love participating in all these tasks, and yet feel so very down in the dumps when I think about all that needs to be done?  How can I long for a break when I love getting to work with such a great team or people who I consider more than just internet co-workers, but my dearest friends and favorite people on the planet?  How can I want to crawl under my bed and hide from the option of spending time creating and planning and organizing – three of my favorite activities?  How can I turn my back on list making!?!?

These kind of questions send me into a mind-spiral, for certain.  The important thing and the healthy thing is to prevent the overwhelming anxiety I have found myself facing as March bestowed herself upon us.  “It’s okay to take a break” is written on a square of paper at my desk.  “It’s okay to say no” is scribbled on the page marker in my day planner. “Enjoy life and enjoy living it” is the mantra I’ve held tight to lately.

Today I am throwing away the first list I made for my March 2013 Goals.  I have created a new list.  A list of less. A list of enjoying life and enjoying living it.  A list free of nagging tasks and goals I’m not feeling, and full of rest and pause and simply being.

March 2013 Goals

Talk to a friend.
I’ve been holding all of this in until now because I don’t want to be the burden friend who is always complaining about self-imposed stress and worry.  I’ve been holding all of this in because it’s easier to hide from it and avoid the topic and just pretend like I’m not crumbling.  I’ve been holding all of this in because I am a fool. And I’m done with that.

Spend time with people. Period.
Real talk: I have a tendency to put tasks above relationships when it comes to my priority list, which is something I truly hate about myself.  Every time I make plans with a friend, go away for the weekend, or attend a party, I feel like I need to “make up” all the time I wasn’t working with late night hours or by setting my alarm clock for way too early the next day.  If I don’t find a way to make up the time, I feel like a failure and stress over how “far behind” I am until I am able to have a 3-day weekend of uninterrupted productivity, made by scheduling PTO from the office so that I can work at home.  I really would love to pour some energy into my relationships with humans this month and not feel like I need to compensate for it with more time working.

Read whatever I want to read, whenever I want to read it. 
Currently I’m excited for the #hlbbookclub pick, Julie & Julia from Julie Powell, and a large stack of magazines that have taken residence at my apartment over the past few weeks.

Embrace naps.
Because I was recently reminded of the power held in a good nap. Recommended reading: Change Your Life without Getting out of Bed from SARK

After having said ALL of that, I urge you to read this post from Rachel, please.  I want to add a disclaimer to so many of the sentences above.  Let’s just call Rachel’s discussion on the privilege of blogging be a step toward that disclaimer, okay? Getting Meta: Better Homes and Bloggers

Buffer App & Google Chrome; A Match Made in Internet Heaven

 Posted by at 6:50 pm  Behind the Blog
Jan 232013
 

Do you share the valuable articles, blog posts, offers, and images you come across with your followers through your social media accounts? 

I’ve said it before, and I’ll definitely say it again: I recommend using the Buffer App for sharing through your social media accounts. [Are you a Buffer user yet? Just grab this link to signup and we'll both get extra features for free: http://buff.ly/M14zjF ]

Did you know that I love all things Google? Google docs [and now Drive] owns my soul, I want to GChat my life away, the way I organize my Gmail mirrors the way I organize my life, and I swear by Chrome. [yes, I even have fondness for Google+.  But I’ll leave my defense for another time.] To put it simply, I LOVE GOOGLE. 

Now that you know this about me, it shall come as no surprise that the Google Chrome extension for use with Buffer is one of my favorite “work smart, not hard” tools.

To get the extension for Chrome, check out the Buffer extras page. Here’s a couple ways to utilize the tool once you have it. 

Time saving tip number one…

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To add to your Buffer queue while visiting the webpage you want to share:

1. Press little button and wait for Buffer to pull up it’s magic on your screen.

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BOOM! There it is.

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2. Deselect the accounts you don’t want to update with this particular link.

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3. Edit the text before and/or after the link.  Make your comment unique and polished for your followers. 

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4. Receive confirmation of the addition.

Time saving tip number two…

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To add to your Buffer queue while using your Google Reader:

1. When you have a post you want to share, select the small Buffer logo to the right of the post title.

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2. Deselect the accounts you don’t want to update with this particular link.

3. Edit the text before and/or after the link. Make your comment unique and polished for your followers.

4. Receive confirmation of the addition.

Time saving tip number three…

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To rename subscriptions in your Google Reader:

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1. Hover over the name in the subscription list.  Click on the arrow to get to the drop down menu.

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2. Select “Rename subscription” and enter your preferred name for the subscription.  I think that renaming the feeds to the Twitter handles of the blogger was one of the smartest things I’ve done this year.  It makes properly crediting the link as I’m adding them to Buffer from Google Reader so much easier and less time consuming!

