1. A Note from Shawn

Rolling like flaming bowling balls

As fall peeks around the corner, this natural professional is finding great delight in working her fingers for the book. (Except for next week, which is all about Burningman! (post on this from last year here)) This past week has been about overview and intro text, which will then provide the focus for each section.

I going to let you in on a little fantasy I have. I’d love to see the book in a comic book style format–colorful pictures and short snippets of text. Maybe that can happen with the 2nd edition =) For now, I’m focusing on the content which has been rolling out like a flaming bowling ball bouncing down Mt. Everest. Seriously.

Here’s to making space for whatever you desire in your life! Enjoy and let it be easy.

XO

Shawn Tuttle

Chief Simplifier, Project Simplify

P.S. Happy Birthday, Pop!!

2. Upcoming/Current Events

October 20 I’ll be speaking at the Gold Country Chapter of the

Business and Professional Women’s meeting in Grass Valley, CA, 5:30 – 8 pm.

3. Lifestyles of the Natural & Professional

Designing your schedule: Holding space

The Tip

Allow time in your schedule to hold space for your well-being. Your wise-self knows approx how much.

The Tip Explained

Have you ever thought that your schedule looked doable, yet your experience left you feeling rushed and bewildered about where all the time went?

It’s easy to look at availability in terms of blocked out vs. not blocked out sections on your calendar. This is only one part of your schedule.

There’s another aspect to designing your schedule that often falls under the radar: “holding space”. By this I mean acknowledging that commitments and unexpected situations take time and energy, a lot of which is not schedulable. Your well-being benefits—no, it requires—space to make sense of the world you are experiencing.

Often times, we aren’t even aware of the additional strain on ourselves—it just gets written off as “I’m tired today” or “I feel drained” seemingly for no reason. Maybe there is a reason!

For example: Think of the last time you started a new position. Even though your schedule may have claimed 10 hours for the week, it likely felt like a whole lot more. Did you feel tired or drained? This was your psyche getting accustomed to your new role.

Then, once you got used to your new role, there may have been times when working 20 hours actually felt like it took less time and energy than during that first week!

While it’s more obvious when considering the new things in your life, the same concept holds for each commitment on your plate.

Holding space also applies to any emotionally challenging situation, be it work related or not. All of us spent energy in processing the tragic event on 9/11, whether we knew someone in those buildings or not. Something to do with being human, I’d think. =)

Hold space for your personal well-being by getting in the habit of allowing more room in your schedule for processing these uncertain and rapidly changing times. It’ll actually help everything else go more smoothly!

5. The Not-So-Simple Life

by Lance Brown

It Wasn’t Me! (But It Will Be)

By now, if you’ve been reading my column—where I variously brag and complain about how un-simple my life is, largely because of my overactive imagination and shaky time management skills—you’re probably thinking something along these lines:

“OK Lance, we get it. You’re a friggin’ disaster, and you know it. You’ve clearly got potential, but you’re undone by your procrastination and your addiction to adding new tasks and burdens to your already-overwhelming to-do list. So we get it—thanks so much for taking us on that sad journey into the self-built prison of doom that is your inevitable future. Again, thank you sooo much. What a joy!”

Wow, you’re almost as sarcastic as I am! And I couldn’t have said it better myself.

The only problem being that I don’t believe in doom—or in inevitable futures, for that matter. And perhaps most importantly, I don’t believe in quitting. So if my crazy-ass brain and my bad habits plan to continue their efforts to undo me, I am going to get up every day and push back.

Yes, I realize that I’m talking about myself as though I’m split in two. On the one side is my crazy-ass brain and bad habits, and on the other side is me. One nice thing about that arrangement is that I don’t have to take responsibility for what those other guys do: “No, you see, I didn’t want to do it that way, but my mind insisted.” Or: “I was totally set to get it done, but then my procrastination kicked in.” Or: “Actually Your Honor, I did know she was your daughter, but my crazy-ass mind and bad habits told me not to sweat it.”

You get the idea. I guess ever since I stopped being able to blame things on my childhood imaginary friend Egger McDonald, I had to find a new scapegoat…

Finish reading “It Wasn’t Me! (But It Will Be)””

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Lance Brown can be followed at http://twitter.com/FreelanceLance.

Thanks for reading!