The Wilder Zone

10 Ways to Snap Yourself Out of a Funk

You're feeling less than inspired today. You look at your to-do list and discover you don't feel much like doing any of it.

Some days you wake energetic and raring to go. You tackle one item after another, after another, on your to-do list. Each opportunity to cross something off the list giving you a boost of energy and a sense of being productive, of accomplishing something, of forward momentum.

Then there are days when despite your best efforts, you can't seem to get into that zone. Your energy is dragging, your thoughts are unfocused, your mood less than enthusiastic. It's what one of my closest friends and I call a funk. It's a bad case of the blahs that you can't quite seem to shake. Sometimes it's easy to identify what brought it on, other times it seems to come out of nowhere for no particular reason.

Whether you can identify the source of your funk or not, there are steps you can take to attempt to snap yourself out of it:

1. Let the sunshine in. Living and/or working in a dark cave with all the blinds closed is depressing. Open the blinds or drapes and flood the room with sunlight. If it's warm enough to open the windows to let in some fresh air, even better.

2. Crank up the tunes. Put on some uplifting, energizing tunes. Something with a beat that you can hardly resist moving to and then...

3. Get up and move. Exercise, dance around your living room, wrestle with the dog, go for a walk. Anything that gets your blood pumping.

4. Light a candle or diffuse an essential oil with an uplifting scent. Orange and lemon oils are two of my favorites.

5. Get out of the house. Go for a drive, go to a park, go to your local coffee house, have lunch at your favorite neighborhood cafe. Your funk just might be a bad case of cabin fever.

6.Read something inspiring.  Keep some inspirational reading handy for days like these.

7. Talk to a friend. Preferably one who knows you well and knows just how best to help you...with empathetic words, a good joke or a swift kick in the ass. My girlfriend and I do this for one another with the understanding that we are NOT allowed to be in a funk at the same time.

If you've tried all of the above and are still feeling in a funk...

8. Take a nap or meditate. Either can serve as a way to reboot. Ever wish you could crawl back into bed and start over...sometimes that's just what you need to do.

If upon rising, the funk is still with you...

9. Just DO it! Pick something, anything, on your to-do list and Just DO it.

That's not working either?

10. Take a mental health day and go see a good movie, get a pedicure, enjoy a latte, soak in a bubble bath, read a novel, get a massage ...whatever... the idea is to give yourself a break, to pamper yourself, to renew your energy.

And remember...this too shall pass, and tomorrow is a new day.

Photo originally uploaded by fodt

Productivity Secrets for Creative Entrepreneurs - Grab the First Module for FREE

Productivity is a hot topic. The books, courses, and online information on the subject, are too numerous to count. Probably because it's something we all struggle with from time to time. Either we're way too busy and trying to figure out how to be more productive so we can get even more done, or we're stuck in a rut, knowing full well that we need to be getting more done, but can't seem to kick it into gear.

If that's sounding familiar (and I'm betting, unless you're very unusual, that it is) then Productivity Secrets for Creative Entrepreneurs is a home-study course you're going to want to check out. It's not like any other...you won't learn some new and ridiculously complex time-management system. In fact, quite the opposite...it focuses not just on what you do, but how you do it.

As the website states, you'll learn:

• The most important distinction every creative entrepreneur needs to know to quickly assess whether or not you’re spinning your wheels or producing results in areas that really matter.
• The single most important question you can ask yourself (or your staff) when you get stuck or frazzled.
• The start-up secret that will save you at least 4 hours every week.
• How to use a simple little physics principle to INSTANTLY eliminate overwhelm and get back to producing results and having fun!
• The shocking truth about multi-tasking. This is clinically proven, mental health information you need to know.
• How to use “spiritual aerodynamics” to decrease your drag and increase your productivity, effectiveness and life satisfaction.
• How to effectively break the email addiction and create 50% - 80% more FREE TIME within 24 hours.
• The key to re-training your clients and staff so they feel even more taken care of with less human effort on your part.
• Why you need to immediately retire your trigger finger and enjoy the lost art of accumulation.
• The single most important thing you need to STOP doing today if you’re having trouble getting things done.
• Why you need to get on what my friend Tim calls a “low information” diet and why most of us are being swept away in information overload.
• How to quickly determine what’s most important to YOU in your business and life so you can stop being distracted and scattered with meaningless tasks.
• How to re-assess your “To Do” list from a LIVE MORE perspective
• What needs to be on your “Not To Do” list and why you should have one.
• Why long-term goals rarely work for the ultra-creative and highly productive and what to use instead that does.
• An easy fill-in-the-blanks tool to uncover your personal “time suckers.” (Bonus: you can reuse this tool over and over to re-assess your time as your life and business shifts!)
• The single most important thing you need to do BEFORE you outsource or hire anyone. (Miss this step and you’ll pay for it big time in hard earned cash, lost revenue producing time and profit!)
• Reliable outsourcing resources to get others to work for you at a fraction of the cost.
• How to outsource the right way so you don’t waste time or money.
• Why you need to use the “ODG method” to spend your time on what matters most to YOU and stop your big dreams from getting lost in minutiae.

Marie Forleo created this home-study course and because she wants to share this information with as many people as possible, she's giving away (yup, you heard that right...giving away) the first module of the course.

Get instant (and free) access to the first module of Productivity Secrets for Creative Entrepreneurs now and see for yourself. The free audio replay of the tele-seminar, 3 Simple Steps to Radically Transform Your Productivity...Within 24hrs! is also available for free.

Marie is a dear friend and and colleague but this post isn't about simply supporting a friend in making sales, or about earning a fat affiliate commission (because I'm not). This is a product I believe in, offered by a woman I believe in - an entrepreneur who walks her talk and creates information products because she genuinely cares about sharing the information than has been instrumental in helping her to live a life and create a business she's passionate about and loves. I'm posting about it for the same reason...and so I want to share with you anything that I think might better support you in living a life you love, and in building a successful business that supports that life.

So take a peek...if you love it as much as I do, you may decide to purchase the full course, and if it doesn't resonate for you, you won't have risked a thing by giving it a test drive.

 

 

3 Simple Steps To Radically Transform Your Productivity...Within 24hrs!

Productivity...always a hot topic, especially for entrepreneurs who, rather than punching a time clock and being paid hourly whether we're especially productive or not, earn our living in direct proportion to how productively we spend our days.

Productivity is something most of us have struggled with from time to time. If you're feeling overwhelmed, if you're finding you're procrastinating more than you'd like and you're less productive than you'd like as a result, then let me introduce you to an amazing woman who will transform your productivity.

Marie Forleo is a dear friend and colleague who is simply inspirational and brilliant in her approach to life and productivity. She lives what she teaches, and I'm tickled to be co-hosting a free tele-seminar with Marie, "3 Simple Steps to Radically Transform Your Productivity....Within 24hrs!" that will transform the way you live and work.

Hint: The secret to getting more done is not in what you do but how you do it.

I really hope you'll join us this Thursday at 3pm EDT. Marie and I always have a blast when we get together and she'll be sharing some of her best stuff on this call. If you can't make the live call, register now anyway and we'll be sure you get the recorded audio.

I hope to "see" you there!

Must-Read Blog: Sproutwire

You know those moments where you thunk yourself upside the head and wonder, "Why didn't I think of that?!" Well, I had one of those moments when I first saw Sproutwire. Sproutwire is the brilliant brain child of Shane Pearlman & Peter Chester. It's a blog that offers, as they put it, "a daily dose of the best small business articles that the internet has to offer." 

Oh, if only I'd thought of that myself. <g> It's currently in beta but I expect it's going to be very popular and successful. Take a few moments to check it out for yourself, and if you come across, or have written, a great post let Sproutwire know by sending them an email. If they use the article they'll give you a mention and link to your site or blog.

The Value of the Long-term Solution over the Quick Fix

It's not quite spring yet, but here in Denver we've been getting some warmer weather which means that the snow/ice that's been covering everything in the backyard for the last several weeks, is beginning to melt. While that's a good thing, it also presents a challenge, since Glenn and I decided back in October to add a beautiful golden retriever puppy to the family.

The melting snow is turning the yard into a giant mess of mud and puddles. Great fun for a puppy. Not so much fun for me when she comes running into the house with all four paws covered in mud. And of course, Miss Muddy Paws does not come in and announce that her paws are in need of cleaning and then sit down to wait patiently for me to clean them.

Quite the contrary, she typically comes in from the yard at top speed doing what I call her "crazy-puppy run" which consists of tearing through the house weaving wildly in and around and on the furniture. By the time I realize her paws are in need of cleaning she's left an ungodly trail of muddy paw prints all over the house.

Thank God we don't have light carpet, but as you can see from the picture above, we do have a very light colored leather sofa which we attempt to protect by covering it with a large comforter. Unfortunately, as you can also see, the comforter doesn't always stay in place when Miss Muddy Paws finally comes to a halt.

Since scrubbing puppy paws and floors, and rugs, and furniture, clean of mud is not one of my favorite pastimes and takes a considerable amount of time to accomplish, it didn't take long for me to realize while crawling on my hands and knees from one muddy paw print to the next, that we needed to find a way to prevent the problem from occurring rather than having to clean up the mess over and over and over again.

We weren't at all sure what to do, since we can't stop the snow from melting, nor can we expect Miss Muddy Paws to honor our pleas to stay out of the mud, but thankfully someone we mentioned the problem to suggested we buy a bale or two of straw to put down in the yard. While this required additional time to find a feed store, pick up the bales of straw and then scatter them over the yard, it was well worth it and required much less time than continuing to "fix" the problem every time it occurred. I could feasibly have spent untold hours cleaning up the mess over the next couple of months as the Denver weather is notorious this time of year for alternating between cold snowy days and warmer sunny days.

Miss Muddy Paws has reminded me of the value of taking the time to respond to a problem not just by fixing it, but by coming up with a long-term solution to prevent it from recurring. When we're busy it's easy to go for the quick fix, but after having to implement the quick fix for the umpteenth time I think you'll agree that it'll save time, not to mention your sanity, to follow these steps to find a long-term solution that will prevent the problem from occurring again:

1. Look beyond the problem itself to the source. Identify the cause. 

2. If at all possible, eliminate the source/cause.

3. If it's not possible to eliminate the source/cause, do the next best thing...determine how best to mitigate the damage, and do it!

Life is too short to drive yourself crazy fixing the same problem over and over again. We've all got better things to do with our time. Now I can spend the time I'd have been spending wiping up muddy paw prints, playing with and enjoying our sweet puppy rather than moaning and groaning over the mess.

Are Your Goals Moving You Forward or Holding You Back?

I've never been a big proponent of setting goals for a number of reasons. Traditional goal-setting tends to be about creating a list of things you think you "should" be doing in order to  reach some future circumstance you "think" will be better or will make you happier.

Here's the problem:

1. If your goals are focused on things you think you "should" be doing but that you're not really inspired to do, simply setting the goal isn't going to create the inspiration to reach it. Instead it's likely to create resistance which in turn leads to procrastination, which in turn often leads to making yourself miserable by beating yourself up for not having achieved whatever it may be.

2. The future circumstance that you think the goal will move you closer to is limited to what you imagine, based on current circumstances and knowledge, and past experience, is reasonable to work toward. It doesn't allow for the possibility that your life (and/or business) might unfold in ways you can't even fathom right now.

3. If you think reaching any goal is going to somehow magically make you happier, you're in for a rude awakening. Yes, reaching a goal may bring momentary pleasure in having achieved it but that rush is temporary. It won't "make" you happier long-term.  How many times have you told yourself you'd be happier when...you had more clients, made more money, bought a new car or new house...only to discover that the so-called "happiness" didn't last? If you're basing goals on the assumption that you'll be happier once you've achieved them then you're missing out on the happiness you could be experiencing in this moment, right NOW.

4. Long-term goals are (as mentioned in #2) set based on current circumstance and knowledge, and past experience, and don't account for the fact that your life is constantly evolving. And, once set, often become inflexible. Somehow we get caught in the trap that to discard a goal is a failure and all too often as a result we continue to blindly strive to achieve that goal, whether or not it still serves to move us forward.

It's this last problem with goals that prompted this post. I recently had a conversation with my 17 year old son about his future. Like many teens his age, his thoughts are often on where he's going, what he wants to do with his life, and how to move forward in a way that will set him up for success as an adult.

He was at a crossroads and distressed because a particular goal he'd set for himself a few years ago was in conflict with a wonderful opportunity that was recently presented to him. The intended benefit of both the original goal, and the new opportunity, were the same...to move him forward into adulthood in a positive way. What he was unable to see initially was that the new opportunity was a more direct means of getting to where he wanted to go, so the original goal, admirable as it was when he set it, was now the very thing that was getting in the way of his achieving the greater vision he had for his future.

Sometimes we get so focused on the goal itself, rather than the greater vision, that we miss opportunities in the moment. When was the last time you really evaluated whether the goals you've set for yourself are a help or a hindrance? And, have you ever considered that it might be even better to skip attempting to set specific goals and to focus instead on the bigger vision you have for your life, while tuning in to your intuition in this moment and trusting it to help you take the next best step?

How To Encourage Inspiration To Strike

Whether you're hoping inspiration will strike and you'll find the perfect solution to a problem, or you feel as though you've run out of creative ideas, or you're trying to write and the words just won't flow, Tamar Wallace wrote a post sharing  an amazing trick you can try to encourage inspiration to strike.

I came across her post "Angels & Demons" on the Business of Design Online Blog a couple of days ago and I simply LOVE this method and had to share it:

Rather than asking [your] mind to search for a solution to a potentially impossible challenge, [you] ask [your] mind simply to remember it. The presupposition that one once knew the answer created the mindset that the answer must exist…thus eliminating the crippling conception of hopelessness.”

Simple and yet profound, AND to my delight, highly effective. Since reading Tamar Wallace's post I've tried it a number of times with amazing success. I shared the idea with a friend as well, who also loved it and found it immensely helpful. Give it a try for yourself and please let me know what you think of it. I'm curious to see how many different types of situations you find it useful for.

The Best Keyboard Shortcut EVER If Your Eyes Ain't What They Used To Be

If, like me, your eyes ain't what they used to be <g>, if you often find yourself squinting at your computer screen trying to make out the too small print on a website or blog, then you're going to LOVE this keyboard shortcut.

Simply hold the Ctrl key and hit + to enlarge the text.

I don't recall how I discovered this keyboard shortcut but I use it a lot now, and I love it. I use a PC with Windows XP so I have no idea if it works on a Mac, but it works like a charm with both Firefox and IE.

Manage Your Energy - Give Yourself a Break

It's that time of day, mid-afternoon, when my energy often hits a low point and it becomes a struggle to stay focused or to think clearly.  Writing is often a challenge at this time of day, so forgive me if I'm not quite as articulate. I'm blogging now precisely because this lull in my energy and concentration has reminded me of the importance of managing our energy if we want to increase our productivity while filling our days and our work with ease rather than struggle.

I still sometimes resist this afternoon sluggishness in an attempt to push through it, to keep working, to force myself to get more done, but it's a struggle. The irony, as I discovered long ago, is that often my productivity drops to such a low at this time of day that I'm functioning at (maybe) 25% of capacity. This prompted the realization that it was precisely in those moments when I least thought I could afford to take a break, that I most needed to do just that. And, that taking a much needed break was the most logical thing to do. That despite however busy I might be, I'd be more productive, not less, if I took a break. Why? Because when I stop resisting the need for a break and allow myself to take one, when I return to my work, I'm once again functioning at at my peak level of performance, and doing it with ease.

Let's take a closer look at this for all of you who are reading this skeptically and thinking "Is she nuts?! I don't have time for that!" If your energy is dragging and you're functioning at 25% and you push through it, even if you work for another 4 hours you're only accomplishing what you'd have accomplished in a single hour had you been functioning at your peak.  On the other hand, if instead of resisting, you take that break for an hour and return to work refreshed and rarin' to go for the next three hours, you're accomplishing three times as much as if you'd forced yourself to keep going without a break.

How long a break you need to take and what you do with that time, will be very individual. You might need only twenty minutes to renew your energy, you might need an hour. You might need a 20 minute power nap, to meditate for 30 minutes or to take an hour long walk. Do whatever works for you to renew your energy. Whatever it is, do yourself (and your business) a favor and give yourself a break. Speaking of which...it's time for me to do just that.

Wireless Printing with the Lexmark Z1420 - Review

I'm hooked. Or perhaps I should say I'm un-hooked. I'm loving Lexmark's Z1420 wireless printer. The freedom of being able to print without having to get up to plug my laptop into the printer is wonderful. Even better is being able to pick my laptop up from the desk to take it to another spot in the house without nearly pulling the printer onto the floor because I've forgotten to unplug it first.

The Lexmark Z1420 was a breeze to set up. While I've learned a great deal in the realm of computer technology over recent years, I'm still not what anyone would call truly tech-savvy, and when I find myself up against a techie-task that requires greater know-how than I have, I tend to get frustrated rather quickly. Thankfully, installing the Lexmark Z1420 was the essence of simplicity.

I popped the installation cd into my laptop, followed the simple step-by-step instructions as prompted and fifteen minutes later I was running the first few test prints, and thinking to myself, "Now that's cool." Okay...so maybe I'm easily impressed but I couldn't help but get a kick out of my new toy. Of course, it's far more than a toy, but any new tool that promises to make my life easier excites me and I was having fun playing with it. I still get a kick out of it every time I hit "print" and hear the printer start up in the other room. (And if you're concerned about having to leave the printer on all the time, don't be...it goes into sleep mode on its own.)

I've been very pleased with the quality of the printing as well, whether in normal or quick print. However, I don't like that I can't set the default to quick print. I noticed this about a previous Lexmark printer I owned. Because most of the printing I do is for my own use I typically use quick print and I find it annoying to have to go into properties to set it to quick print each time. It does allow you to save settings and to choose them again from a drop-down menu but this still requires that you go into properties each time.

While Lexmark has created a toolbar that can be downloaded for easier printing from the internet, including quick print, it's only compatible  with IE. I gave up using IE years ago in favor of Firefox which I find to be far superior.  Considering the ever-growing number of Firefox users I think it's short-sighted of Lexmark not to have made the toolbar compatible with it as well.

I haven't yet done enough printing to get a feel for how often I'll need to replace or refill the ink cartridges. As ink cartridges go, these are reasonably priced at $23.99 for the standard black ($24.99 for high yield black) and $25.99 for standard color ($29.99 for high yield) .

The Lexmark rewards program also gives you a free cartridge for every 5 purchased, and a free cartridge for every 5 used cartridges returned in the postage-paid return envelopes they provide for you. Not only does this cut down on your overall ink costs (it's $21.99 to purchase a return program color cartridge and $19.99 for a return program black cartridge) but it's environmentally friendly. So while, Lexmark may not be taking Firefox users into consideration  they haven't forgotten the growing number of their market who are environmentally conscious.

The Lexmark Z1420 is the smallest and sleekest of their line of wireless printers, and takes up little space. For those of us working in multi-function spaces in our homes that's a bonus. The paper feed seems to function exceptionally well. I've been pleasantly surprised that it hasn't jammed.  I was relieved to discover as well, that the paper tray also seems to function quite well even when printing large quantities. It would kind of defeat the purpose of wireless printing if you had to get up to fix a paper jam or to insure that the last half of your prints didn't start sliding off the tray and onto the floor.

The Lexmark Z1420 is also a color photo printer and comes with the Lexmark Imaging Studio which allows you to crop, re-size, adjust color, create greeting cards, posters, slideshows etc. I've yet to print any photos with it, though, so I can't comment on how well it performs in that regard.

All things considered, I highly recommend the Lexmark Z1420 for laptop users or anyone with more than one computer in the house who'd like to eliminate the need for multiple printers.

Note: As mentioned in a previous post, the agency handling the marketing for Lexmark's new line of wireless printers sent me the Z1420 for review.  I'm pleased to be able to give it a good review overall, but had it been a dismal failure I'd have said so. I do NOT recommend for purchase anything which I don't honestly believe you'll find to be an asset to your life or business.