[note: I also use this trick when I enter giveaways on blogs I don’t always read.  I add the date the giveaway ends to the subscription name and add it to my “Giveaways” folder in my subscription list. [you can store each subscription in multiple folders, which is handy in this case!]  Then when the giveaway date is up, I rename the subscription again by removing the date, and remove it from the “Giveaways” folder.

Conquer Your Overflowing Inbox

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Behind the Blog
Jan 162013
 

Last night, Megan, the blogger behind A Fiercer Life, left a comment on yesterday’s Twosday post.

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Wow, you spent 6+ hours organizing your email, amazing!  I have been putting this off for SO long and someday I need to do it.  Any tips for breaking the task up into small and more manageable pieces?  I find just the thought of it to be very daunting!

When I saw her question, I started writing a super lengthy [and, of course, rambly] response in the comments section.  But then I thought that someone else with a similar overflowth of electronic correspondence may benefit from my crazy need to have a plan, and decided to share it here, instead. 

So here we go.  Yes, I do have some tips. Or perhaps just a sharing of my own experience.

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Here’s what I did.

I made a list of what to do, then worked my way through it.  Do you use Gmail multiple inboxes? I do.  At this point in time I should stop and tell you about Gmail multiple inboxes, but honestly, Kath does such a great job of explaining it that I’m just going to have to point you to her video about it.  Go ahead. I’ll wait here.

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Welcome back! So, with my multiple inboxes, I use five colors of bangs/stars, for five categories.  My categories are Follow Up ASAP, Follow Up Soonish, To Do Eventually [mostly emails from myself when inspiration strikes but I don’t have time to fully form an idea or begin a task], Information at the Ready, and Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy! [emails to reread when I need a cheer up!]. 

For this email clean out, I didn’t need to dip into the last three categories, only the Follow Up Soonish and Follow Up ASAP folders.  Also, my general inbox was full of unorganized messages from weeks before Christmas! 

I work best on a task-fueled to-do list. So, I made a list, which looked like this:

  • go through red stars
  • go through yellow stars
  • go through inbox
  • start timing self to deal with emails for real

Then I started doing those tasks.  I set some rules for each of the sections I was going through. 

I planned to reorganize and reprioritize my Follow Up emails.  I read each and every email that was in each inbox, and if I could respond in 3 minutes or less, or I felt compelled to write a lengthy response at that moment, I did so, removed the star, and filed it in the correct file [I have TONS of folders and subfolders in my Gmail]. 

While I sorted through each inbox, it was easy to notice I had several emails that could be filed or deleted without a response.  Deadlines passed, content irrelevant, things you replied to but then just never did anything with.  It’s all in there ready for you to deal with it in just one click of a mouse.

For the emails that I wanted to spend more time on, or didn’t have the energy to respond to right in the moment, I made a quick decision on whether to file it as a “Follow Up ASAP” [red star] or “Follow Up Soonish.” [yellow star]  I made a rule before I started reprioritizing the emails that I would respond to all of the red stars within one week, and the yellow stars within 3 weeks. 

I tried to be quick with each decision, and once I got the ball rolling with the email sorting and responding, it really wasn’t hard to pick and choose which ones needed more time and which were ready [or extremely overdue] for a little bit of my attention right in the moment.

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One of my best ever productivity tools was a big help in this process, Online Stopwatch.  I use the countdown feature all the time in my office and at home, too.  I set the timer and tell myself I will take a break when the alarm rings.  It keeps me on task knowing that I have a little break for internet surfing, snack compiling, or a nap.  You can set the timer for any amount of time you’d like.  If you find yourself hating the email clean out process more than anything else [including vacuuming – yuck!], try setting the timer for 5 minutes at a time and work your way through.  Once you pick up momentum, you may find yourself motivated to try 10 minutes at a time until you’re finished. 

When all was said and done I had nine emails in my Follow Up ASAP inbox to take care of this week.  Have more emails come in since then? Of course! All those people I spent 6 hours replying to had something to say, for one.  But I’ve tried to keep my same principle with my email this week as I did when I was sorting it.  Star the ones that don’t have instant priority, respond to things that take 3 minutes or less, write on the subjects I’m feeling motivated to respond to, and at all possible costs, try to live by the “touch it once” rule. [which reminds me, Elise has a great post on email tips!]

I know it’s not going to be a perfect solution forever.  I know there will be emails that hang out in that red folder for far longer than a week.  But I feel like I’ve finally got control over something that has been dragging me down for MONTHS. [I replied to one email from JULY this past weekend. and several from August. I know, I’m ridiculous.]  If you’re feeling like your email is a tad past crazy, dive in.  You’ll feel so much better at the end of it all.

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