Today’s women are called to perform so many tasks, and fulfill so many roles, they truly are nothing short of modern-day superheros.  Every one of us is an average goddess, perfoming unsung heroic tasks as part of our everyday lives.  How many of these are a part of your regular routine?

• get the kids up
• make sure they’re dressed, fed, and to school on time
• get yourself ready for work
• make sure you look good
• perform at your best on not enough sleep
• find clever ways to eat healthy (or remember to eat at all!)
• get some exercise
• tidy the house
• wash some laundry
• get something together for dinner
• pick up groceries
• get the kids home from school
• chauffeur them to their various activities
• make sure homework gets done
• connect with your partner
• try to enjoy a hobby
• entertain on weekends
• find energy for sex
• pay bills
• call the refrigerator repair guy
• pick up a gift for your husband’s sister
• go to bed AND get some sleep… before you do it again tomorrow!

Have you ever stopped to think about what you accomplish in a day?  (I swear, the only thing we need to get this country back on track is to get a super-busy woman on the task.)  You are amazing!  From one act to the next, to the next, to the next… and only occasionally does something fall through the cracks.

But what if there was more?

“More???” you ask.  “How could I possibly get in any more?!?”

What if “life” consisted of something greater than madly dashing from item to item on a to-do list, and actually LIVING? 

This is the goal of women who want it ALL.  For us (yes, I’m one of them), it’s not enough to hit the pillow at night just knowing that “everything got done,” because guess what? WHOOPEE!  It’ll be waiting for you to do all over again tomorrow!

We want satisfaction. 

We want joy. 

We want growth.

We want enough time and energy left at the end of the day to pursue our OWN passions, achieve our OWN goals, and remember who we truly are as individuals!  (No, who you ARE is not a frenzied drone who’s purpose is to satisfy everyone else’s needs - no matter how often it may seem that way.)  With all of the monumental feats we perform in any given 24 hour span, it tends to be this ONE idea that eludes us, and truly, it is the keystone that supports the arch of our lives.  Without it, it is only a matter of time before we crumble…. and perhaps you’ve already been there once or twice.

So how can this thing be accomplished?  By creating a sense of harmony.  By both weaving together the various aspects of your life, and by creating boundaries.  By coming to understand the difference between things that are important, and those that are merely urgent.  One of the greatest gifts you can give to your loved ones is the example you set by allowing yourself to be free and whole. 

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There are always going to be some days where, no matter how important the job (or sometimes because of how important the job is!), you are just having a hard time getting focused and staying on task.  Maybe you can’t get started at all, you’ve gotten started but keep getting distracted, you’re overwhelmed by the size of your to-do list, or you have several items of seemingly equal priority and aren’t sure where to start.  Here are some great ways to get (and keep) you moving.

1.       When you can’t seem to get started:  Choose your task and think it through from beginning to end.  Make a list of all of the tools necessary, and gather them together now – you don’t want to build in interruptions by having to stop to get something.  Set a timer for 30 minutes, and 30 minutes only.  For those 30 minutes, accept no interruption and work as hard as you can, with the agreement that at the end of that half hour, you can take a break, switch tasks, or keep going.  The majority of the time, you will have become so involved in your project that you will want to see the task to completion, but if not, make sure you honor your agreement with yourself.  You can always repeat this process later, but in the meantime, you have accomplished some solid results.

2.       When you can’t seem to maintain focus:  Work on a series of tasks in small bites of 15 minutes each.  This is not as effective as the dedicated focus of tip #1, but some results are better than none.  After a couple of projects, you’ll usually find a rhythm and start to settle in, but even if you go through the entire day in this manner, you will have made considerable progress on your list.

3.       When you are overwhelmed by the length of your to-do list:  Start by prioritizing your list, select the six most important, then commit to 60 minutes on each project.  Set a timer, and switch when it goes off.  This will keep you from getting so involved on any one project, that you never get to the others.  Take a 10 minute break after each one, and give yourself a work-free lunch after item number three.  This is vital to keep you fresh and energized for each new project, as well as to allow you to decompress and refocus.  Note:  some items will probably not require the full 60 minutes.  Switch when you complete that item.  If you have time remaining for a second round, start with the project you initially got the farthest on, but did not complete, and repeat until all are finished.  This will make a sizeable dent in your list.  If you finish your list of six, make a new list.

