Rooting Out Hidden Frustrations At Work by Ramona Creel
Feeling overloaded at work is never a good thing -- but it's doubly frustrating when you don't even know what's causing the stress. Something's just not right, but you can't quite pinpoint the problem....
View ArticleA Proactive Approach To Work Stress by Ramona Creel
So many times, we ignore situations that stress us out until it's too late. This is especially true at work where we feel less in control of the circumstances that surround us. We let the annoyances...
View ArticleReclaiming Your Energy On The Job by Ramona Creel
We all experience stress at work -- but there is no reason to let it take control of your life or your job. No matter what the cause, there are some fairly simple and universally effective steps you...
View ArticleWhat Are You Tolerating At Work by Ramona Creel
A friend of mine had a major epiphany this weekend while I was talking with her on the phone. She's an accountant, and was complaining about a client who drives her up the wall. As she outlined all her...
View ArticleA Lesson From Erma Bombeck by Ramona Creel
I was helping a client clean out the other day and came across a bunch of books by Erma Bombeck -- I hadn't seen these in years! My mother used to love Auntie Erma's sense of humor, skewering suburban...
View ArticleHow Much Is Your Time Worth? by Ramona Creel
Simplifying your life is all about prioritizing -- determining which activities are worth doing yourself, and which are better left undone or delegated to someone else. The first step toward making...
View ArticleCosts Versus Benefits by Ramona Creel
When I sit down with a client to work on prioritizing and delegating, the biggest challenge is always deciding what kinds of activities and responsibilities to give up. Quite often, we get so...
View ArticleThe Best Use Of Your Time by Ramona Creel
It's incredibly difficult for folks to admit that they can't do everything themselves. Well, guess what -- you can't! And I don't know that you'd want to, even if you had the time. Some activities are...
View ArticleTime Awareness by Ramona Creel
Some days it can feel as though, despite your best efforts, you haven't accomplished a dadgum thing. Quitting time rolls around and all you have to show for it is hours and hours down the drain, blown...
View ArticleTrimming The Time Management Fat by Ramona Creel
If you ask a group of people to define "time management", they will probably talk about getting it all done, crossing items off of a list, and being productive. However, good time management is not the...
View ArticleSelfishness? Or Self-Preservation? by Ramona Creel
Tell me if this sounds familiar -- someone asks you to do something that you really don't want to do or you honestly don't have time for. It might be a church bake sale, a school fundraiser,...
View ArticleWin-Win Time Management by Ramona Creel
Someone makes a request of you that you know you can't honor. You don't have time, you're focused on another project, or you just don't want to do it -- all of which are entirely valid and acceptable...
View ArticleEnergy-Draining Tolerations by Ramona Creel
Most of us put up with a lot of annoyances in life -- things that drain our energy, make us angry, or frustrate us. We act as if we are trapped by these situations -- but the real irony is that, in...
View ArticleKnowing When To Quit by Ramona Creel
I just re-watched " My Big Fat Greek Wedding " the other evening -- ah, the challenges of trying to step outside of the life you were programmed to live, in search of something more fulfilling! You...
View ArticleYou Make The Rules by Ramona Creel
I can't tell you how often I hear my friends, colleagues, and clients complain about how other people just don't respect their time. You've probably experienced it too -- either at home or at work. But...
View ArticleFree, Focus, And Buffer Days by Ramona Creel
A number of years ago, I was introduced to a way of viewing time (developed by personal coach Dan Sullivan ) that really resonated with me. It offers a very simple system for using your time in the...
View ArticlePatrolling Your Borders by Ramona Creel
Most folks have no clue how to draw the line with people who ask too much of them -- unfortunately, it's not something you really learn in school (why don't they offer a class called "Boundaries 101"?)...
View ArticleSimplicity: Radically Practicing What I Preach by Ramona Creel
When Matt and I hit the road as full-time RVers , I thought it would be an interesting sociological experiment for a Professional Organizer -- to see how simply we could live, how little "stuff" we...
View ArticleCould You Go A Month Without The Phone? by Ramona Creel
Are you addicted to your cell phone? One of those people who carries it with you everywhere, and just HAS to answer the moment it rings (even in the middle of a meal or conversation?) My favorites are...
View ArticleWaste Not Want Not by Ramona Creel
As a Professional Organizer , I am (of course) entirely opposed to clutter and excess. I help my clients clean out for a living -- if you're not using it, let it go! Some people think clearing the...
View ArticleCrayolas As A Stress Reliever by Ramona Creel
The other evening, Matt and I ate at a casual waterfront restaurant. Nothing fancy -- plastic plates, disposable napkins, and paper tablecloths. The kind of place that provides crayons to keep the...
View ArticleCareer Pressures And The Joys Of Irresponsibility by Ramona Creel
As I sat here today, trying desperately to be witty and engaging in my latest blog (my poor, tired brain fighting me all the way), I thought about the mixed blessing that is my job. Being self-employed...
View ArticleAppreciating Family While You Have Them by Ramona Creel
I have been thinking a lot about my mother this week. I officially became an orphan at the age of 38. My father died more than 10 years ago, and my mother just passed away two summers ago. I'm supposed...
View ArticleGratitude, Gratitude by Ramona Creel
All of a sudden, nearly two years after her death, I have been missing my mother terribly these past few days. But when I mentioned this to an acquaintance (who has never lost a parent and hasn't got a...
View ArticleWhy It's So Hard To See The Forest For The Trees by Ramona Creel
Part of simplifying your life is thinking globally -- making personal shopping and consumption decisions based on their larger long-term impiact, rather than immediate convenience. But when you talk to...
View ArticleRisks To Your Credit Rating by Ramona Creel
This week I got a notice in the mail telling me that a lien had been filed against me for non-payment of state taxes. Turns out the Maryland comptroller never cashed the check I sent in 2007, and in...
View ArticleGetting Off The Telemarketing Lists by Ramona Creel
Matt and I recently visited my elderly in-laws -- and I was amazed at the completely ridiculous number of telemarketing solicitations they receive during the day. Their phone rings off the hook with...
View ArticleHow Are You Giving Back To The World? by Ramona Creel
I got into a rather lengthy discussion the other day with a woman I didn't even know (I do that a lot!) about our responsibility for leaving a legacy to future generations -- exactly what each...
View ArticleRecognizing And Honoring Your Intelligence by Ramona Creel
I got into a lengthy discussion the other day with a coaching client about intelligence -- she was severely frustrated with her son, because he studies and studies for these standardized tests at...
View ArticleHelping Others -- The Key To Helping Yourself by Ramona Creel
I have been working extensively with a coaching client who is trying to dig herself out of a black hole -- she's facing medical problems, unemployment, financial worries, and a claustrophobic sense of...
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