New Years Resolutions

New Years Resolutions

So here is comes again, those New Year’s Resolutions that you are so excited to make and even more hopeful to keep, and in the end you find that some of them were just too hard to do every day. It is the Pass/Fail mentality that makes New Year’s Resolutions so doomed that some of us never even make them. Let’s look at changes that can be made throughout the year using Timer®Tips!

TimerORGANIZER™

Wouldn’t it be nice if this was the year that you had everything organized; your time, your projects, your belongings, and most importantly your life! It is possible, if you know what is important to you! What are your values? What do want to accomplish: today, tomorrow, this week, this month, this year, in the next few years, in your lifetime? Is what you are spending your time on right now consistent with what you want to accomplish? If it is then relax and realize that sometimes steps in the right direction are better than lots of action in the wrong direction. If it is not, STOP, step back and decide what is truly important and make adjustments. Remember it is a journey, one that is meant to be looked back on and remembered with joy, even though not every moment may be joyful.

TimerSAVINGS™

The New Year is a good time to define what financial goals you want to achieve during the New Year. Again, this is not a pass/fail situation. It is a life style thing. How do you want your life to look? Is where you are currently working or the business you run bringing in the amount of money that you envisioned during this time in your journey? If not, decide what you can do to get your vision and your reality on the same track. While I don’t think that adhering to a strict budget is the best way to live life, I do believe that you need to know what your basic expenses are that you have to expend each month no matter what and then decide how much you have left over and then divide it up between discretionary spending, savings, and giving. Most people have the goal of spending what they get, and just as the universe would be expected to behave, they spend what they get. You must change your plan or you will have the same as you have in the past and for some that may mean financial struggles.

TimerDIET®

What would New Year’s Resolutions be without looking at our overall health and how we feel about our bodies? It is so important to feel good about how you look and feel and it is even more important to take care of your body so you have the best chance for good health. How do you want your body to look like (really…not society)? Do you have any goals that you can look forward to that can help you get to the weight that you want to get to? It may seem like a good idea to have a buddy or accountability partner but it is not. The reason and motivation to lose weight needs to be yours and not someone else pushing you. If you aren’t sure about my philosophy on Why Diets Do NOT Work, go to my website and request Chapter 2 and have it sent to you free to understand all the problems that “dieting” can create when you really thought you were doing everything right.  

Sherri Sue Parkin Author of TimerDIET, TimerORGANIZER, and to be released in the Spring of 2015 TimerSAVINGS

 

Holidays

Timer® Tips

The Holidays

The holidays can be a fun, magical, eventful, happy time of year…they can also be stressful, guilt ridden, and a financially difficult time of year as well. So here are some great idea’s to get you through the holidays this year.

TimerDIET

Know ahead of time which foods are “not in your best interest” decide ahead of time whether you are going to have one of this or none of this, or maybe two. Just decide ahead of time so you are not caught having to make a decision on the spot. Remember to always eat well-balanced meals throughout the day. So when you do decide to have something that is a little sugary it does not send you off into a tailspin of the Sugar High, which will eventually become the sugar crash.

Remember your drinks during this time of year can also be a source of unnecessary calories and sugar.  Treat sugary drinks just like you would dessert. Make sure you have eaten a well-balanced meal before, during, or right after having a sugary drink. And if you don’t know my stance on sugar substitutes, they are a NO-NO-NO! If you want something that is sweet, regular sugar is the best.

Don’t forget daily exercise and if you are doing a lot of shopping, then you are in luck, all the walking and carrying bags counts!! Just remember to get 30 minutes in everyday!!

TimerORGANIZER

The holidays are a great time to organize your past and get ready for your future. The Christmas decorations are the perfect place to sort through what to keep and what to throw out (or keep in a special place for sentimental reasons). Making room for the upcoming presents by giving away what you and your family no longer use, is also a great holiday tradition to get started with this year. We have many things that we do not use or need, there are others who would make better use of what we do not. So take this time during the holidays to see what you really need and give away what you do not.

Organizing your time is crucial during the holidays. Along with your daily life now you need to add in parties, shopping, and so much more. Take your calendar right now and make sure that everything you can possibly think of is properly written down in your calendar with the exact times and addresses. If the addresses are new to you get directions and save them so that you can easily retrieve them when it is time to go. (I like to email them to myself) Don’t forget to schedule time for you, and/or the family and friends. The holidays are so chaotic that taking in something like a movie or dinner with friends can be just what is needed to get some balance back. Schedule your days the way you want and understand they might not turn out exactly how you had planned, but they have a better chance if you are really specific with your intentions.

TimerSAVINGS

Budget, budget, budget. I cannot stress this enough. Know how much you really want and need to spend on the holidays and don’t forget the little things like the extra tipping, office holiday gifts, additional meals out, a pretty dress for that special party, cooking dinner, decorations. There are a lot of costs that go into the holidays. Having a budget will help you in deciding what is really necessary and what is not. Some families pick names and then buy that one person a really nice set of gifts. Others put a limit on the adult’s gifts and then others try for a more personal touch and make their gifts. (A coupon book of things you will do for another is a great idea for a free gift idea—some have gotten pretty creative with this, like “Giving in on an argument”, “saying I’m sorry when I don’t feel like it”, drawing a bubble bath, and then of course the traditional, “back rub” is always nice. Whatever the gift the thought and sentiment should be what is given and received.

Happy Holidays!!

Sherri Sue Fisher, author of:

TimerDIET 2^nd Edition #7 on Amazon E-books in Health, Fitness & Dieting/Personal Health/Women’s Health—November 10^th 2014

TimerORGANIZER #5 on Amazon E-books in Business & Money/Business Life/Time Management—October 25^th 2014

TimerSAVINGS due out Spring of 2015

Timer® Tips Dreams

Today we are talking about dreams, those that we think we should have, those that we want, and those we don’t dare to dream.

TimerDIET

If you have ever dreamt of being a little smaller, a little more fit, or get to the point where food is no longer an issue: I know what it is like to feel like those kind of dreams are just not possible, until one day almost six years ago, I said enough is enough and made a plan to “make it happen” I wasn’t going to take NO for an answer. I knew I could make lasting changes that in the end would get me to my weight loss goals. Now my goals are more of fitness and body muscle. I am in my 50’s and I want to make sure I take care of my body as best I can. I exercise daily and strive to include weight bearing exercises into my routine. I could say that I am too old, it’s not possible, or I could say…every day is another day to make a goal and keep it!! You will feel so much better once you are at your comfort weight!!

TimerORGANIZER

Time is something we all value. Time is money, you have more than likely heard that saying before. In some ways it is more valuable than money. You can always earn more money, but you cannot earn more time. You must be vigilant with your time and be sure not to squander it. Your dreams depend on you accounting for your time in a way that moves you toward your dreams. Do we go through the days dealing with crisis and not tending to the things that could make our dreams come true and minimize the occurrence of crisis? Even if you promised yourself to spend 15 minutes a day working on your dream, do you realize that would be over 90 hours in a year? Try it—schedule 15 minutes each day this week to work on your dream. Figure out what it will take to make it happen!

TimerSAVINGS

This section is dedicated to my step-father who passed away this last week. My mom and he met and married after me and my sisters had all grown up and we had moved out of the house. But, even though he entered our lives much later in life he was very much a part of our family vacations and holidays over the last 30 years. I remember this one vacation/holiday during Christmas in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida when my step-father told my oldest grandson: “Dream big and believe, focus on the yacht and someday it will be yours” My grandson had just mentioned how he would love a yacht someday. It would have been easy to say, ‘oh that will never happen’ or ‘you don’t want a yacht do you?’ But, instead my step-father made my grandson feel his dream had validity and if he really wanted it, it could happen.

When it comes to money be sure to: 1) Spend it on what you need and sometimes on what you want, 2) Save some for peace of mind and the dreams of your future, and 3) Give some to those less fortunate. All of these things need to be done with your money—today! Not tomorrow, not when things get better, not….whatever you are thinking. Do them now and you will feel so much better.

So dream big, make a plan, and make it happen!!

Sherri Sue Fisher, author of:

TimerDIET 2^nd Edition #7 on Amazon E-books in Health, Fitness & Dieting/Personal Health/Women’s Health—November 10^th 2014

TimerORGANIZER #5 on Amazon E-books in Business & Money/Business Life/Time Management—October 25^th 2014

TimerSAVINGS due out Spring of 2015

Stress

Stress

Stress affects most of us to some extent at one time or another in our lives. But, what is STRESS really?

TimerOrganizer

Stress is when your expectations are not Inlign with your reality. It may seem easy to just change your expectations, but that could lead down a path that is not in your best interest. What are your expectations? Are they realistic? If they truly are not realistic then write down what would be a more realistic expectation and see how close to your reality the new expectation is. However, if your expectation is realistic then you need to create a plan on how to make it a reality so that your expectations and your reality are in sync.

Many times we decide it is just easier to reduce our expectations, this can have the effect of not living our full potential and doing what is necessary to live a life that we truly intended to lead. Before you decide that your hopes and dreams are not possible, see what you can do to make them possible with a solid plan with benchmarks along the way.

TimerDiet

When you are working to get down to your ideal weight, stress can wreak havoc with those plans! Daily exercise is a great way to deal with day to day stress that most everyone feels. Make your weight loss goals weekly so you know how you are doing and write down what it is that you eat everyday including what time you ate and how you felt. If you are experiencing a significant amount of stress be sure to write it down and see if you are eating a well-balanced diet each and every time that you eat. Eating a well-balanced diet of dietary fat, protein, and carbohydrates will help reduce stress. Breathe deeply, eat well-balanced meals, daily exercise and you will be doing your best to keep stress from your weight loss goals.

TimerSavings

When it comes to money problems, lack of money is probably the number one stressor in our lives. Relationship problems are only a second because many relationship issues are money related. When finances are in check and the amount of money you have is the amount of money you need, there is rarely cause for stress related to finances. There are various ways to make sure you have enough money to keep the money stressors at bay.  It may seem like spending less money is the primary way of saving money, but so is making more money. Your standard of living is probably the easiest way to keep the money stressors at bay. Most people will find that their ability to increase their ability to make more money comes with an increase in desires to spend more money. If you can balance your desire to spend money with the need to save money you will help stave off the money stressors that affect so many. If you find that you are already too far into the money stressors, do not despair, there are a lot of options and you need to address all of them. 1) Drastically reducing unnecessary spending for everything. 2) Debt restructuring and lastly 3) Insolvency options (various degrees of bankruptcy)

Getting your finances under control is the best way to take control of your life again!

Sherri Sue Fisher, author of TimerDiet and TimerOrganizer and to be released TimerSavings

Grocery Shopping

This is our first blog with the new format! We will discuss a topic and how each of my books would address each. Today’s Topic is Grocery Shopping:

TimerDiet—TimerOrganizer—TimerSavings

Make Menus

When grocery shopping you want to make sure that you know what you are going to do with each item that you buy. How will each purchase be consumed? Do you have a purpose for each purpose that is well-balanced? Can you combine your purchase with other purchases or things you have at home that will make it well-balanced including dietary fat, protein, and carbohydrates. 

Each week when it is time to grocery shop take a few minutes to make some menus for the week. They don’t need to be specific—fish, green vegetable, and some rice the details can be decided later, based on the sale items. Perhaps it is taco night or pasta night…either way make sure that you include dietary fat, protein, and carbohydrates.  This includes your breakfast, lunches, and mini-meals (i.e. snacks)

Organize Your Fridge!

You may have so many groceries in your refrigerator and freezer that you have no idea what is good, expired, or even goes together to make a well-balanced meal. It is better to have less groceries in your fridge that you know are fresh and good for you than be filled with many foods that are “not in your best interests” or have already expired and will not be useful when it is time to make dinner.

Take 15 minutes with the trash can in hand and get rid of anything that you would not be willing to eat right now. In other words if you don’t think it is fresh today, then toss it. Now organize what you have left by areas that make sense to you! Some people like to organize by breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks, while others like to organize by products, cheeses, meats, salad mixings, cooking vegetables, toppings, etc. Whatever organization makes sense to you go for it, keep it, and make it work for you to save money and use all the groceries you bought instead of throwing them out because they went bad.

Save Your Money

Grocery shopping is the one area that you have the MOST control over your budget. You decide what you buy and how much you buy. I read a statistic that the average family throws out a little over $1,000 each year! Do you have something that you could spend $1,000 rather than the trash can? I know I do! I am not perfect I promise I have to deal with the same thing that all of us do. But, most of us don’t even realize what we are doing. We throw food out in the trash without realizing the actual $’s that we are throwing out. So when you are throwing out food, take a note pad and write down an estimate of how much you are tossing. So if something cost $10 and you used ½ of it then you would write down $5 as the amount that you wasted. Do this for at least a month and get to the point where you are throwing away less than 2% of your food budget. Life is all about choices and the wisest choice is to buy what you want AND need and to not waste any of it (well not much of it anyway!)

Sherri Sue Fisher, author of TimerDiet, TimerOrganizer, and coming soon TimerSavings

Pockets of Time

Pockets of Time

We all have pockets of time that come into our lives and we have the option to use them or waste them. If you aren’t sure that you have pockets of time:

• Do you ever find yourself waiting on hold for more than a minute?

• Do you wait in line at the store for more than a minute?

• Do you work out on a treadmill, bike or elliptical machine?

• Do you ever find yourself in the waiting room of the doctor’s, dentist, salon, or similar

• Do you ever find yourself waiting on someone at a restaurant to arrive?

• How do you use these pockets of time? Checking your phone for social media messages? Check e-mails (10 times in 10 minutes!) What if you made a list of things you could do with each of these pockets of time and try to memorize them; here are some of mine.

• On hold – write my next blog, Facebook, or Twitter posting. Go through my inbox of mail, update my budget, read some instructions that I have been meaning to do.

• Waiting in line at the store – I try not to wait in line, but if I must I work on my list to do for the day, week, or month. Either in my head or on my phone calendar.

• Working out – Catch up on news stories on my iPad, listen to my iPod either something I downloaded that is motivational or educational. Or something I added myself; recently I am taking a French class—I know that sounds pretentious but it is kind of fun! (Doing things with our pockets of time do not need to always be productive—they can be just fun!)

• Waiting rooms – Are perfect for reading either magazine articles, books, or the latest news. You can bring a magazine or book with your or have them on your tablet.

• Waiting for someone at the restaurant – First I ask to go ahead and be seated if possible, that way I can be comfortable and check out the menu, maybe even get something to start with while I wait. But more importantly I use the time with a combination of all of the above!

So when you encounter your pockets of time remember this…15 minutes a day equals over 91 hours a year, how do you want to spend your pockets of time?

Sherri Sue Fisher, author of TimerOrganizer and TimerDiet

Be sure to check out Facebook www.facebook.com/timerorganizer

And Twitter https://twitter.com/TimerOrganizer 

And the Web site where you can check out the chapter titles www.timerorganizer.com

                       

Do you check E-mails in the Morning?

Checking E-mails in the Morning?

Most “Time Management Experts” say to not check e-mail in the mornings when you first wake up. But, why do they say this?

·         There may be something upsetting in your e-mails

·         Your e-mails should not dictate what you are doing for the day

·         You will get off track early in the day

·         People will expect you to look at your e-mails in the morning

·         Reading e-mails provide a false sense of accomplishment

·         To train yourself to have willpower

I am sure there are other reasons…but let’s get REAL! Don’t most people check their e-mails in the morning?

When I was in high-school some 35 years ago, my driver’s Ed teacher told us that he wanted us to have the radio on to what we normally would listen to, at the volume we would normally listen to it. Why? Because he said, “There is no sense teaching you in a false environment. When you start driving on your own listening to the radio, you will have no idea how to concentrate, drive, and listen to the radio at the same time!”  I remember that lesson and I think it applies here.

No matter what people tell you you are going to look at your e-mails in the morning…aren’t you? Of course you are! Perhaps it is lack of willpower, curiosity, forgetting that you weren’t going to check, whatever the reason is who cares? You are going to check your e-mails in the morning. I get it! So let me give you advice on how to do so without it causing all the forewarned drama above.

Go to your in-box, set your timer for five minutes, if you find you need more time then reset it for another five minutes. You want to be mindful of the amount of time you spend each morning just to glance over your e-mails to ascertain which of them are important. Don’t open them yet, just make a mental note that you need to deal with whichever of them you feel could be important. Delete as many as you possibly can, junk or advertisements, so you don’t spend time glancing at them. If you can’t delete it without opening it then pass and go to the next.

Have one inspirational e-mail sent to your inbox each day. Whomever you chose makes no difference to me. Then read that e-mail first, ask for a productive/great/inspirational whatever makes you happy kind of day and then open those particular e-mails that appear to warrant immediate attention. If they can be responded to in a minute or less, then do so now. If they require action then schedule them on your to-do list. Then get off the computer for at least an hour, turn off the e-mail indicators on your phone, and get to work!!

Whatever you do, do not have an auto response that lets people know that you only check your e-mail at certain times of the day. First of all that just pisses off the person who sent you an e-mail two minutes after the last time you supposedly checked your e-mail. Second, there is no way that you can be 100% sure that every day you will check your e-mail at those specific times. And third, did I say it pisses people off? Oh, right and no one cares when you look at everyone else’s e-mail they only care when you are going to look at theirs. 

Sherri Sue Fisher, author of TimerDiet and to be released this June TimerOrganizer

www.timerorganizer.com

To Be Or Not To Be Organizerd?

Why Be Organized?

Why be organized? If you are already organized, you cannot imagine a life where you are not. If you are somewhat organized, you most likely imagine a world where you are completely organized, and lastly if you are rarely organized you may wonder what all the fuss is about.

Don’t Organized People Lack Spontaneity?

Hardly, in fact if you are organized you can take advantage of impromptu opportunities because you have your projects under control and you know that you can make time for a new opportunity and not have it mess up your entire schedule. In fact most organized people know exactly where there passport is and could go anywhere they want to without having it be a major production!

Doesn’t it Take a Lot of Time to be Organized?

It takes learning what is important to you and why and then focusing your efforts there. Also, time yourself, next time you think something takes “a lot” of time and see how long it really takes you. We tend to think that things we don’t want to do take longer than things we do want to do. So time yourself and know the truth.

Everything is Just Fine Now

Is it? Are you making the most of your day(s), week(s), and month(s)? Are you achieving all of your goals? Are you making goals? Do you know what you want? If you already have all that you want, what are you doing to insure you keep it? If you had no restrictions on what you could want for, what would it be? When is the last time something amazing happened in your life? How did it feel?

I hope I have piqued your interest in my new book TimerOrganizer released June 2014.

Sherri Sue Fisher, author of TimerOrganizer and TimerDiet

  

Schedule It

Schedule It

Do you want to feel that you should be doing what it is that you are doing? Have you ever gone to the office and thought about everything you need to do at home and then once you got home thought of everything you need to do at the office?  Conversely, have you ever been in the moment? Whether it was a crises or a massage or vacation, or maybe a deadline that had to be done? What do each of these have in common? You need or want to be there during the time that you are there. While crisis are not scheduled they take precedence and you realize that you need to be where you are and nowhere else. In the case of the massage or vacation you scheduled it, looked forward to it and planned on doing it at the time that you are doing it. You Scheduled It!

Family, Friends, and Alone Time

Schedule everything that is important to you! Date night, family night, movies with friends, alone time with a bubble bath. If you don’t know when you are going to do these things, how do you know you are going to do them? By scheduling these things that are important to you, you won’t be thinking that you should be doing them, because you know exactly when you will be doing them.

House Cleaning, Errands, and Finances

Yes, it is important to schedule the more mundane things in life as well. Knowing that Saturday afternoon is your housecleaning time will keep you from going through the whole week wondering, “When will I get to clean the floors and when should I do that load of laundry?” I am not saying that if certain issues arise that you can’t go ahead and do what needs to be done. But, whenever you find yourself worrying or wondering when you are going to get around to doing something get your calendar out and schedule it. The same goes with errands, if you plan on dropping off dry-cleaning at a certain time you can create predictably and work your schedule so that you have a clean suit whenever you need it. Speaking of laundry, if you don’t need to do laundry every week then change it to every other week and see if that works into your schedule better.

Work and Projects

We all have various things that need to be done in our work. Schedule your various functions so that you are not wondering all morning long when you are going to get to the agenda for the next day’s meeting. Put it on your calendar and focus your efforts where you are needed now and do what you have scheduled when your reminder goes off.

Sherri Sue Fisher author TimerOrganizer and TimerDiet

Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah

So I, myself am not Jewish, but many of my new friends over the last year are. So being the research analyst type person that I am I decided I should find out what all of my friends are celebrating Wednesday night. I had heard of Rosh Hashanah and I knew it was a Jewish celebration, but I did not know it was the Jewish New Year. It is a time of celebration, new beginnings, and reflection. On the surface it seems very similar to New Year’s Day on January 1^st. But, when you read about the intent of the High Holiday it is very specific in its purpose to reflect on the last year and compare the results of the year to what was hoped for in the year prior.

January 1st

For many of us January 1^st is just a changing of the calendar and reason to get dressed up and have a party. Many of us do resolutions and various of us make goals. But, it would appear that Rosh Hashanah is very specific in asking as a family, including children, what do you think you needed to improve on and what do you want to accomplish in the coming year. It is not about just turning the calendar and moving on. 

 

What We Can Learn

Reflection both accomplishments and shortcomings is an important part of life and should be done at least once a year and with intent. Getting the children involved in such introspection is important to instill lasting values. Sharing, as a family, our goals and dreams brings about a closeness that cannot be denied.

Sherri Sue Fisher, author of TimerOrganizer and TimerDiet

Intentions

Intentions

When you think about your day and what you need to do, what are your intentions? Do you have goals? When you do the things you need to do are you intentionally doing them to achieve your goals? Many people who have won the lottery have said that when they bought their ticket, they bought with the intention of winning—multiple times! People who have succeeded had a vision of what they would achieve and even in some cases—when! Each golf swing, each lap in the pool, and each call had intention.

 

Do you know what you want?

Others Intentions

When you think about it the majority of our disagreements in life have to do with conflicting intentions. We may be at odds with other people’s intentions. So do we need to give up on our own intentions to keep the peace…NO! We do need to understand the other person’s intentions and hopefully they will want to understand ours. Sometimes both intentions can occur at the same time and there really is no threat, even though at first there was a perceived threat. Sometimes you have to take turns and then of course there is the dreaded compromise. I really am not a fan of the compromise, I do ironically feel that letting someone else’s intentions be just as important as our own as way to make peace. It is not giving up, it is not compromising…it is saying that what the other person wants is just as important as what you want.

 

Sometimes the days just meld together!

Daily Intentions

Every day we have to look to our own intentions and see why are doing what we do. Sometimes days go by and we have no idea why we are doing what we are doing, watching what we watch, or talking to whom we talk with. When you are preparing to do anything, pause for just a second, and say, “What is my intention?” “What would be my best outcome?” “Please make that happen!”

Sherri Sue Fisher, author of TimerOrganizer and TimerDiet