Commencement Speeches

This topic may not be what you might expect from TimerOrganizer, but in reality if you were to listen to most commencement speeches they teach you how to be a better person, reach your goals, and what to expect along the way. Which is what I hope that TimerOrganizer also does in my own humble way. I am no Naval Admiral or Editorial Chief or Celebrity who has stood the test of time. But, if I were I would say listen to these commencement speeches.

Some of them are funny and some are serious, some are short and some are long, some hit you in the gut and you completely relate to where you currently are and others are very far into the future of what you have yet to experience. You may have never gone to college or you may have graduated years or decades ago. But, I encourage you to listen to the commencement speeches that are out there, they have pearls of wisdom that you cannot get just anywhere and by people who have been there, done that and learned the hard way.

You may not agree with their political stance, but don’t let that deter you from listening to their wisdom!!

 

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

www.timerorganizer.com

Checking E-Mail in the Morning

Checking E-mails in the Morning Can Cause Chaos???

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?

 

My Driver's Ed Teacher Taught Me

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.

Let's Get Real

 
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.

A Little Checking May Thwart Off Pending Problems 

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.

Start the In-Box Reading on a Positive Note

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!!

Do NOT Tell People When You Check E-Mail 

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


 

Grocery Prices are Rising!

Organize Your Refrigerator to Save Money

If you want to save some money on your grocery bill, organize your refrigerator. How many times have you thrown food away because it has spoiled or bought something because you couldn’t find it in the fridge? It happens, but to some it happens often. They say the average family throws out almost $1,500 a year in food that has spoiled. That is a lot of money. How does organizing your fridge help?

 

Keep Foods by Category in the Fridge

Create separate areas in your fridge for fruit, vegetables, meat, deli meats, and cheeses. The more categories you have in your fridge the easier it will be to find what you want when you want. Food spoils primarily because you forget about it or you just don’t want to eat it. Which brings up a great point…

 

Don’t Buy Food You Don’t Like

It seems common sense. But how often have you bought food because it was supposed to be good for you, knowing full well that you didn’t like it? Or maybe you bought a certain food because it was going to go into a specific dish that you knew would be too time consuming to make and you were probably not going to get around to it? Just don’t buy it unless you have a plan for it. When in doubt freeze your foods before they go bad and label them with the date you froze them.

 

Your Shopping List Should be Based Off of Your Menu List

When you go grocery shopping a little time spent deciding what your menus for the week will be is a great money saver. Know what foods you want to go together and then when you get to the store you can buy based on the sales. Don’t be optimistic thinking you will make dinner all seven nights if you know that the kids have soccer practice two nights a week and there is no way to make a full dinner. Instead have easy menu items for those nights.

 

With a little organization of both your menus and your fridge you can make it through this grocery price increase without having it affect your wallet as much.  

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

www.timerorganizer.com

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