In my last workshop series, one of the participants, we’ll call her Lyn, questioned my notion of “letting systems do the work”.

We were talking about not using the head as a storage space. When we got to the part about using a contact manager or address book for people’s phone numbers and other useful digits, Lyn spoke up: “We baby boomers have been told to memorize phone numbers to keep the mind active. You know, ‘use it or lose it’ and you’re talking about emptying the mind?!”

Wow. Filling the head with info that can easily be captured in a simple system completely goes against the fundamental premise of the natural professional philosophy: free the mind for being. Being the fabulous people that we are. Being present in the moment. “You’d rather memorize phone numbers?” I asked.

“I’m just saying that’s what we’ve been told,” she replied.

Mamma mia! Could this really be a helpful practice?!? Turning to the Internet for answers, here’s what I found out.

The major player on mind health and aging is the National Institute on Aging (NIA).

They published a report “Understanding Memory Loss” that suggests the following to keep the mind active: Learn a new skill, volunteer, spend time with others, use memory tools, place things in the same place every day, get lots of rest, exercise and eat well, not too much alcohol, get help if you feel depressed for weeks at a time.

In other words, all basic stuff to stay healthy. No magic memorize-phone-number bullets here.

Hmm, this train of thought was too limiting. Sure memory is important, but what else is critical for thriving in our information age? I’d venture to guess that cultivating the mind to excel on a daily basis would promote long-term memory and brain health as well.

A super article turned up that was published in Time Magazine called How to Get Smarter, One Breath at a Time by Lisa Takeuchi Cullen.

Her results from interviewing numerous professionals and researchers pointed to the same conclusion: meditation or mindfulness training conditions our minds to do everything we want it to do and more.

“Meditation,” she wrote “directly affects the function and structure of the brain, changing it in ways that appear to increase attention span, sharpen focus and improve memory.”

That was from five years ago! Since then, there have been numerous studies is support of this. One of them, which I’d like to share in a future article, clearly demonstrates the effects of meditation on people’s ability to focus and resist distractions—great tools for the natural professional!

Training your attention on your breath, reaps all kinds of benefits. It reduces stress, enables you to better handle and recover from emotional situations, promotes insightful analysis, facilitates learning… About as close to a magic pill as you’re going to get!

OK, these are benefits worth striving for. Phew, that clinches it—Lyn, get those phone numbers out of your head and into your digital address book!

**********
Additional links:
The Mayo Clinic suggested similar stay healthy techniques as the NIA: Stay mentally active, socialize regularly, get organized, focus, eat a healthy diet, physical activity, and manage chronic conditions. Memory loss: 7 tips to improve your memory

A Harvard Medical School reviewed explanation on the Aetna Intelihealth websitedd provides a brief synopsis of how we learn which supports the idea that cultivating attention is a very worthwhile practice.

This one is about the upcoming workshop.

Please share with anyone you think might benefit from the The Natural Professional: 6 Steps to a Life of Purpose, Passion & Peace course beginning on April 15th!

Do you want to be fueled by inspiring, energizing passion? Live your purpose every day? Emerge into a centered place of peace? Have the kind of life you’d want your children and grandchildren to live?

That’s the Natural Professional way. And it can be your way, too.

In the Natural Professional’s introductory course, 6 Steps to a Life of Purpose, Passion and Peace you’ll be introduced to 6 powerful, life-affirming principles that you can put to work immediately. In Section I you’ll learn how you can reclaim your life by:

• Shucking the craziness in your life by committing to yourself through a practical and visionary Simplicity Statement.
• De-cluttering your life. You’ll learn to identify and disengage responsibly from activities that have become barriers – while re-committing to those actions that actually propel you forward in your quest for fulfillment, purpose and peace.
• Once you’ve cleared some space in your life, keep the path clear and your internal flame lit through practical ways of protecting your dreams.

In Section II you’ll learn powerful, practical and effective techniques for manifesting your real life.

• Create a rock-solid personal infrastructure – set up support systems that support you.
• Implement a system for keeping workflow moving gracefully – while effectively eliminating negative stress.
• Very quickly you’ll tap into your natural rhythms. You’ll know what it’s like to be in your flow – what it feels like to be out of your groove – and how to efficiently reclaim that sweet spot.

This is the Natural Professional way – your way – and it begins with this introductory, high value course. Get into the flow and catch your unique groove!

dates: 6 Thursdays, from April 15 – May 20
time: 6 pm – 8pm
location: Nevada City, CA
investment: $149
Contact (call or email) Shawn to register or ask more questions.

The Passion into Action conference rocked! What an inspiring group of awesome women to spend the day with… Truly a gift.

