Today marks the 19 year anniversary of the Northridge earthquake that shook our world and destroyed our neighborhoods for the next several years... which also makes it a good day to review my emergency preparedness / disaster kit & plan.
Here are a few sites and links to visit to ensure you are prepared for an earthquake and/or other disaster:
The U.S. Government's Earthquake Hazards Program map is the site I visit most after an earthquake to see how large an earthquake was and where was the epi-center.
FEMA offers a variety of earthquake-related information resources.
American Red Cross: Prepare Your Home And Family
American Red Cross: Earthquake Safety Checklist
EarthquakeCountry.info has a great resource guide in pdf format to download here.
DareToPrepare.org
ShakeOut.org
The City of West Hollywood's emergency services / disaster preparedness section, has a Family Disaster Supplies Kit. Check with your local city resource guide as well for additional local relevant information including city evacuation plans and strategy information.
I also registered my cell phone number at Alert LA County for the LA County mass emergency notification system where they will contact me via call/text or email with what to do in case of an emergency.
17. Today I'm grateful to be prepared in case of an emergency.
Showing posts with label planning and organizing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label planning and organizing. Show all posts
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Goals are dreams with deadlines.
Goals are dreams with deadlines. ~ Diana Scharf Hunt
#2 Today I am grateful to stay focused on the tasks that will ensure I meet my larger goal objectives by creating and keeping deadlines for myself.
The older I get, time seems to slip by faster and faster. Sometimes I have felt like hours have gone by and I know I was busy but I'm really not sure where the time went. Knowing that I have a tendency to become easily distracted, this year I'd like to improve upon setting and keeping deadlines to ensure success. As I wrote down my 2013 goals last week, I added deadlines to completing each project.
When I break down my long term goals into daily tasks, one way to ensure I am staying focused on meeting my deadlines is to set timers for each task. At home as I awake in the morning and my coffee is brewing, I spend that time cleaning the kitchen, emptying the dishwasher, wiping down the counters and tidying that area. By the time the coffee is brewed 10 minutes later, I have a nice clean space ready for preparing my meals for the day. I then sit down with my coffee and spend the next 30 minutes planning my day. I know from past experience that if I don't do this daily, my highest priority items will not be my focus and I'll continue to wonder where the time went.
While working, I set a timer to stay focused on each project. For example, a daily goal is to spend 1 hour a day on research and collecting data for an idea that I've wanted to implement for a while but haven't made time to do so as of yet. I now set a timer. When the timer ends, I move on to a different task. This helps me stay productive and organized while handling multiple priorities and obligations and keeps me from getting sidetracked by distractions.
As a recommendation, I really like this great egg timer project by David LeMieux. It's a great tool to stay focused on a task for a set period of time. I hope you enjoy using it as much as I do. :)
Monday, March 26, 2012
It's A Boy! "Baby Feet" Baby Shower
Baby Feet
On Saturday, I co-hosted a baby shower with four amazing ladies for 30 guests for our friend's first pregnancy/baby.
Our theme was Boy Baby Feet. Our party planning duties included:
- Decor (Tables / Chairs / Plates / Cups / Napkins / Balloons / Hanging Decor / Signs / Music)
- Appetizers (Cheese Platter)
- Main Course (Tea Sandwiches / Spinach Pesto Salad / Veggie Platter)
- Desserts (Cake / Cake Pops / Cookies / Mints)
- Drinks (Cucumber Lemon Water / Lemonade / Champagne Punch / Coffee)
- Games & Gifts (Advice For Mommy Scrapbook / Baby Gift Bingo / Guess the Jelly Beans / Guess the Baby Animal Name / Gifts for Guests & Game Winners / Guest Sign-In Plate)
I made the Cucumber Lemon Water & the Baby Feet Cheese Platter. Because we love to entertain at home, I have created a great "dinner party" playlist that we used as the background music.
Cucumber Lemon Water
Recipe for Cucumber Lemon Water
- 5 quarts of chilled water
- 1 lemon, thinly sliced
- 1 small cucumber (5 inches), thinly sliced
- Ice
Thinly slice lemons & cucumbers and add slices to the pitcher/container. Add water & ice. Stir gently. Let sit for about an hour. Served 30 people (Just add more water to the pitcher as needed).
Baby Feet Cheese Platter
The Baby Feet Cheese Platter (Good rule: 1 oz. cheese per person)
- 6 blocks of cheese (Havarti with Dill, Gouda, Brie, Blue, Swiss Gruyere, Toscano)
- 2 packages of Sliced 4-Cheese Variety Party Pack
- Strawberries
- Grapes (Red & Green)
- Walnuts
- French Baguette
- Cracker Assortment
I used a footprint cookie cutter to cut the sliced cheese into baby feet as the border of the platter (I'm using the extra cheese bits to make a delicious quesadilla this week). I arranged the cheese on the plate, added the fresh fruit, sprinkled the walnuts into the holes. I made my own cheese labels (wrapped 2 address labels around the top of toothpicks using a pretty blue font) and supplied a separate knife for each cheese.
Gifts for the Mommy-To-Be
Instead of a guest book, the guests signed the baby feet plate.
The "Advice for Mommy" cards were added to the scrapbook below using baby-themed stickers.
Main Lunch Course
Tea Sandwiches & Spinach Pesto Salad
Dessert / Games
Cake, Cake Pops, Diaper Cake, Guess The Jelly Beans, and Baby Feet Mints
Decor / Gifts
Wrapped potted daisy plants in a diaper were centerpieces (also, a parting table gift for guests).
Baby Feet Lemon Cookies were a gift for guests.
The Cards on the table were for "Advice for Mommy".
What A Happy Day!!! :D
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Creating My Vision for 2012
2012 has just begun and I'm very excited about the upcoming year. Embarrassingly late, I finally purchased my 2012 Franklin Covey Planner in the style/size that I prefer yesterday and am making my plans for the month and year. I think it's amusing that my refills for 2012 were sold out at most of the stores until yesterday and I had to compromise my usually well-organized life until I finally found one copy at Staples in Hollywood yesterday. Apparently my organizer is very popular. Next year I'll remember to order it online in advance (October To-Do) and avoid days of chaos and scratch paper.
I personally maintain balance and organization throughout the year best by writing things down. Years of experience managing multiple people, projects and priorities has taught me, If I don't write it down, I don't do it. Now I love technology that keeps me organized but it actually became tedious to manage multiple online organization system resources (including Outlook, Google Calendar & Tasks, Blackberry, etc.) some of which only worked if I was logged into that particular program on that particular computer. Then one sad day my Blackberry crashed and I lost important irrecoverable data (with the best of intentions I didn't find or make time to backup my phone as often as necessary) and I decided that going forward I wanted to keep all of my important goals, ideas, appointments and to-do's recorded in one place that could move with me throughout the day, eliminating duplicate work and saving me time (my most valuable resource). The 2-page per day Franklin Planner has always been my most effective way to manage multiple life priorities at once. My approach to determining what will be in my calendar each year is a bit unique as explained here. I hope you find these ideas informative and helpful.
VISION CARDS
Four times each year, I sit down and brainstorm add to a list I created years ago called Vision Cards (flashcards work well). It's a simple one-word-per-card list of things I love including my highest priorities, values and joys in life. Once I've run out of ideas, I divide the Vision Cards into the following Life Categories:
It is important yet challenging to maintain balance between different areas of life. I use this system to get a better sense of my long-term goals, values and priorities in each area of life. I then honestly rate myself in each Life Category using a simple Green/Yellow/Red system. Green is good. Yellow is o.k. Red is bad. This helps me to prioritize where I most need to focus my attention. If I'm confident that I'm "Green" in a particular category, I may not spend as much time attempting to make change in that area if I have another "Red" area that truly needs more of my time and attention.
Aware that time limits the amount of goals I can focus on accomplishing in any given time frame, the next step in the process is to break each category's goals down into three specific and actionable things to accomplish over a period of time with a start and end goal date. This changes based on what the highest priority items are for that period of time and how long each goal will take to accomplish. I attempt to be realistic, specific and action-oriented when I set these goals always including one or two larger-than-life goals that I know will be more challenging. This keeps me interested by challenging myself to push the limits beyond what "I think" I can accomplish.
I keep a copy of my goals for each area visible in my organizer, reviewing them as I make my daily plans to stay on track. I also review my vision cards each quarter to track progress, adding items as I complete things and/or as my needs/values/priorities change. Not every area requires daily or even monthly focus. For example vacation/travel is usually limited to certain times of the year. In general, any more than three goals at a time in each area becomes overwhelming and I find I'm less likely to stay focused and on target.
Next, I create a schedule of daily/weekly/monthly routines to accomplish these goals that I add to my planner daily. It works best when I review/write my list first thing in the morning and review/write it again right before bed. I add to-do items/brainstorm ideas/notes from meetings to it all day long so it is usually not far from my side.
I have two additional cards that are my personal rules guide. The first one says, "DO EVERYTHING to the best of my ability... no matter what it is!" and the definition to Areté: being the best you can be, reaching your highest human potential. The other rule I've created for myself is, "Say NO when an activity/person does not fall into one of these categories/priorities."
If I am struggling with a particularly challenging goal, I will maintain an awareness that this may be an area of weakness for me, ask for feedback and support from friends, family and other resources and attempt to continue to keep that goal on the list until I accomplish it. Whatever it takes as long as I never give up!
One of the many commitments I've made towards progress this year count is to replace a few of my bad habits with good habits. Changing habits is a difficult thing for all of us. I googled "how to change a habit" and am committed to making my own plans using the techniques in The Habit Change Cheatsheet: 29 Ways to Successfully Ingrain a Behavior. I will be writing down my plans this evening.
I hope that by sharing some of my successful organizational strategies throughout the year, I may help you to accomplish your goals and commitments as well. Whatever your plans for 2012, I am wishing each and every one of you to have love, peace of mind, good health, and prosperity in this new year. May your day and year be bright!
I personally maintain balance and organization throughout the year best by writing things down. Years of experience managing multiple people, projects and priorities has taught me, If I don't write it down, I don't do it. Now I love technology that keeps me organized but it actually became tedious to manage multiple online organization system resources (including Outlook, Google Calendar & Tasks, Blackberry, etc.) some of which only worked if I was logged into that particular program on that particular computer. Then one sad day my Blackberry crashed and I lost important irrecoverable data (with the best of intentions I didn't find or make time to backup my phone as often as necessary) and I decided that going forward I wanted to keep all of my important goals, ideas, appointments and to-do's recorded in one place that could move with me throughout the day, eliminating duplicate work and saving me time (my most valuable resource). The 2-page per day Franklin Planner has always been my most effective way to manage multiple life priorities at once. My approach to determining what will be in my calendar each year is a bit unique as explained here. I hope you find these ideas informative and helpful.
VISION CARDS
Four times each year, I sit down and brainstorm add to a list I created years ago called Vision Cards (flashcards work well). It's a simple one-word-per-card list of things I love including my highest priorities, values and joys in life. Once I've run out of ideas, I divide the Vision Cards into the following Life Categories:
- Spiritual
- Home and Family
- Relationship
- Health
- Financial Freedom
- Career and Business
- Friends
- Vacation/Travel
- Hobbies
- Contribution to Larger Society
It is important yet challenging to maintain balance between different areas of life. I use this system to get a better sense of my long-term goals, values and priorities in each area of life. I then honestly rate myself in each Life Category using a simple Green/Yellow/Red system. Green is good. Yellow is o.k. Red is bad. This helps me to prioritize where I most need to focus my attention. If I'm confident that I'm "Green" in a particular category, I may not spend as much time attempting to make change in that area if I have another "Red" area that truly needs more of my time and attention.
Aware that time limits the amount of goals I can focus on accomplishing in any given time frame, the next step in the process is to break each category's goals down into three specific and actionable things to accomplish over a period of time with a start and end goal date. This changes based on what the highest priority items are for that period of time and how long each goal will take to accomplish. I attempt to be realistic, specific and action-oriented when I set these goals always including one or two larger-than-life goals that I know will be more challenging. This keeps me interested by challenging myself to push the limits beyond what "I think" I can accomplish.
I keep a copy of my goals for each area visible in my organizer, reviewing them as I make my daily plans to stay on track. I also review my vision cards each quarter to track progress, adding items as I complete things and/or as my needs/values/priorities change. Not every area requires daily or even monthly focus. For example vacation/travel is usually limited to certain times of the year. In general, any more than three goals at a time in each area becomes overwhelming and I find I'm less likely to stay focused and on target.
Next, I create a schedule of daily/weekly/monthly routines to accomplish these goals that I add to my planner daily. It works best when I review/write my list first thing in the morning and review/write it again right before bed. I add to-do items/brainstorm ideas/notes from meetings to it all day long so it is usually not far from my side.
I have two additional cards that are my personal rules guide. The first one says, "DO EVERYTHING to the best of my ability... no matter what it is!" and the definition to Areté: being the best you can be, reaching your highest human potential. The other rule I've created for myself is, "Say NO when an activity/person does not fall into one of these categories/priorities."
If I am struggling with a particularly challenging goal, I will maintain an awareness that this may be an area of weakness for me, ask for feedback and support from friends, family and other resources and attempt to continue to keep that goal on the list until I accomplish it. Whatever it takes as long as I never give up!
One of the many commitments I've made towards progress this year count is to replace a few of my bad habits with good habits. Changing habits is a difficult thing for all of us. I googled "how to change a habit" and am committed to making my own plans using the techniques in The Habit Change Cheatsheet: 29 Ways to Successfully Ingrain a Behavior. I will be writing down my plans this evening.
I hope that by sharing some of my successful organizational strategies throughout the year, I may help you to accomplish your goals and commitments as well. Whatever your plans for 2012, I am wishing each and every one of you to have love, peace of mind, good health, and prosperity in this new year. May your day and year be bright!
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