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How the Zen-Journal Planning System Prevents Overscheduling, Overcommitment, and Overwhelm

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The Zen-Journal system can prevent feeling overloaded and overwhelmed. pc: pixabay.com

Are you tired of trying every new planning system on the market and still feeling over-scheduled, overcommitted, and overwhelmed? I don’t blame you because that’s my story, too. After reading this article, it won’t be a problem any longer.

This is the third and final article in a series about mindful planning using the Zen-Journal approach to planning and scheduling that actually eliminates all the negative aspects of scheduling and planning.

Let’s review… [Read more…] about How the Zen-Journal Planning System Prevents Overscheduling, Overcommitment, and Overwhelm

The One Change You Can Make in Your Planning that Will Change Everything

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One simple change can alter your outcomes dramatically. pc: pixabay.com

If you had a magic wand like Harry Potter and just waved it over your planner, wouldn’t it be great if.. like -POOF- your schedule became lighter and you felt less overwhelmed? Guess what, there is…kind of!

Welcome back! This is the second post in a series of three on mindful planning.

In the first post, I wrote about how most planning systems get it dead wrong when it comes to how they rank tasks. Most instruct users to rank tasks according to importance and urgency.

I also demonstrated how urgency and importance are limited and lead to task stacking and ultimately over-scheduling. [Read more…] about The One Change You Can Make in Your Planning that Will Change Everything

Why Most Planning Systems Get It Wrong When Prioritizing Tasks

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Following the herd can get you in trouble. pc: pixabay.com

Every planning system known to mankind teaches you to prioritize your tasks. While the goal is a worthy one, they usually go about it the wrong way and that’s not only misleading, but it sucks to be you when you find this out.  But there is hope.

Let me explain. [Read more…] about Why Most Planning Systems Get It Wrong When Prioritizing Tasks

Which Notebook Should You Use for First Zen-Journal?

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My personal favorite is the Code & Quill Traveler… my review is below and it’s pure bliss to use

It’s a very personal choice

Like the pen or pencil of your choosing, the notebook you settle on is a highly personal choice. There are so many options both online and offline; there are hardcovers and softcovers, large, medium, and pocket sizes.

There are plain, ruled, box grid, and dot grid, and indentation page formats. Who’d have thought there was so much to consider in choosing a notebook?

I’ve used several popular notebooks and I’ll share my experiences with you for each below and maybe it will help you choose what’s best for your first -or next-Zen-Journal.

[Read more…] about Which Notebook Should You Use for First Zen-Journal?

How To Use Mindfulness to Survive and Thrive in Today’s Open Seating Work Environments

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Open seating workspaces aren’t what they’re cracked up to be

Open seating offices are all the rage in both Silicon Valley companies and across the globe, but for many they’re a problem.

While proponents of the concept boast about improved productivity and ease of interaction between team members, there is a growing body of evidence that sheds light on some of the more harmful aspects of the model.

In this article on Forbes, David Burkus -author of the titles, The Myths of Creativity and Under New Management– takes a look at the various studies that identified some startling negative effects on the inhabitants of open seating offices.

The findings include a 2005 study from researchers at Australia’s University of Sydney that found: [Read more…] about How To Use Mindfulness to Survive and Thrive in Today’s Open Seating Work Environments

How I Made ‘Doing the Work’ My Reward

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The lotus, a symbol of perseverance in Buddhism is also known as a water lilly. pc: pixabay.com

Yesterday, early in the morning, I had a satori moment. In the Zen Buddhist tradition, satori refers to the experience of kenshō,[3] “seeing into one’s true nature“. Ken means “seeing,” shō means “nature” or “essence.”[3] (You can follow those links and read for days on Wikipedia if you like, but that’s not what this post is about.) [Read more…] about How I Made ‘Doing the Work’ My Reward

My Most Meaningful Work – A 40+ Year Path of Gradual Awakening

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And we dance, To a whispered voice;
Overheard by the soul, Undertook by the heart;
And you may know it, If you may know it

Neil Diamond, Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Roles help us find ourselves

I’ve played many roles in my life: physician, professor, a college dean, a college president, a window washer, a retail store manager, consultant, and a guy who cleaned eyeglasses and hawked some anti-fog stuff for eyeglasses…yes, many roles and obviously not in that order.

You probably have played several, too. There is nothing wrong with playing these roles. But like we do in perfecting our golf swing or crafting the perfect cup of coffee, hopefully…eventually…we find a sweet spot. We find that one type of role within which we could stay in character for the rest of our lives.

Roles help reveal what comes easy to us. On a deeper level we call these traits, talents, and strengths. Over time we experiment with different roles to determine our interests. I see roles as hugely important because the results of these experiences ultimately inform us about our deepest work.

The rest this post is somewhat autobiographical. It discusses various phases in my life and the roles I played. It talks about the fractured process of discovering my strengths, talents, and ultimately, my deepest work and concludes with how you can avoid a similarly painful 40-year search for your deepest work. [Read more…] about My Most Meaningful Work – A 40+ Year Path of Gradual Awakening

8 Ways Regular Mindfulness Practice Can and Will Transform Your Brain

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Mindfulness practices can reshape and rewire your brain pc: unsplash.com

Mindfulness practice is a transformative practice. If you engage in eating ice cream five minutes every day, do you know what would happen? Your waistline would be transformed… and probably not in the way you’d want.  🙄

You wouldn’t see it changing each day, but over the course of a few weeks, you’d notice some changes.

That’s how it is with mindfulness practice.

After five minutes on the first day you might not notice any transformation occurring, but over a few weeks you’ll notice some significant changes.

[Read more…] about 8 Ways Regular Mindfulness Practice Can and Will Transform Your Brain

Your Workday Doesn’t Have To Feel Like You’re Living a Scene from ‘The Shining’

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Jack Nicholson in The Shining…like a bad day in the office pc: google

REDRUM, REDRUM…

OK, that’s a bit dramatic…(if you’ve seen the film or read the novel, you get it), but life working around Type-A folks can certainly  evoke some really strong reactions.

Anger, feeling hurt, annoyance, and othe forms of upset are example often how we choose to respond to various stimuli at work and maybe even at home, on the freeway, or around our kids.

It’s almost as if we possess a negative-reflex-thinking mode that becomes our go-to response, triggered over and over again each day.

Unfortunately this leads to increased stress levels, a dumping of stress hormones in our bloodstream, and ultimately to disease states like hypertension and heartburn.

That’s an unhealthy way to live. [Read more…] about Your Workday Doesn’t Have To Feel Like You’re Living a Scene from ‘The Shining’