Our circle for the Living in the Flow workshop that I led was a great group. These were women who knew how to make stuff happen and were ready for more.

My focus was on reprogramming our Doing tendencies to make room for heart-head actions–the type of actions that won’t just make change, but the change we want to see in the world.

There was one more point I wanted to make in the workshop: The reason that intuitive-led, heart-based action is such an important practice for us to master is for our ability to excel as role models.

It is our responsibility to show future leaders how to navigate the world in its current state of disfunction and to do so with the grace of the feminine spirit that has been so lacking.

This comes, quite simply, from aligning our heads with our hearts, being aware of when to take action and when to rest, and listening deeply. In other words, inviting the spirit we want to prevail into the discussion via our own thoughts, actions, and words.

How can we persuade others to honor their commitments if we don’t honor ourselves?

How will our kids–our future leaders–learn to take care of themselves in the midst of a chaotic world if we don’t show them by our own actions?

Action is required. But not just any action.

One cannot alter a condition with the same mindset that created it in the first place.
- Albert Einstein

The most difficult part of this shift isn’t agreeing that it’s necessary, or that it’s a good idea. Nor is it thinking of ways that we might do this in our own lives.

It’s having the awareness to catch ourselves from falling back into the self-defeating habits of pushing too hard, of judging others and ourselves, and of holding on too tightly to what we think is best.

It’s the discipline of preventing our loud chatter minds from drowning out the subtle songs of our intuition. This connection to the well-being of our fellow beings, the earth, and all that is interrelated.

This isn’t a practice we’ve been attuned to, and look at the mess we are in. Our kids need specific tools to learn a new way of responding consciously to injustices and inconsistencies.

We are in a position to be teachers. Let’s give them something worth learning. If we don’t, who will?

: : : : : : : : : :
Photo credit:
Little Butterfly
by Kopfjäger (back, but very slow yet…)’s photostream

That’s how I feel about the Natural Professional. 2010 is the year to get out and groove!

It’s been popping up on the blog and in the newsletter for quite some time, now it’s time for synthesis and your contribution.

Specifically, I’m focusing on two projects:

1. The Book: a practical handbook for someone looking to reclaim their life and step into their best self (a.k.a. the Natural Professional)

2. The Online Program: likely to be a 6-week crash and inspiration course to get you revving on your journey

The online course is slated to launch in the late spring, but the book project—which I hope to make a community venture—kicks off in earnest in January. And I’m going to need your help!

Over the course of the year, I’ll focus on one subject (roughly, one chapter) per month. I’ll be sharing excerpts and supplemental materials, hosting topical chats and teleconferences…and most importantly, I’ll be looking to you, my fellow simplification-aspirers, to help me keep it real.

You’ll be encouraged to provide your stories, experiences, and/or thoughts on certain passages etc. If all goes well, I may even have a “reader’s contributions” section in the book. And there will be incentives (read: prizes) and other fun things to make sure the process is as enjoyable and rewarding as possible.

I have my point of view, but to truly help others, I’ll need as many perspectives as possible. I truly believe the “natural professional” idea can transform lives—and maybe even transform the world. But the idea is bigger than me. It’s as big as me plus you…plus you, plus you, plus you, and you, and you, and you over there—you get the idea!

The Natural Professional drumbeat will be sounding out on various locations around the web. We’re picking out the drapes and furnishings on places like Facebook, Twitter…we’ve got something called a “blog” in the works–we’re pulling out all the stops. :)

If you want to be the first of the first to hear the latest of the latest about upcoming NP doings, cruise on over to the nascent Natural Professional site, put your digits in the widget, and go on your merry way. We’ll let you know what’s next as soon as it’s ready.

Thank you!! from the bottom of my heart for joining me on this journey. GREAT things are sure to come from our adventure together.

-Shawn

(to skip the story, scroll to the bottom for the announcement)

There comes a time in every girl’s life (it’s the same for guys) when she has to make a decision. There she is at the proverbial fork, hopefully it’s a clean one. Should she a) follow the trail of a path well worn, or b) travel the universe with nothing more than Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy? It’s a personal choice. For me it was a tough choice.

Mainly because neither option seemed quite right. So I said, “Give me option c) !” at which point the powers-that-be said, “Uh, there is no c), dear.” Indignant (though feeling a little silly) I marched right home, went straight to the porch overlooking the apple tree, and contemplated this somewhat awkward situation.

“I know there’s a c). There must be a c)!” Which, as you can guess, got me no where. However, my mild case of self-diagnosed autism was overriding my mild case of self-diagnosed ADD, so I wouldn’t let up.

