(Make sure you read all the way through for the special bonus at the end of the post!

Last night went by in a blur as I was preparing for the opening of AverageGoddess.com.  I’m setting up interviews, planning tele-classes, loading articles, filming videos… you name it!

Earlier this week, I interviewed Holly Rigsby, America’s #1 Fitness Expert for Busy Moms, and also the author of FitYummyMummy.  Holly is awesome.  She’s the real deal.  She has a real story of how she came to be where she is, she practices what she preaches, and she and her clients have the bodies to show that it works!  Holly works out every day.  WAIT!!!  Before you go screaming away from this page, guess how LONG she works out for?  Seriously, guess.

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15 minutes.  I kid you not.  I’ll be honest, I was a little incredulous when I read that myself (especially since many of you know my history, and that there was a time in my life when I was working out 90 minutes – 2 hours a DAY), but it’s the truth. 

If you’ve read my book or my ezine (both free – get them here), you know that I ask everyone to tell me about their fitness program, how (or IF) they work it into their lifestyle, and what their challenges are.  Almost without fail, the number one answer I get is “I can’t find time to exercise consistently.”  Well my lovelies, I believe Holly has just solved that problem for you!  And did I mention that she’s FUN? 

I was originally planning to make this interview available only to members of AverageGoddess.com, but after speaking with her for well over an hour, I knew this was information that had to be shared.  This is NOT only for moms!!  Yes, Holly addresses the challenges that are unique to moms, but so many of us lead CRAZY-BUSY LIVES, this is the answer to a prayer!  Mom or not, you need to hear what Holly has to say, so I’m giving you the opportunity to download this entire interview.  Free.  Now.  Go get it here –> http://www.averagegoddess.com/hollyrigsby.html

Ok, so I did the interview, and I loved what Holly had to say, but that’s not actually what I wanted to talk about.  Back to last night.  (Sorry, I digress.)

So I’m eyeball deep in working on AverageGoddess.com and networking with amazing people from all over the globe.  Suddenly it’s 8:00, my husband will be home in half an hour, I’m getting hungry, and I haven’t exercised! D’oh!  Just for fun, I wanted to try one of Holly’s workouts, so I hopped over to youtube and picked her “Fat Blasting Holiday Workout.”  (I picked it because the video was just over 2 minutes long – lol!)

Oh my gosh, it was fabulous – and challenging!  I did three of each of the supersets, and by the time I was done, my muscles were fatigued, my heart rate was way up, and I felt great!  (FYI, I’m no fitness slouch, so I know a good workout when I’m getting one!)  The actual workout took me about 12 minutes, plus stretching before and after, I think I was done in under 20 minutes total.  You have GOT to give this a try.

This video gets two thumbs up from me, and while I may be a KittyMummy, I am just as appreciative of a fast effective workout as a BabyMummy!  Enjoy!

P.S.  Holly is providing a special bonus for the members of AverageGoddess.com.  Click here to get your copy of the interview so that you’ll be notified as the site nears completion.  It’s gonna be fantastic!

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. 

Please leave your comments below!

Find the resources you need at AverageGoddess.com

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

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

While I was working out this evening, and visualizing myself at my target weight by Thanksgiving (what more effective time to visualize than when actively on the road to one’s goal?), I got to thinking about what I could do differently this winter to prepare me for the onslaught of “hibernation mode.”

I think variety will still be my best defense… I need to make sure that I not only have different styles of workout, but different levels.  Going into winter as the new, much saner me, I can see that the answer is not to drive myself to spring like the last five miles of a marathon, but accomodate myself as necessary.  If there are days that all I want to do is stay curled up warm in bed (and here in Chi-Town, that is a straight-up inevitability), but I know that I can do a workout that will ease my frigid muscles while perking me up for the day ahead, I believe THAT is a lot more likely to get me down the basement stairs than a grueling torture session!

That said, I took my after-workout stretching time (usually 10-15 minutes) to brainstorm on what kind of things I’d like to try.  Friends of mine have highly recommended Jari Love, Ripped to the Core;  Jillian Michaels’ 30-Day Shred; and Qui-Gong, so I think I will start with those.  I will also pick up an aerobic step – preferably one that comes with a video.  I’m still hoping I can talk husby into gettin me a treadmill for xmas to keep last year’s elliptical company downstairs, but he’s balking because my fitness equipment is eating up his basement.  (A word from the voice of wisdom ladies:  NEVER promise your husband the basement can be his… you might want it some day!   None-the-less, I’m trying to win him over with the argument that it’s his job to maintain his trophy wife.  Right?  Can I get some back up on this?

The other prong of my attack will be to continue getting massages at least monthly, but preferably bi-weekly.  It’s amazing to me how it rejuvenates not just the body, but the mind and spirit maybe even more so.

So that’s where I’m at for the moment.  If any of you goddesses have any other suggestions, please do share!

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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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

 

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that’s already changing lives!

 

How To Be An Average Goddess

100+ Secrets of Smart, Savvy, Sexy Women,

Blazing a Path Through Life! 

 

 

www.averagegoddess-freebook.com

As some of you know, my current profession is as an interior designer.  I say “current” profession, because I have previously been an opera singer and biochemist, and will probably try other paths in the future.  You may also know that I lost about 25 pounds last year, and have managed to keep them off.  (Ok, it took me two tries, but that’s another story.)  How do these things relate to one another?  I shall explain in my usual (circuitous) fashion.

Losing weight (or getting in shape) requires more than willpower – it requires motivation, belief, and creativity… lots and lot of creativity.  Boredom and deprivation are two of the top three killers of most people’s good health intentions.  The third is something fitness gurus don’t talk about much, but is perhaps the most insidious, in that it is totally unavoidable… REAL LIFE!!  (DUM DUM DUM!)  This is where the creativity comes in.

Last night I did some major Tae-Bo – major in the sense that the soreness didn’t even wait till the next day to settle in – major like I was feeling the burn before the workout even ended.  (It was great!)  My intention this morning had been to get up and do some strength training.  We’re having the parents for dinner tonight (as guests, not food) so I knew I wouldn’t have time after work.  Well, real life dictated otherwise.  When I got up this morning, the effects of my Tae-Bo-of-Doom session were evident, and strength training was not happening.  Now here I am, eight hours later, sitting at my desk.  It’s raining cats and dogs, so folks aren’t really out seeking an interior designer, and for this one brief, shining moment, I seem to be caught up on all my projects… whoa.  Thus, I find myself with some down time, and I’m feeling rather recovered from last night’s exertion.  Guess what I’m doing?

Remember how I promised to get back to the relationship between my being an interior designer, and successfully losing 25 pounds?  Here we are:  creativity, people.  When “real life” intervenes with your carefully laid plans, you must adapt – you must be on the alert for opportunity!  My high heels are on the floor beside me as I do two sets each of squats and lunges.  I don’t have a yoga ball, but I do have a small tufted ottoman which is supporting me nicely through some crunches and bridges.  Bicep and tricep curls?  Well, I don’t have any dumbbells, but I do have… lamps without shades!  (And let me tell you, our lamps are no joke in the weight department!)  Whew!  This was awesome!  I should totally market this as the Designer’s Workout.     Your brain can do more than just talk you OUT of something (although it will if you let it)… if you force it to do so, it can also come up with some great solutions.

But wait, do you still have thoughts like “lazy,” and “fat-ass,” running around in your head when you think of yourself?  You seriously need to stop that.  You ARE what you think – no more, and no less!  You’ve all heard about the power of affirmations, positive thinking, and visualization.  Maybe you even think you’ve tried them, and they haven’t worked.  That’s because underneath your conscious positive thoughts, the negative ones were still running SUBconsciously.  I had read about folks who managed to lose weight just by “thinking thin.”  I’m here to tell you, this made a huge difference for me in my second time around the weight-loss track.  When I stopped abusing myself mentally, and started thanking my body for all of the wonderful things it does for me, my fitness world changed dramatically.  I now eat almost totally intuitively (with no calorie counting).  My fitness is improving and my weight is lowering even WITHOUT an hour and a half of exercise every day (which is what I was doing the first time around).  Pounds are shedding just because I THINK they are.  I feel lighter, airier… happier.  Now don’t think this is some sort of miracle where I just woke up at my goal weight one morning, cuz not so much.  (I’m still not quite at my goal weight, but I should be soon.)  It’s more like I’m not at ODDS with my efforts, and everything is happening with greater… simplicity.  Keep in mind the entire rest of this article.  It’s not as if I’m sitting on my sofa, meditating on my perfect health goals, and expecting to open my eyes and see it manifest (although I believe that’s theoretically possible!).  I’m still eating sensibly, I work out regularly, and I get at least eight hours of sleep a night so that my body can rejuvenate.  The difference is now that I have my brain’s cooperation, it no longer feels like such a struggle.

So if you’re trying to lose weight, get fit, or improve your health, follow these two important steps:

1.  Be kind to yourself.  Be grateful for all that you possess, physically and mentally.  See yourself as you wish the world to see you.
2.  Don’t fear life’s regular interruptions, because that’s what LIVING is all about!  Just keep your eyes open for unexpected opportunity, and be creative with how you approach your diet and exercise… it doesn’t always have to occur in the gym at 6:00pm sharp.

Here’s to your health!
All my love,
Kristy

Are You READY??

It’s almost time!!

We’re counting down to the release of

How To Be An Average Goddess

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

*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!

Time.  No one ever seems to have enough of it.  Where does it go?  When we get up in the morning, we all have the exact same 24 hours ahead of us, so why is it that some people can accomplish monumental feats of productivity, while others can just barely accomplish the day’s minimum survival requirements?  It’s not luck, my beauties, it’s practice… and active management.  I recently had a conversation with the vice-president of retail operations of a GLOBAL corporation, and we were discussing the ways of juggling all of the various “must-dos” that come up in a day.  This woman is on the move six out of seven days of the week, and I don’t mean to the grocery store and the bank, I mean across the nation.  She made the point that very little in her days happens by accident.  She doesn’t wake up on Monday morning, stretch, and say, “Hmmm… I wonder where I’m going this week?”  This is not to say you could ever control every possible contingency, but a strong plan will often stave off crisis before it hits.  So how can you learn to be a super-hero in your own world?  Here are two tips you can put into immediate action, adapted from my upcoming (FREE!) book, How To Be An Average Goddess:

1. “I can’t get anything done with all these blasted interruptions!!!”  Good news – they can be controlled, but it does take some practice.  Here’s the thing:  your conscious mind (the part that thinks it’s in charge of everything) is playing a little trick on you.  We all SAY that we hate to be interrupted, but you might be surprised.  When faced with a task we find daunting, or even just dull, we will subconsciously search out any opportunity to break the monotony, which only prolongs the task at hand.  If you pay attention, you’ll find yourself checking the email every time the alert sounds, chatting with passing coworkers, answering the phone, suddenly being overwhelmed by the desire to bake a cake… whatever.  So how do you combat this insidious foe?  Try rewarding yourself for tasks completed.  FINISH one or two items, and then take a 10-15 minute break to do something you enjoy.  Maybe have a snack, or call a friend, study that French, or read a few pages of a book.  (Or go chat with that coworker that you had to politely but firmly send back to her desk still bursting with the morning’s gossip.)  You’ll find you can focus better on the jobs that need to get done, because you are no longer viewing them as an endless stream of drudgery.  Furthermore, you will likely be more relaxed at the end of the day, and miraculously, you’ve also made more time for pleasure as well!
2. Chores, errands, small tasks… in a grown-up’s world, there’s always a litany of little things that need to be taken care of.  There is also that list in the back of your mind of bigger things you would LOVE to do, if only you could “find the time” to do them.  Well, unless you’ve been saving some time in a box under your bed (and if you have, you must teach me that trick!) you’re never going to just stumble across a block of time big enough to write the next great American novel.  So how do you balance the “bigs” with the seemingly endless “littles?”  Work on high priority tasks before lower priority.  “High priority” tends to be mentally equivalent to “difficult,” so frequently we use the rationale of getting all of this “little” stuff out of the way first, with the justification that we will then be able to focus on the big task.  Unfortunately, the reality of the situation tends to be that before you know it, the small tasks have eaten up ALL your time, leaving none for the items that were actually more important!  The answer here is actually surprisingly simple.  If something appears overwhelming, digest it in small bites.  Focus on the high priority item for 15-20 minutes, then do one or two of the smaller tasks.  Repeat until finished.  Let’s say you really need to repaint the house, for example.  That’s a whole weekend chore, and the laundry still needs to be done, the dishwasher emptied, the kids chauffeured, the groceries purchased….  Divide the house into sections.  Paint the front (the most important part anyway!), and then start the laundry, take a lunch break, empty the dishwasher, and before you go back outside, put the laundry in the dryer.  Paint the next side, then drop the kids where they need to be, and while you’re out, go get the groceries.  You can fill in the rest.  (Right?)

All my love, Kristy

For more ways to make YOUR 24 hours longer than everyone else’s or, “How to slow the turning of the earth,” stay tuned for my upcoming (FREE!) e-book:

How To Be An Average Goddess

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