MamaManagement

From an art class I took last summer. This ended up being the background for all the mini-paintings I did this fall. Today I'm here to urge you to take a class . I know you're super busy. I know there are already too many things crammed into your day. I know you've got work and home and kids and spouse and workouts and family and friends and general life stuff all vying for your attention and time. And the last thing you want to do is add something else into the mix. But I don't care. I still think you should take a class. I don't really care what kind of class you take. It can be one that gets you further in your career. It can be one that introduces you to a new hobby. It can be one that you've always wanted to take. It can help you learn a new sport. (Tennis, anyone?) It can be online. It can be through your community rec center. It can be at a local college. What and where it is doesn't really matter all that much, as long as it's somet...

I always spend time at the beginning of each year thinking about the year ahead of me. I have this notebook in which I've been writing thoughts and dreams and goals and ideas for years. I pull this notebook out and I look at it. I flip through the pages and soak in all of the aspiration and energy that radiates off the paper. It's like taking a bath in optimist soup! Then I focus in on what I wrote last year. What was I brainstorming about? What was I trying to do? And what of that did I accomplish? When I've done all of that, I usually start brainstorming around the new year. In the past I've even come up with a theme for the new year and centered my goals around that theme. But this year was a little different. First of all, now that writing has become more of a job than a hobby for me, I create two separate lists: one of writing goals and one of life goals. Like anyone with a career, you're likely to have work goals and personal goals. For me, those ...

Over the years I have become a master in the art of notes. I make notes to myself in my phone, on sticky notes, in my calendar, on long lists, in writing notebooks and planning notebooks, and in my head. I leave notes for my kids in their lunch boxes. I write notes in cards and emails and text messages to my family and friends. I send reminder notes and favor notes and random thoughts to my husband when he's at work. I have note pads and note books and note apps galore. Lots of places and spaces to make notes to myself. Do this. Do that. Don't forget this. Remember that. And I love them. They give me a certain sense of security. They assuage my anxiety. Or, at least I thought they did. I mean, they did...until they didn't. Somewhere along the line my note making went from being a helpful habit to being something more akin to an addiction. But, as far as I know, there's no twelve step program for note making. So, I'm on my own with this one. Over the last ...

Last night I was on the floor of my daughter's room stretching while she read to us from the biography  Who are Venus and Serena Williams?.  (It's part of the "Who Was/Is" series, which we are pretty much addicted to.) We're a good third of the way into the book and she's reading to me about Venus and Serena's early teen years, right before they joined the WTA and went pro. I stopped her mid-chapter to emphasize what she'd just read...that the Williams' sisters would practice 6 hours a day, during that time, in addition to school work and regular life stuff. Isn't that amazing, I said to her. They clearly had talent, but to become the best, that's how hard they had to work. To win tournaments, to become great, to make it their job, they had to practice 6 hours a day. That's a lot of work, I said, marveling over the fact that they hit more than 100 serves everyday. Can you imagine how tired their arms must have gotten? I asked. ...

I love it when I get to combine favorite things...like writing and coffee shops, and friends and red wine, and delicious food and my favorite foody/hubby. Great combinations get bonus points if you throw in some coffee, too. Well, I've been working one of those kinds of combinations a lot lately by reading books (favorite thing #1) that inspire and motivate (favorite thing #2). (And yes, I often enjoy some coffee...or tea...while I'm at it.) It is possible that I'm even a little obsessed with this combination right now...not that I'm the type to go overboard with a good thing... I've mentioned many of these books in various recent posts, but I thought I'd share them all in one big ol' book post. So, if you're looking for a little inspiration, if you need some motivation, consider checking out one of these books and see if, perhaps, they are the kick in the pants, or the shift in perspective, that you're looking for... Present Over Perfect ...

To know me is to love me...and to accept my weird obsession with resolutions and goals and betterment-seeking. I sent this picture to my dear friend Wendy the other day. Here's our text conversation that followed: Me: Do you think I have a New Years resolution planning problem? Wendy: Yes! But I appreciate your attempt at organizing your life, self, etc. Me: Are you questioning our friendship right now? Because I'm working on my personal mission/vision/values*...and I'm using colored pens. Wendy: No, I am rooting for you...and your pens. Me: I love my pens. That's the love of a true friend, yo. I am one of those life-long leaner types. I am a seeker. I am always looking for ways to broaden my horizons, deepen my understanding, and better myself and my life. I am always on a path of enlightenment of one sort or another. And the beginning of a new year has a tendency to really amplify this characteristic in me...so does getting older, I think. I know ...

