The Super Allergy Girl Blog

Want Power? Make A Completion List...Here's how

I just did my completion list for 2009, something that I typically do in the first week of a New Year, and I am excited!  Now, I can't remember what year I started doing what I call a "Completion List", but I can tell you it was at least in 1998 because that was the year I did one that had a ton of house projects.  What I do is write down anything and everything that I can think of that is incomplete in my life.  My "Completion List" includes phone calls to make (usually ones that are hanging out there un-done for some reason), house repair projects, other projects that did not get done like organizing things, letters - you get the drift.  If you want power, this is one of the best activities to do as long as you set about to actually complete them.  There is no sense in making a list if you have no intention of checking them off!

My friend, Lanette, started doing this with me a few years ago!!  During the year we will check in with each other to see if things are coming off the list.  Just knowing that I was getting ready to do my list, I got in action and took care of two items so that they didn't even make it on the list!  It is fun to check the items off.  So, you are probably wondering, WHAT is on my list for this year?  Well here is a sample of what is on my list:
1.  Have Diane over for coffee
2.  Visit Sharleen in Maine
3.  Throw a party for the people who have helped us get to where we are
4.  Office all cleaned up and organized
5.  Access to a saltwater pool for the kids this summer so they can learn to swim w/out chlorine
6.  Pictures organized
7.  Find a church that will offer a scent-free mass and 'no germs' zone for us to be able to participate with (Roman Catholic)
8.  Fulfill on my promise to Edith Anderson for Epsilon Alpha Chapter history (and organize her docs)
9.  Be selected for an ABC Extreme Home Makeover OR somehow resolve our housing issues
10.  Clean out the attic

Well, you get the idea.  My 2009 Completion list has a total of 26 items on it, most of them not related to the cookbook because then the list would be 100 items long.  I have one item for business and the rest is in a category I'd call other.  One of the items, having matching dresses for my daughter and I, is a luxury that I have not been willing to spend the money on given our medical bill situation.  But, what I realized the other week was that I could sew the dresses myself for a fraction of what I could buy them ready-made, and if I didn't hurry up and do it soon - she'd be at that age where she was too old to wear a dress that matched "Mommy's".  Yes, they do grow up fast!!  So, now I'm using the matching dresses concept as a reward for completing 7 or 8 big work projects.  Projects that will take hours and hours and did I say hours to complete!!  Projects that I have either been avoiding or for some reason have not managed to finish.  That is providing incentive for me.  I can't wait to get those projects done now.

And that is the inner workings of a self-motivated person.  I set up my own rewards for completing X or Y amount of work or certain projects.  It lights a fire under me - assuming I have the right motivating rewards.  At any rate, I have digressed.  Writing up your own Completion List could provide you with lots of power if you will work to complete items on the list.  And now you can create your own "reward" program for doing such.  I hope that I have not bored you to death with my little motivational tricks!  Thinking about doing a completion list?  If you do, let me know!!  What gives you power?  How do you motivate yourself?  Let me know.

Have a wonderful and productive week.  I'm off to LA on Wednesday.
Love,
Lisa

Managing Your Time and Your Life: How Do You Do it?

As a master of time management, I typically make a weekly list of things to do.  As this is the beginning of a New Year, this is the time that I reflect and look back over the past year and assess, how well did I do for managing my time.  One of the tools that I use for looking at this is how many weeks out of the year did I actually take the time to make up a weekly list of tasks to accomplish and things to do.  In 2008, I typed up 43 lists of weekly tasks out of a total of 52 weeks (using an assumed number of weeks in a year as 52).  That produces a percentage rate of 82% for the year of weekly lists made.  Now, 2008 was not just a regular year for me.  As some of you know, my Mother had a health crisis at the end of March and almost died.  I spent several weeks traveling back and forth from Buffalo to Hershey, Pennsylvania and later Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.  I am happy to report that not only did my Mother survive her brain aneurysm and stroke(s) and the several surgeries, but she is at home functioning exceptionally well!!  She is a miracle and a testament to miracles.

But I digress.  For a few weeks, notably in April, I did not write up my weekly lists.  Had I done that I would have coasted in with an 88% for weekly lists.  Not a record for me, but a respectable percentage of weekly lists I would say.  The weeks that I don't do a "To Do List", I work off of the previous list.  Each week I put approximately 40 items on my list of what, in an ideal world, I would like to accomplish.  My rate of success or percentage of tasks completed varies greatly depending upon many things.  As a range, it varies from 45% to 85%.  And NO, I don't calculate the percent of tasks completed for each week.  I'm not that anal or compulsive.  Every once in a blue moon I'll take the time to calculate it.  For the most part, this weekly list functions as a guide taking me through the week.  It works very, very well for me.  The weekly list in combination with my Franklin Covey Planner and my overall list of Goals and 5-Year Plan work in harmony to move me forward day by day.

It is a New Year.  How do you manage your time?  What tools work for you?  Do you have a list of goals that you would like to accomplish this year or in your life?  How are you managing your time?  As someone who finds time to be a friend, I'd love to hear what works for you and what isn't working for you.  Time management is a skill that you can hone and develop.  Is there anything that I can do to support you in this area?
Sending you lots of time and peace,

Love,
Lisa

How Well Are You Managing Your Time?

