Tips and ideas

What makes a task difficult?

Since I often spend time thinking and talking about time management, I’ve pondered what makes some tasks difficult. Maybe it’s me, but it helps to consider why a specific goal is difficult for…

Keep reading

Start where you are

One thing the pandemic has taught us is that teens sure know how to complain. Or is that just mine? But one of the complaints that has struck me is this feeling that…

Keep reading

When do we get to rest on our laurels?

I admit, I tend to be cranky about the phrase “don’t rest on your laurels,” because it invariably accompanies praise for some accomplishment. That is, instead of allowing anyone to feel good about…

Keep reading

Variety and consistency are key

I’ve been more successful this year in cultivating an exercise habit. Avoiding human contact has meant I haven’t caught colds or non-headline-grabbing viruses, and so far (knock on all things wooden) I haven’t…

Keep reading

Day One: Nanowrimo

It’s November, and some of us know what that means. No, not the election, but if that’s on your mind, this is the video that is giving me a burst of hope and…

Keep reading

Writing during a pandemic

The appropriate content for such a title should be a blank space. How can I write while trying to make sense of the What If’s and the What Actually’s of this pandemic? It…

Keep reading

Slow Down

Today’s affirmation arrived over a decade ago. I was attending a professional development workshop that included an optional visualization activity in which you identify an obstacle to your success. For me, the obstacle…

Keep reading

Revision Redux, Round 3

Just wanted to report on my progress on the revision. I finished the over-700-page (!!) Douglass biography this week and took some notes that may be helpful in thinking about my novel, plus…

Keep reading

How I make time to write

Trying to find time to write is one of the main ways I learned time management, which I went on to teach to college students for over twenty years. I thought I might…

Keep reading

#amcranky

I have discovered that if I am not immersed in novel-writing, I am very cranky. Be glad that you are reading this online and not hanging out with me right now. I’m getting…

Keep reading

Reframe your words to boost success

In my work with college students, I have become a fan of Carol Dweck’s concept of the Growth Mindset. Here’s a youtube video on the subject that I quite like. When all is…

Keep reading

New Year’s Resolutions

It’s a new year, and as those who know me might predict, New Year’s Eve is my favorite holiday because of the chance to make resolutions. I actually set goals as often as…

Keep reading

Back to work

The days before and the day immediately after a break tend to wreak havoc on my ability to get work done at my day job. I move as if underwater, and my brain…

Keep reading

The ride

When I was young, grocery stores often provided a mechanical cartoonish animal, sometimes a horse or a dragon, that children could ride at the cost of several quarters, perhaps for being good during…

Keep reading

The Appreciative Lens

I believe I mentioned that I tend to be a glass is half full type person, more or less, so it is appealing for me to express gratitude, that is, to apply an…

Keep reading

Loading…

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

%d bloggers like this: