August 6, 2009

Get In Gear Newsletter

a note from Cairene

Ever since encountering the wonderful and incomparable Mrs. Blue in second grade, I've wanted to teach. While in a setting quite different from what I could have imagined in elementary school, I am delighted by the way this childhood dream is becoming real. We loved Mrs. Blue, but what was so inspiring was the way she loved us. And now I get it. Because as one term winds to a close and another is around the corner, I've realized this past week just how much I adore my students, clients, readers and followers. You are all so smart and brave and funny and beautiful. I am so so lucky to have you in my life. Thanks for inviting me into yours.

classes

bite the candy
Have some fun finishing something you've been putting off and discover the treats at the bottom of your to-do list.
> next session: Thursday, August 27 [details & registration]

the true discipline of time management
Become a Time Disciple with me! By the end of the year, you could be on your way to calm, prepared, energized, confident - and ready for anything.
> enrollment for the fall session is now open [details & registration]

the organic business manual
Reduce chaos, improve your creativity, and increase your bottom line - just by writing it down.
> enrollment for the fall session is now open [details & registration]

choose systems that move you

I've said it before and I'll say it again: structure can be liberating if you let it.

It can be as freeing as the TARDIS, bigger on the inside that it appears on the outside and capable of taking you anywhere you want to go.

It can be as beautiful and complex as a tree, built from the repetition of small and simple - yet equally lovely - shapes and actions.

The structures we choose for ourselves also determine the pace and focus of our days - how we experience flow.

It was Jennifer Louden who sparked my thinking about this with a comment she made on her blog way back in March in one of her Wednesday Wiry Fankles.

"I’m thinking of systems as banks on a river. You need banks or you just have a big flood that trickles into nothing."

But many of my students are attracted to metaphors for time that involve water, so this keeps coming up - and I've kept thinking about it.

When it comes to flowing water, if the riverbed is shallow, the water will cover a wide area and the current will have a meandering pace.

If the river banks are high, the water will run narrow, deep and fast.

How you structure your time and activities will determine the speed at which you move.

Many of us resist using systems and structures, fearing they will be constricting.

Yet just as many of us are frustrated by our own meandering.

Boundaries and guidelines - our chosen river banks - are what shape what is otherwise a twisted, wandering trickle into a current that can carry us places.

Not that I'm against slow meandering. If you've ever gone whitewater rafting, you know it's nice to have some spaces in between the rapids to catch your breath.

But without the rapids, it wouldn't be much fun.

A little constriction allows (and requires) us to focus. And focus creates flow. A flow allows us to get stuff done. You know, the good stuff.

• Having a set time in which to accomplish something is part of what helps people to finish tasks during Bite the Candy sessions.

• When I offer a class, following a check list of necessary steps - from the first announcement to the final lesson - helps me deliver a great course and concentrate on my students, instead of getting sidetracked with its administration.

• Creating guidelines for your day (I won't call it a schedule) - helps you move easily through transitions and not waste energy on moment-to-moment decision-making.

But there is a point at which constriction no longer creates the sort of flow that is useful or enjoyable.

When we hold ourselves to doing too much. When we impose limits that stifle our creativity and harm our well-being.

When our chosen river banks are so high that we find ourselves in a dark canyon shooting down class 6 rapids.

In a word: scary. And dangerous. These are the structures worth fearing.

Choose your river wisely.

Make sure it has wide, relaxed places where you can enjoy the warmth of the sun and dangle your feet in the cool water as you float lazily through a beautiful landscape.

And make sure it also has narrower, tumbling-over-rocks places where you can feel the spray on your skin and laugh and shout with the quickening of your heartbeat as you confidently navigate the rushing water.

If you choose wisely, structures are that much fun.

If you'd like some help choosing your river, you can learn more about how to structure your time -or- establish your systems. Fall courses begin September 14.

recently on the blog

This is me. This is my ego on stat crack. | a summary of my attempt to unplug over the weekend
Ritual as Reminder | on wanting spaces in which to be reminded
It could be staring you in the face. | thoughts about systems inspired by the heat wave
Work to meet your alivelines. | they're not deadlines if you're not DOA
Gratitude Learned | a round-up of the week's lessons-learned

let's chat

Like what you've read? Irked? Confused? Have a suggestion? Got a question? Let's start a conversation. I'd love to hear from you - send me a line, comment on the blog, or follow me on Twitter.

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Unless otherwise attributed, all material is written and edited by Cairene MacDonald.
© 2009 Cairene MacDonald, Third Hand Works. All rights reserved.

Cairene MacDonald
Third Hand Works
PO Box 31113
Portland, OR 97231
contact

from overwhelmed to ready for anything
organization and time management for people in their "right" minds

Third Hand Works | administrative guidance for independent creative professionals