It is a question worth pondering.  How well are you managing your time?  We all only have 24 hours in a day.  Why is it that some people get more things done than other people do?  The old saying goes, if you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.  It is Sunday night, and I just finished typing up my "To Do List" for the week.  This is a weekly ritual for me although I don't stress or fuss if I miss a week here or there.  But mostly I don't miss a week because this list keeps me laser focused on what I want to accomplish for the week.  This is a short week for me because I am leaving for Los Angeles for the 3rd weekend of the Partnership Explorations Course.  My "to do" list literally ends on Friday morning.

Interesting that I still managed to get 39 typed items on my list for this week.  Of last week's list of 40 items, I managed to cross off 26 things yielding about 65% completion of my entire list!!  Woo-hoo for me.  I am tickled pink when I hit 50% or about 20 things.  Each week brings a different list based on my appointments, conference calls, speaking engagements, meetings and so on. 

How much of your life do you manage?  What do you use for keeping yourself on track for the goals that you have set for yourself?  There are many great quotes I could reference here if I just weren't too tired.  I have things to do yet tonight, so I'll sign off by sending you my love and hope that you have practices and structures in place to help you manage your life and your time.  If I can help you in this area at all, by all means please leave a comment and I'll do my best to respond!  Have a powerful, productive and playful week.
Love,
Lisa

Frugal Family Fun for Everyone - June 2, 2008

My husband, three children and I just got back from Darien Lake amusement park and I am astonished at the frugal family fun this place offers for everyone.  We received the 5 Season Passes as a Christmas gift from family. Having never been season pass holders, we did not know what to expect and we have been overwhelmed with the cost-effectiveness of Darien Lake for a season pass holder.  The park just opened in May for weekends only and already we have been to Darien Lake four times and it is only June 1st!

By my calculations, if we visited the park 25 times or approximately four times a month until it closes for the season in mid-October, our per person cost per visit will amount to about $1.80.  ($1.80 times 25 = $45.00 or the cost per season pass.)  Now, that is $1.80 per visit, NOT $1.80 per hour to the amusement park!  And you can stay for hours and hours and hours for that per visit cost.  Now, I know what you are thinking!  What about the extraordinary cost of gas!  Well, I incorporated that into the equation, and this is how that adds up.

We happen to live fairly close to Darien Lake, so for us the gas cost is about $10.00 round trip (my husband's engineering calculations uses on that).  If you take the $1.80 per person visit cost outlined from above times our family size of 5, we yield $9.00 plus the $10.00 in gas gives us a grand total of $19.00 per park visit.  In an hourly breakdown, if the 5 of us stay for 6 hours, then the amusement park visit cost is $3.17 per hour. And if we stayed for more hours the price per hour keeps going down.  What family activity can you do with five people outside of your home for $3.17 per hour other than the usual go for a walk, visit a natural park, etc.?

Oh, but there is even more!  On our first visit to Darien Lake earlier in May we received coupons which were good to bring friends for FREE!  Yes, you read that correctly!  We received a total of FIVE coupons good for bringing a friend: one that could be used any day for the rest of the season, one coupon good to bring a friend on Mother's Day, one for Father's Day, one for the Sunday of Memorial day weekend and one for Memorial Day.  If you used all of the coupons, that provided approximately another $150 of free value per person!   

Now, the catch - there is always a catch isn't there?  To be frugal, you need to bring your own lunch, beverages and snacks which we always do and leave the park (getting your hand stamped for re-entry) and eat in your car or at picnic tables near the parking lot.  And to not get hooked into the extra purchases available at the amusement park. The park allows us to get reasonably fresh air, exercise, laughter and fun as a family at a frugal price.

Not much in the way of gluten-free, or dairy-free, so if you are on a special diet, make sure to bring everything you need.  I'm working on getting in shape and this is a cost effective alternative to a gym membership which includes my children and husband, and provides hours and hours of exercise which doesn't seem like exercise at all!  Hey, maybe we'll invent the "Amusement Park Diet"...LOL.  I'll post some pictures once I get a bit of technical support from my son.  Have a happy, frugal and fun summer with your family!

Love,

Lisa

Manage Your Time, Manage Your Life - February 12, 2008

When people find out that I am a mother to three children (11 and under), cookbook author, public speaker, taking classes, involved in Toastmasters...you get the idea - they look at me in disbelief. Prior to starting college, I ran a pretty tight schedule with a part-time job, activities and organizations and school. The more you practice any skill, the most likely outcome is that you will become better at the said skill and eventually you will have mastery around it.

If you can manage your time, you can certainly manage your life. Time management is one of the areas of life that a large majority of people struggle with. Where are you on the topic of time management? Could you stand to improve your relationship to time? One of the many things that I do each week that works very, very well is to make a list of the things that I need and want to accomplish for the week.

I call this my "Things to do" list and I type it up on the computer numbering each item. I start the list by looking at my Franklin-Covey Planner and typing up any things that have to happen on Monday, Tuesday and so forth through the week. Once I have noted the conference calls, appointments, phone calls and other action items that are required to happen on a given day, I then list out the other items that either need to be done or that I would like to accomplish.

In total, my "Things To Do" list typically contains about 40 items. How much of that do I actually get done? Well, it all depends on the week. In a good week I get 50% of the items done. In a really great week, I can range up in the 75% range. And it fluctuates due to items that are not in the plan like car issues, illnesses and other unscheduled meetings and plans.

If you don't engage in a practice like this and you were willing to do it on a weekly basis, I know it would make a big difference in your life. I do my list on Sunday evening (usually), and then punch it and put it in my planner. It then drives the week's activities! If you can manage your time, you can manage your life! Have a great week!
Love,
Lisa