4.       DO take breaks, but schedule them by task rather than time.  For instance, take a break after you finish project x, not at 11:00.  Taking breaks at a scheduled time keeps you focused on the clock, instead of the task at hand, and as break time draws closer, you will mentally begin to disengage before the appointed time.

5.       Work in a pattern of “little-little-big.”  We feel motivated when we see results, so by accomplishing two small tasks before tackling a large one, we feel like we’re on a roll!  When you’ve then finished the large task, returning to easy projects is a welcome relief.  This also ensures that your entire day does not mysteriously disappear into a vortex of minutia.  We often intend to just “get the little stuff out of the way,” and end up never getting to the projects of greater importance!

6.       When you are looking for distractions, do your best to eliminate them.  Turn off your email alerts, TweetDeck, and cellphone, unplug your land line, and put on headphones (you don’t even have to play anything on the headphones, but they will keep people from talking to you!).  When your task is complete, give yourself 10-15 minutes to make the rounds and collect your various messages.  Rinse and repeat.

http://www.thegoddesswithinmovie.com 
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Wishing you a passionate, prosperous, and powerful day! 
Kristy Nichols 
a.k.a. The Average Goddes

Planning your meals in advance is a priceless tactic for making a quantum leap forward in saving time, money, and energy, all while improving your health!  In the grocery store, you’ll save time by not wandering aimlessly through the aisles, trying to figure out what will “hold” your family for the week, and you’ll save a ton of money by not impulsively tossing items that “sound good” into your cart.  You know exactly what you need to feed your tribe, and if it’s not on the list, it’s not in the cart.  Morning and evening meal preparation are hugely simplified, since you won’t be staring blankly into the cabinets trying to figure out what to make.  Your diet will benefit tremendously as you are planning calmly and with intent, instead of haphazardly on the go.  You can choose smart meals to suit your family’s dietary needs, you won’t end up mindlessly munching or resorting to fast food in desperation, and it gives you the opportunity to plan more variety into your diet, providing a wider assortment of vitamins and nutrients, keeping you healthy and satisfied!

To begin the process, start collecting recipes and keep them in a binder or a database on the computer.  “Recipes,” in this context, does not have to mean something that requires cooking.  It can also mean ready-made store items, like frozen stir-fry meals, lasagnas, etc.  Keep a journal of what you’ve tried and liked.  You can make notes on any changes you’d make the next time you prepare that meal, what you paired it with, how long it took to prepare, the cost of the meal, the nutritional content… whatever information makes sense for your needs.  A three subject notebook can be a great organizer:  Try meals, sides/snacks/appetizers, and desserts/beverages; or just breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.  The only thing that really matters is that all your information is in a single location, not on scraps floating around loose.

 When preparing your grocery list for the week: 

• Take a quick look at the family’s schedule to see on which days it is realistic to plan to cook a meal, how much food will need to be packed in lunches, and when members are likely to be grabbing on the go.
• Make a list of meals that suit your available time.
• Try to incorporate at least one new meal or recipe.
• Look for recipes that provide leftovers or are easily prepared in double batches, and try to include one or two spaced through the week.  This will make lunch preparation super easy.
• Add ingredients for all meals to your grocery list, then go back and cross off items you already have on hand.  This eliminates the unpleasant surprise of discovering something lacking when you’re already cooking.

Keep in mind that putting your system together can (and should) be an organic process.  You do not need to sit down and catalog everything your family has ever eaten all at once.  Just begin keeping track as you move forward week by week, and figure out what level of detail is comfortable for you – maybe you want to jot down notes each evening while it’s fresh in your head, maybe you want to price out meals each week when you return from shopping, or maybe you want to devote an hour a week to cataloguing the previous week’s meals.  Start today and you’ll build your resources in no time!  The benefits of planning your meals will be immediately apparent in your reduced grocery (and restaurant) bills, and reduced stress levels when preparing meals throughout the week.

