Welcome to To Do Lists

Just as I get something done, five more things suddenly need my attention. I try to get everything in order to get everything done in a timely manner (or at least have a hard deadline). Some days it's an easy thing to do. Then there are the days where nothing seems to want to get accomplished.

When it comes to work, I better have everything on my To Do List done by the time my boss and/or client wants it. There is very little room for error and it is unlikely that I'll receive any reminders for minor things (these minor things are of course essential to a project's end). I need to prioritize which items need to get done first, which tasks will be the most time consuming, and where in my timeline something must fit in. It can be a difficult thing to do when you have to answer a phone every five minutes.

My at home To Do List is a lot less formal than my at work one. It also tends to include a lot of "I need to clean this" and "you need to make a phone call". It can be difficult balancing down time with being productive. There are just some days where it's nice being curled up in a little ball with a good book instead of running around town.

Then there are the sudden change of plans that you can't always predict. Take for instance my current life. Around the beginning of March, my current roommate mentioned that she wanted to move in with th or significant other. Okay no problem. I'm very happy for them, but what is my next step? Did I try to find a new roommate? Did I find my own place? What's my deadline?

If you want to know how that story ends, well, I'm moving out in two weeks. I will have a blog post about that soon enough.

What are the best ways to keep a To Do List? Here are a few tips:

1) Make a list and stick it somewhere you can see it - post it notes are annoying and useful here.

2) Put it in your phone/tablet/computer - nothing is more annoying than getting 12 notifications in the span of 30seconds to do something. Motivation right there.

3) Get a planner or calendar - I feel this one is very straight forward. It's also for people who don't remember what the notification in their phone is. The act of writing things down is also a great way to boost the memory.

4) Creat an outline with a priority level and timeline with all steps involved in completing a task - this is more important for work To Do Lists.

5) Annoy someone else into remembering it for you - it doesn't always work and you might piss a few people off. I don't really recommend this one, but if you do choose to use it be prepared for the consiquences.

And those are my tips for getting things done and crossing items off of a To Do List. Find the best combination that work for you. Now I need to get back to packing.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to the Hecktic Month April

It's almost April 15th. If you live in the good old U. S. of A. then it's almost time to file your tax returns. Isn't that wonderful? No? Well too bad it still has to get done, whether we want them to or not.

April always seems to be a busy month. Before I graduated (college or high school there's not much difference for this), April meant that it's was the homestretch. Exams were just around the corner, which was then followed by the freedom of summer. I miss those days sometimes. Sometimes the state exams even started in April.

Last year at this time, I was getting ready to move to New Jersey. This year I'm getting ready to move to a new place, thankfully only ten minutes away. I seem to never catch a break in April.

This year I think the seasons decided to play a massive April Fool's Day joke on us in North America (at least on the east coast).  Here in New Jersey, we were supposed to get snow last weekend. It was still miserably cold, but there were only a few flurries. My home state of VA, though got a light dusting and apartently they got a small storm by my mom in MI. Thanks April, it wasn't like we hadn't already had a weird winter or anything.

I'm one of those people who likes stability. April is rarely a stable month. I think it's because it spring. It's a time for new life and a fresh start. The flowers are starting to bloom, a lot of animals are having babies, and it's finally warm enough to go outside without five layers of clothing on.

I've heard that April used to be the start of the new year (this was back a long time ago Europe). It makes sense since winter has left and life seems to return to the world. Maybe with all of the changes this season I'll make a seasonal resolution (in addition to any New Year's resolutions I may or may not have made). This season I resolve to bring positive change into my life and grow to except that some things are just out of my control.

Now, I just need to survive my birthday, moving, and my three month review at work. It should be a piece of cake.

Or at least manageable.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off), please like, share, or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Let me know if you guys have any seasonal resolutions too!

Welcome To Making Important Decisions

Oh, April, you can't ever be a simple month. There are so many things that go on during the month of April that it's sometimes hard to keep it all straight.

It's not even like April was ever an easy month. When I was still in school, April meant the start of exam season. Sure, I was excited for summer break to start, but the amount of work I had to due to earn that time off was annoying at best and down right depressing at worst. Then for senior year, add in the stress of finding a job, well, I was going just a tiny bit bananas.

At this time last year, I was freaking out about my living situation. Now I am once again freaking out about my living situation. I have to either find a new roommate or a new place to live. If only everything (*cough rent *cough) weren't so expensive in this state. There's also my taxes I have to think about, making sure my car is state approved, etc, etc, etc. Being an adult is a never ending cycle of things that need to be done.

Important decisions are inevitable. There are a lot of times where I have no idea which option to choose or which path to take, but I have to do something. There's always the option to do nothing, but it's not as realistic as I like to pretend that it is.

Making decisions while stressed is a bad idea. At least for me. Some people thrive under stress. Now me, I question myself too much. I like to be calm when a make decisions. I know I've though things out and am ready for whatever comes next.

One of my yoga teachers recommends standing on one foot before making a major decision. She insists that it works. I'm not sure if it's a psychological calming technique or if it's a coincidence, but she swears by it. Do I personally think it works? Well I'm not going to say it doesn't work. I find that standing on one foot helps me focus, almost like meditating.

The other major factor in making a decision is my gut. I used to watch a lot of NCIS and the character Gibs always made a point of listening to his gut. He's totally right. Nothing is more important than gut intuition. A good or bad feeling can make all the difference.

So the next time I'm faced with a major decision here's what I'm going to do. Take a deep breath, lift one foot, focus on the moment and go with my gut. Hopefully I don't question myself too much after that.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Until next week.