I LOVE the new year...like, really love it. After the crazy indulgence of the holidays, there's something just refreshing about the blank slate of a new year. Everything seems possible at the beginning of the year. The fatty, sugary food gets trashed. The decorations come down. The kids go back to school. New calendars and planners come out-- fresh and clean . It all makes me want to deep clean the house and get rid of all the junk. It makes me want to detox my body and rekindle a healthy relationship with food and exercise and meditation. I make lists of all the things I want to do...all the things I want to be. I brainstorm and read articles and listen to audiobooks and meditations. I get so excited by all the possibilities! I mean, I could be a completely different person this year, than I was last year. I could be anyone...anything. More of this. Less of that. What will I be? What will you be? Every new year, it's like being young again...if we let it be. Th...

Hey friends! It's that time of year again! New year...New you! Last year at this time I was gearing up to start my first Danette May 30 Day New You Challenge. I completed that, went on to join her Forever Fit program, and have stuck with her eating, workout, and meditation plans ever since. (If you want to read about my experiences from last year, you can click on Danette May's name in "Tagged Stuff" in the righthand column. Or start with this post here: https://mamamanagement.blogspot.com/2017/02/30-days-to-new-me-danette-mays-30-day.html ) Buuuuuuuut... November and December were kind of crazy months with Nanowrimo and the holidays and some anxiety (insert dramatic eyeroll here) and, well, let's just say that I fell off the Danette May wagon (don't tell her). I almost completely stopped my workouts and meditations and I'd say I was eating on-plan about 60% of the time. And my belly will tell you...not so good an idea. So, here I am at the st...

A stack of books on writing and publishing One of my dream jobs, if it existed, would be to get paid to audit graduate school classes. If money was no object, or tuition was free, I think I could, quite happily, collect graduate degrees like pretty shells on a beach. I have one...I think I could easily work up to five, maybe six. One of my favorite times in my pre-kid adult life was when I was in grad school. I loved learning. Once I graduated and had to put my degree into practice...well, let's just say it didn't take. But I loved the learning part. I felt alive and creative and inspired when I was learning. I was so... interested . Now, switch gears for a moment with me. I've been seriously writing for a while now-- It's been 3 years since I wrote my first draft of my first novel and I have been writing regularly ever since. But I haven't studied writing, outside of the occasional book (like, Stephen King's On Writing ...which is great, by the way), ...

My daily intention: Stay Loose; and some other touchpoints (in this case, bracelets) to remind me of what's important I've been working on mindfulness for a while now. It used to be that I spent a lot of my time lost in thoughts of the past or the future. Nowadays I'm more likely to get lost in thoughts of all the things I should be getting done or plotting how I will manage to get them all done (and doing laps in the pool of guilt and shame for not getting more accomplished each day). But I'm trying not to do that. I'm also trying to focus on what's important rather than what seems urgent. One of the ways I do this is by setting a daily intention--an over-riding idea, theme, objective for my day, each day. I try to do this right when I wake up, but sometimes it's more like 9am before I give it the thought it needs. Sometimes it's a phrase, sometimes it's just one word. Today's intention is Cherish . I often write my daily intention on...

It is December 2, which can only mean one thing in my world...that National Novel Writing Month has come to a close for another year. And I am psyched to report that I am a winner once again this year!! I wrote just over 50,000 words of my new novel in the 30 days of November, which is pretty freakin' awesome. Mind you, I still have probably another 20,000 words to go before the draft is done, but...still, a huge feat! And one I never would have done in that kind of time frame without NaNo. Which is why I love it. I liken NaNoWriMo to training for a marathon once a year. For a period of time it takes over your life. Most all of your free time is dedicated to the project and you tend to annoy the people around you by talking about it all the time...which is only really interesting to other people who are doing it too (not unlike marathon training). But this is all just because it has hijacked your brain and your life. Despite the fact that I annoy the people around me during ...

Happy New Year, friends! Welcome 2015! I love the New Year. (New Year's Eve...not so much. But New Year's Day? The month of January? The month of fresh starts, of clean slates, of new beginnings? Love!) At the beginning of every year I give a lot of thought to what worked and what didn't in the last year...what I liked and what I didn't like...what I want to change, as well as what goals I want to accomplish. There's a lot of trying to kick old habits and start new ones, but I also try to set some real, measurable goals for myself. I tried not to wait until the New Year to start my resolutions. I thought that this was a good plan. Because I think, when you've allowed yourself to get so far off track that you can't even see the track anymore, you need to start hiking toward the track sooner rather than later. Why wait for an arbitrary date to get that ball rolling, I thought. As it turns out, old habits die hard. Which means that the really quite te...