Other goddess recommendations:

Goddess Brandy, also known as Paintandsoul, puts together a list of lunch, dinner, and snack options for the week, then buys ingredients for them.  When she’s ready to eat, she looks at her list to decide what to make.  (Check out Brandy at www.visionaryrealm.com, www.deviantart.com/paintandsoul, and follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/paintandsoul) 

Goddess Sara looks to see what’s in her cabinets first, then matches that with recipes from recipezaar.com.  This is a great tip if you have cabinets full of stuff that’s not getting eaten!  She also makes 3-4 casserole or crockpot meals through the week in order to have “planned-overs.”  (Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sarafigueroa)

Get your free copy of the book How To Be An Average Goddess at http://www.averagegoddess-freebook.com, and receive a complimentary subscription to the Secrets of the Sisterhood ezine as my gift to you!

Follow Kristy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/averagegoddess

A dear goddess friend of mine has been working for several months to rid her life of clutter, once and for all.  She has been organizing her home a room at a time, with excellent success, in spite of the fact that she suffers terribly from asthma and allergies.  Today she is tackling her workspace in anticipation of an imminent career change, making it necessary for this area to function flawlessly, in spite of it’s small size.   Workspaces are second only to kitchens in their magnetic pull to frightening levels of clutter (but she’s already conquered the kitchen!).  They are a vicious sucking vortex for important papers, projects, memorabilia, and generally anything else you’d prefer NOT to lose, but ultimately somehow end up feeding the morass… 

If you have a workspace or other small area currently draining the energy from your home (as clutter notoriously does), here is a process to POWER your way to organization.  The only caveat is that it MUST be finished in a single day!  (More on that later.)

This was my response to her blog post:

You go girl!  Sniffle your way to organization!  (So you’ll be able to find the tissues when you need them. =P) 

Take everything OUT of your workspace.  Clear it down to the bare bones – furniture and walls.  Now, arrange the furniture the way you’d like, if it isn’t already.  Clean everything – dust your surfaces, clean your windows, vacuum…  Now go to your pile o’ shtuff that you eradicated from the room.  Using a SMALL box or bag, bring items /  papers back into the room a few things at a time.  Put them away in your totally clean space.  Have several LARGE garbage bags ready and label them Trash, Recycle, Donate, and Shred.  If there isn’t a place for it in your sparkling new workspace, it goes in one of these bags.  Be ruthless.

Why this works:  1.  Starting from a “perfect” space, and introducing items INTO it, acts as a psychological barrier to a certain level of clutter, which you might otherwise be inclined to just accept.  2.  Because you are not shuffling items from one surface to another, it is exponentially more efficient.  3.  Because you started from a clean slate both physically and mentally, you will be better able to locate the items you need going forward.

Why it MUST be done in a single day:  If you leave the mess you created in another part of the house, even for just a day or two, it will begin to infiltrate that aspect of your life instead… now all you’ve done is traded one cluttered area for another… ugh!  (Especially bad if you extradited the office clutter to an area you’ve previously organized!!)

Go get ‘em tiger!!

So what area have YOU been turning a blind eye to for longer than you’d like to admit?  Reclaim it!  That’s YOUR space, YOUR energy, and YOUR life!

Have a passionate, prosperous, and powerful day!
Kristy
a.k.a. The Average Goddess

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As an interior designer, one of the biggest challenges I see people face is moving into a new home.  There’s something really intimidating about that big blank slate.  I think it is for that reason that so many fall into the trap of trying to arrange the new home exactly like the old one, in spite of the fact that they are nothing alike! While I totally understand the rationale in this behavior, its success rate is precisely one in a million… and that would only be if you’ve bought the exact same model of home you just moved out of.  THESE rooms are a different size, different shape, different configuration, with different walls, different windows, and different traffic patterns! Trying to set up the old house in the new space usually just ends up a total function failure and looking like a confused hodge-podge.

The steps I go through for my clients are very simple, and you can do them yourself. 

#1.  Before moving in, try to spend a little time in the new house – a couple hours if you can.  Stand in each of the empty rooms, and try to imagine how you’d like the finished space to feel.  Don’t be thinking about your furniture at this point, just let the space “talk.”  Walk repeatedly from room to room.  Get a sense of how the major traffic patterns are going to flow.  Which doors get used the most?  How do you enter and exit each room?  You may also want to take note of where the cable and electrical outlets are for rooms which will have television and computers.  Have a notebook with you, to jot down any ideas that come to mind, or important features that you want to remember.  Also bring a camera, and take about four pictures of each room, standing in each of the corners so that you get all views. 