The fork grew larger in front of me, until the decision was of epic proportions. As the consequences grew, so did my conviction, though I couldn’t really tell you why. Finally (mainly because it’s time to wrap up this story), I jumped up and proclaimed to the apple tree, to the neighbors, and to the dog with exceptionally good hearing in the next town over, “I will create a c) with my own bare hands!” Which to me sounded more poetic that “with my own laptop”, but we are in the digital age so I’m guessing you made the connection straight away anyways.

And thus was born Project Simplify. An endeavor to journey a simplified life in a way that connects me with awesome fellow travelers like yourself. A path guided by the desire for satisfaction, joy and a darn good time. It’s been five years now, and looking back it’s clear the decision was a sound one.

Now you have a choice, though it doesn’t need to be that large or long, for sure. Do you want to travel the path well worn, one of acceptance of the pain and realities of disorganization? Or do you want the spontaneously mysterious existence of an Alice in Wonderland world where papers and files that you just saw a moment ago suddenly blink in and out of existence just to vex you?

Orrrrrr, would you like to create your own option c) in which maximum organization occurs in minimum time? It can be done, and you can do it. A little planning and set up goes a long way–but you won’t know how far unless you give it a go.

Taming unruly info is the subject of this fall (well, it’s always the subject around here. I put a time limit on it in hopes that you’ll jump on the train for the season.) Some people call it filing but how boring is that?

My goal is for you to take back the power that has leaked and spilled all over your office. Know where to put the information that passes through your office. If this has been difficult for you in the past, put your foot down, say outloud (yes, outloud!), “No more!” and sign up for the workshop. Easy.

And because actively doing stuff is so much more fun than sitting and listening, that’s just what you’ll do at the workshop. More info on how that will work coming soon…

The announcement we’ve all been waiting for…
a Getting Serious with Information Organization aka Filing can be Fun Workshop!

Presented by the Chief Simplifier at Project Simplify, Shawn Tuttle in an interactive, get-things-done-at-the-’shop format.
October 8th, a Thursday evening session from 6-8:00pm

Click here to sign up. Did I mention it’s cheap? Crazily so–as in, it definitely won’t be like this forever. $25. ($30 if you sign up after Sept. 30th.)

: : : : : : : : : :
Photo credit:
file cabinets
Originally uploaded by redjar

Image credit:
Created by Mark Einert (filing cabinet) & Shawn Tuttle (happy person)

I presented the suite of office org strategies to the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors today: Zapping, Organizing by Zones and Frontloading… with some systems creation thrown in for a full overview.

We started out with the life cycle of a container of yogurt guided skit. Brilliant little metaphor that. It shows so clearly the clarity required for the elements of a system to run smoothly–and it’s so easy to understand!

[The guided skit goes something like this: I bring up 10 volunteer and give them each a card that has some element in the kitchen on it, for ex. "fridge", "counter", "bowl", "spoon", "sink" "recycle bin" "dishwasher" + ones for "yogurt" and "lid" + one for "You".

Lesson: the office can be setup equally efficiently, and you can move your info through it just as smoothly.]

It’s also led me to thinking about how I might skit-ify the Zapping process. I have my doubts that one can really get that one conceptually. Doing and practicing is key.

Having the elements called out and developed by the participants is such the way to go. Passive learning is soooo last century. And frankly, it’s more fun for me, too. And if I’m going to keep doing this for groups all over, it better be fun, ya know?!

Isn’t that the crucial element for doing something over a long period of time? Have a good time with it! Geez already.

Speaking of enjoying the stage, a friend and I saw Dan Millman speak last night (author of Way of the Peaceful Warrior). He’s promoting a new book. General consensus between my friend and I, though, was that he wasn’t all that in to it.

Even though he claimed he doesn’t pre-script his speeches, it nonetheless didn’t feel totally authentic. It definitely didn’t feel scripted–sometimes it felt like he was wandering, but more in the sense of not being super prepared or present than a real effective use of going with the flow of the evening.

My apologies for bagging on the guy–I did get some lovely little pearls of wisdom sprinkled throughout. I’m coming from a place of a presenter finding her own way with audiences–so my eye is more critical than most because I’m also applying it to myself.

I’ll close with, what I found to be the funniest thing in my handouts from yesterday:
“It’s been scientifically proven that doing something multiple times takes longer than doing it once.”

Yes, that’s my humor. Love it or leave it, bebe! (Not trying to be all hard core here or anything. Maybe I’m feeling a little defensive that only one person laughed out loud…. wha’?!?!??!)

This little secret of mine could have stayed with my Papers in their Place workshop group last night, but no. Here I am typing away for the world to see.

It’s about a little fantasy I’ve had over the last year. “Would others enjoy it? Could I pull it off?”

I’m talking about a workshop where people actually bring a file box of their papers to the event.

Why just talk about the concepts of filing when you can do it?!

Could be everything that’s been hiding the surface of the desk for months. Could be a box that’s been sitting under the desk for the last two years. Could be the stuff that’s been sitting on those bookshelves making it impossible to put books there.

Each piece would get assessed, pondered, discussed, decided upon and then filed, recycled, or shredded.

I can see moments of fantastic joyous release bursting out across the room — hallelujah! I’m no longer slave to this chaos!

Sparks of encouragement would be fanned to flame. By the time they left, the fire of “I’m empowered to deal with my papers!” would be raging…

(sigh)

I think it’d be fun. Is that weird?

Yes, I have favorites. All are not created equally. No doubt about it.

My Papers in their Place workshop gets me all excited (click for details on May 7 date added in Nevada City for this workshop). I joke that it’s about as unsexy of a subject as you can get… and yet… I like it the best.

Maybe it’s because I see how the focus on productivity actually affects one’s whole life–not just their work life.

Last week in a quiet moment on the back porch sitting with the apple blossoms, the thought came that underlying the systems and focus on priorities, what I’m really doing is helping people let go of head-based habits.

Most of my work with people has about 40% to do with the actual systems we set up about 60% to do with the psychological and emotional aspects of honoring themselves and their work. Our heads tell us this that or the other, which always seem to justify chaos. There’s always something more important than taking care of our foundation–to which I heartily disagree.

Minimizing the amount of time spent on the foundation while maintaining the strength and integrity is an incredibly important ambition!

[Side note: Permaculture concept pops up--the notion of shooting for maximum output with minimum input, i.e. piddling around! How is this different than a corp. biz statement of the same vein? Namely, the Why. The corp goes for more income, more responsibilities, mo' bigger (which is what leads to unsustainable largeness). The permaculture philosophy leads to enjoying the time left once the work is done. Grow enough for now, some to save for the year, some for selling/barter, then cultivate other interests. End side note.]

What you choose to do with the time saved by dialing in your foundational systems is entirely up to you. Though I will add that it ought to be something that makes your heart sing. Otherwise, the motivation to change is going to have an extremely difficult time getting through those head-y justifications.

And if you’d like to be led through this process… you’ve come to the right place =) (workshop, newsletter, phone coaching – wow! options!)

Keep in mind that the more you hone in on what’s important to you, your tolerance level for distractions and B.S. automatically goes down. And then one day, you’ll wake up a realize you love all the individual parts of your life as well as the beautiful whole they make together.

…and that’s what a simplified life is all about.

OK, folks, let’s get rolling! I’m sure this current bout of excitement and energy has nothing to do with the large cup of coffee I just drank…

[for the coffee aficianado curioso: my coffee du jour is home made. Even an 8oz latte has too much milk in this springtime lightness. I use the Italian style stove top device (they call it a 3-person size... as if! I call it decidedly a 1-person portion) and heat up half-n-half and water (about a 1:1 ratio) on the side. Mix it with a half teaspoon of brown sugar, and I tell ya, YUM!]

All kinds of good things happening around here (here being the Project Simplify World HQ, of course).

The workshops last week were a great success. Even had one party crasher. Apparently her companion let her misunderstand… She thought she was coming to a Spring Kinky party (you know how those hard C’s can be confusing) and not a Spring Clearing ‘shop. She handled it gracefully and left with a plan to work on her space regardless.

Plus, there were a bunch of participants who wanted to focus on paper problems. This being outside the scope of the Spring Clearing workshop, they talked me into adding a Papers in Their Place date. Fun! I luuvvvvv this ‘shop. I’ll post separately about it but if you are here now, it’s Thursday, May 7th in Nevada City. Contact me if you want to sign up, and check out the Speaker page for more info.

Now, who really knows how these things work, BUT… Since the website redesign went live last month, I’ve had two unsolicited offers that I just don’t know I’d have received before.

One is an offer to review a major brand (Brother) all-in-one office machine. The other was an offer to come speak to a group (South County Chamber of Commerce). When I asked her how she heard about me (assuming some sort of word of mouth) she said she was doing speaker research online. Sweet!

Whether a caffeine high, or developing my Biz high, I’m sooo excited about putting together a program to Zapify the Office. (This isn’t the Paper workshop, per se, though it is a part of it. It’s a multi-faceted approach to whipping your office into shape. More soon, super soon…)

Ok, time to redirect the creative juices to other uses. I hope your week has started off with as much of a fun badda-boom-badda-bang!