Focus: define the seed so the rest of the parts know how to take form.

If it is a sunflower seed, the stalk petals, leaves, flowers, etc. are those of a sunflower plant.

Lack of focus: no seed defined, no plant to grow.

The thirty-eigth issue of the Project Simplify newsletter The Simplifier is now archived on our newsletter archives page.

Here is a brief summary of the contents:

1. A Note From Shawn
Take a break from your busy day…to read the Simplifier
2. Our Featured Quote
by David Hockney
3. Article: Creating Meaningful Goals
by PS Head Simplifier Shawn Tuttle
4. This Week’s Simplification Tip
The Simplification Binder
5. In the News
Bathroom clutter, In the Spirit of Solitude, and ‘time famine’
6. Featured at ProjectSimplify.com
Springtime Blog Selections
7. Keep Smiling
Parachute

Read the full issue here.
Subscribe to The Simplifier here.

[posted by Lance]

OK. The newsletter is coming out a day late this week–Thursday instead of Wednesday–despite all our good intentions and early workings. I thought I had a solid first draft of the article completed before the weekend. Apparently a foolish belief after my conversation with Lance about it. Don’t get me wrong–it wasn’t bad per se–he just helped me see that it was almost 3 articles in one and that it’d behoove me to separate them out. I did and am grateful for his observation on this.

So why didn’t I work on it over the weekend? Well, I’ll tell ya. 2 bridesmaids and myself, the MOH (”Maiden of Honor” for those not in the know of wedding acronyms), were busy throwing a bridal shower for my sister who will marry an altogether great guy next month. [side note: he works at Google. I still haven't received a call from one of the 400 recruiters. We'll see if that changes after they tie the knot. End side note.] The three of us (2 bridesmaids and a MOH) divided up the duties–shouldn’t be too much, right?

My part was the food. I was thrilled to end up with this part because decorations aren’t really my thing and I preferred to work really hard all at once instead of a little for a long period of time (say, doing the invitations/RSVPs). I had all day Friday to finish the shopping, make 7 quiches, assemble 40 fruit skewers, and generally prepare everything else.

Typical time management bogey: I underestimated prep time and logistics. Who’d have thought I’d need to go to 4 different stores for all the ingredients? Granted, I probably went to #4 needlessly. I couldn’t find the right pie crust in #3, and by the time I did find it in #4, I realized that I didn’t look in the right place in #3. [roll out pie crust is by the pre-made Pillsbury cookie and biscuit dough, and not in the frozen section with the other pie-shells in tin pie plates. Who knew?]

The other unexpected time drain was the logistics of food refrigeration. I hadn’t quite realized how much frig space food for 25 people would require. I had a mostly empty “2nd fridge” available at the shower host’s home and one shelf of space at the bridesmaids house where I’d be doing the food prep, i.e. they were about a mile apart. Between moving, shuffling, and driving between the 2 frig’s quite a bit of time slipped by.

Then there was the issue of my laptop power supply getting knocked off the desk on which it was perched. Gave up the ghost, it did, with that fall. The thought of a dead 2nd brain due to lack of electrical juice caused a “minor” flurry of activity. Thank goodness we were in the Bay Area, i.e. tech civilization. There’s an Apple store right around just about every corner. In my neck of the woods, the nearest store is a good hour’s drive.

Which is all to say that Friday got away from me. Didn’t start making the quiches (2 quiche lorraine (#2 from this page), 2 carmelized onion & gorgonzola, 3 southwest) until about 9pm. Back home on Sunday, I told a friend that I was up until 3am making quiche and skewering fruit for the luncheon. She laughed and said that if it wasn’t for my sister’s shower she’d have teased me mercilessly for pulling an all-nighter.

The luncheon turned out lovely, my sister played a very successful “Nearly Wed Game” (where she had to guess the answers to questions that were previously asked to the groom-to-be), the weather cooperated beautifully, and all the women seemed to have a good time. Yay!

It is now Thursday and I feel like I have finally recovered from the weekend. This plus the fact that Lance, my fabulous newsletter co-editor, is currently dealing with more than a handful in the Life department made it clear that completing the newsletter on Wednesday just wasn’t going to happen.

The meandering ends here. Essential simplification tactic: go with the flow. We didn’t worry about the newsletter being a day late, all things considered, and I trust you didn’t either. :)

[Conversation overheard this morning @ Wisdom Cafe:

“On my way to work.”
“Me too.”
“Hasn’t anyone invented something so we don’t have to go to work?”
“I’m still looking for it.”
“I’ll take you out to dinner if you find it.”
“Great!” “See you here tomorrow morning.”

One of the notable things about this conversation was the tone of their voices. Full of dread and low energy? No! They were chipper and clearly enjoying the coffee shop banter.

I find it unfortunate that the default subject for their early-morning casual connection was negative. They could just as easily have shared something they were looking forward to in the day.

Those default subjects can be dangerous for our perspective—are they promoting a “can do” attitude (which spills into other parts of our life) or a victim attitude (which spills into other parts of our life)?

Not to mention that it’s more fun to hang out and talk with people who encourage us to feel better about ourselves.

I was happy to find this no-cost printable calendar resource: Free Printable Calendars - Download monthly and yearly calendars in PDF format.

Vertex 42 makes other Excel templates as well. I haven’t checked any out yet, but being the Excel geek that I am, I’ll definitely see what they have.

What makes a place feel spacious? Key word here is feel. There is no absolute room measurement that determines whether a room is spacious or not. For example, my office is in a room that used to be a tenant’s bedroom. With a double bed, clothes all over the place, a small desk and chair and a dresser, the room felt cramped! Now, same room, setup differently feels spacious.

A small space, be it for office or no, is still a small space. But it doesn’t need to feel cramped. What makes a space feel spacious? Here are some of my thoughts on the subject. Additions?

• Seeing things have a place and are in place.
• Stuff not piled on the floor.
• You can see the floor and quite a bit of the baseboards (perhaps using wire shelves instead of solid wood).
• Plenty of light illuminating the space.
• More light colors than dark colors in furniture, especially the large objects.
• You don’t have a fear of bumping into something or knocking something over if you aren’t really careful.
• There aren’t large items looming overhead.
• There are a few aesthetic items for comfort. This keeps you in the mindset of spacious and not sparse.
• Every shelf isn’t crammed to the max.
• Big patterns of organized things-Yes (file trays each holding a different kind of paper).
• Lots of small pieces-No (little scraps of paper/business cards all over the wall).

What else?

A random tip that just may save Much discomfort:

If you don’t usually wear underwear, and you know you’ll be going through airport security, remember to put on that extra layer.

You know, just in case.