#2.  When you are finished, take an inventory of what pieces you own that you intend to bring with you to the new home.  You may want to prioritize them if you don’t think they will all work going forward, but if it’s coming with you, make sure it’s on the list.  This should include primarily furniture, art, and lighting, but if you want to be really thorough, you could include accessories as well.

#3.  Now it’s time to start imagining what pieces might work where.  Have your photos in front of you.  Do NOT be married to pieces living together just because they always have in the past!  Remember how you felt when you were in the home, and use your judgment regarding how best to fill the needs of each space.  Your matching upholstery set doesn’t all have to be in the same room if one piece would function better elsewhere, or if there isn’t sufficient space!  Let the loveseat become the main piece in your master sitting room, or in the kids’ basement playroom.  That’s one less piece you need to purchase!  The art that has ALWAYS hung over your sofa may be the perfect piece for your entry hall.  Further, don’t bind yourself to the intended function of a piece of furniture.  Sure, it was meant to be a sideboard, but now it would be a beautiful sofa table.  Tell me why that china cabinet wouldn’t be an awesome bookcase at the top of the stairs.  The best way to approach this is to view each piece as an individual item, unrelated any other.  This will allow you to really use your imagination.  Get outside that box! 

#4.  Let’s just talk for a moment about sentimentality.  Yes, it has it’s place, but if there’s no room for that item in your new home, that place is somewhere else.  Home should be inviting, relaxing, and uncomplicated.  It’s hard to feel at peace with stuff crammed into every nook and cranny – it’s too distracting.  If something was a gift, that’s great!  Remember that the item is NOT the person who gave it to you, or your memory of them and the event.  The same goes for inheritances and “first purchases.”  (“Oh, but that was the first thing we ever bought together!”  Yes, it has served you well, and now it’s 25 years out of date.  Let go.)  If these things simply don’t work in the new space, don’t wallow in guilt about parting with them.  Take a picture and write a story about what that item means to you.  Put it in an album where you can forever enjoy it, without having it dominate your life.  That person never meant to give you something that would become a burden.

In the end, having this flexibility with your possessions will pay off in a big way.  It will save you a ton of time and backache trying to rearrange after the movers have left.  Better still, you will get more use out of more of your existing items, which means less that you have to purchase, or at least that you can phase your purchases over a longer period of time.  I also find over and over again that when my clients see their items in this totally new context, the reward is two-fold.  First, it makes them feel as if all of the pieces were brand new, and second, being surrounded with the things they know and love has the effect of making this stranger of a house suddenly feel like home.

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100+ Secrets of Smart, Savvy, Sexy Women
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This is it! - Average Goddess, meet THE WORLD.  *trumpets!*  *fan-fare!*  *Wahoo!*

As you probably know, my free ebook, How To Be An Average Goddess, was finished a couple of weeks ago.  Since then, I’ve been striving to find just the right way to bring it to you, and how to bundle it with other things you might find equally wonderful and useful.  Ulterior motives?  Of course!  I want you to fall madly in love with all things Average Goddess.  I want to build an entire alliance of Average Goddesses across the globe – a pageant of motivated and goal-oriented women who are NOT afraid of their own strength and success!  I want to provide you with every tool you need to take that journey, and to become that woman… to find the goddess that lives in every single one of us.  I want to over-deliver on all of your expectations.  I want to show you that eating healthy is NOT a monumental task, that fitness does NOT have to be an elusive concept forever just out of reach, that success IS garnered one achievable step at a time, that family and friends CAN be the most rewarding facet of your life instead of the most taxing, and that the universe IS conspiring at every moment to bring you the life of your dreams!

What you get right this second is a FREE newsletter that’s packed with articles, tips, products, and inspiration to get you started.  Join me now and grab your newsletter, Secrets of the Sisterhood, and the book How To Be An Average Goddess, hits your inbox Saturday morning (assuming technology performs as it should!!).  And of course, you still get all of the regular articles here at Divine Musings, as the world continues to spice up my life with things I feel MUST be discussed!  What you can look forward to in the future is a whole series of books, cds, interviews, videos, and an entire website devoted to nothing but helping you achieve your dreams! 

Ready?  Then get your goddess on!  Just click the link below to be a part of this revolutionary community… filled with goddesses just like YOU!

http://www.averagegoddess-freebook.com/index.htm

 *Adapted from the upcoming FREE e-book:

How To Be An Average Goddess

100+ Secrets of Smart, Savvy, Sexy Women, Blazing a Path Through Life!

Clutter… It’s the modern monster in the castle. How much simpler would it be if we could band together as villagers and just march in the night with our torches and pitchforks, ultimately putting an end to the nightmare once and for all? Ahhh… Happy thoughts. Unfortuantely, it’s not that simple. All a torch would net you in this case is a likely house fire, with a whole host of worse problems than a messy kitchen, office, or “that-room-whose-door-is-never-to-be-opened.” Ok, so if flames are not the answer, how can you combat this ugly beast sucking the energy out of your home and your life? Organization is not that complicated really, but it does require you to roll up your sleeves and put on your very best “it’s time to reclaim control of the situation” hat. Honestly, if you’re in a mess (literally), but you’re not serious about getting to the root of it, you’re just going to end up in the same situation a short time later. Here are a few simple ways to tackle the behemoth:

1.  Getting started is the most difficult part of the entire process. Give yourself plenty of time, preferably uninterrupted. The following is a very brief overview, but believe me, the library and bookstore are filled with shelves of help on the subject. Clear an area, and have four categories set up: keep, move, donate, and dump. Laundry baskets work great for this. “Keep” refers to items that must remain in the space you are working on. “Move” means they don’t belong in this area. (Resist the temptation to go put them away. Just place them in the pile where later, everything can be put away at once. You need to stay focused.) “Donate” items are those which are in good condition, but for which you no longer have a need or want. “Dump” is for anything damaged or useless. Strive to put as many things as possible in the last two categories. As you are sorting, don’t think too hard about the items. Just keep moving, as fast as you can – your goal is to get to the bottom of the pile. When you are finished, remove the donate and dump items – not just from the space, but from the house. Put the donations in your car, and the trash in the garbage. NOW is the time to put away properly all of the items in the “move” pile. (When I say properly, that doesn’t mean to plop them in another room – it means to put them away where they go.) Now it’s time to return and face the “keep” pile. This is the most challenging part of the adventure. You must assess each item’s value in terms of function and space required. Be brutal. If things don’t meet your standards this time around, start new donate and toss piles. If you do decide to keep something, you must know exactly where you are planning to put it. Remember the following rule: no home = no need. Paper is an insidious foe when it comes to sorting. Have the following items nearby to assist you as you go:   

1. shredder – Old documents that are no longer needed for records, mail that has been attended to, pre-approved credit card offers, etc., should go right in.

2. hanging file box – This is a great time to get your system in place. Start sorting as you go, without creating a new mess all over the space you just cleaned.

3. recycling bin – This is where all of your greeting cards should go (yes, I am completely serious), old school notebooks, magazines or catalogs older than four months, newspapers older than one week, and any non-personal floating paperwork.

Now here’s the fun part of organizing – putting it all away. This is where you create the function and the look that will save you from having to do this again next year. Put the things you use the most close at hand, and store the rest neatly in clear, labeled, accessible storage boxes.

2. You must separate sentimentality from functionality. Mementos, gifts, inherited items – over the course of a lifetime they would require an entire house of their own – but the key thing to remember here is that you don’t have to lose the memories. Go through these items, and decide which ones have real value to you. If they are important, they should be treated as such, and they deserve to be well displayed – they can’t be properly appreciated in the context of overall clutter. For some of the less important or redundant items (do you need two BUCKETS of shells from the Cape??), try taking a photo, writing a paragraph description about what it means to you, and create an album. This takes up much less space than say, a china cabinet. Now you can maintain the memory, and still have room to live your own life… just like Mom would have wanted.

For more ways to take control of your possessions, instead of the other way around, stay tuned for my FREE e-book, How To Be An Average Goddess. You’ll find tips for handling periodicals, small appliances, and *gulp* the project pile. Coming soon!!

All my love, Kristy

*Adapted from the upcoming FREE e-book:

How To Be An Average Goddess

100+ Secrets of Smart, Savvy, Sexy Women, Blazing a Path Through Life!