Getting Organised

Being right-brained, I dread the thought of traditional to-do lists. Staring at a page of things I know I should be doing seems overwhelming. I struggle to think of where to start, do all the unimportant tasks first and then break big tasks into a million little uncompletable pieces. Its maddening to have almost the same amount of work to do each day without really achieving anything.

I was thinking of doing some research into online to-do lists and free services for organising your life and I tripped across this. No need to reinvent the wheel!

I started out by regisitering to use Remember the Milk. Apart from spending the first couple of minutes using code and reading the help menu, it is off to a successful start and I have already begun on my first task of the day - getting through the enormous pile of washing I have to do!

Last night, while I flaked out on the lounge (still haven't really caught up on sleep yet), my husband went on a little cleaning journey and packed away my craft things, flung all over his computer room as I searched for something in the bottom of the cupboard. I really need to improve the organisation in that area of the house! His effort made me realise just how little I have done this week at home. Work has definitely demanded the best of me, and I'm not happy with that.

So, on to my list goes organisation! You can set priority for tasks, and expected duration (I have 4 hours of tasks listed already - although this includes meeting a friend for coffee). We shall see how just how much time I spend writing tasks into the list compared to actually completing the tasks!

Over the next few days I'll be exploring some other anti to-do list options for improving my motivation and staying on task.

How do you manage your daily tasks? Are you a traditional list person or a little more creative?

I knew it!

Thank you for taking the Creativity Test. The results show your brain dominance as being: Left Brain Right Brain 32% 68% You are more right-brained than left-brained. The right side of your brain controls the left side of your body. In addition to being known as right-brained, you are also known as a creative thinker who uses feeling and intuition to gather information. You retain this information through the use of images and patterns. You are able to visualize the "whole" picture first, and then work backwards to put the pieces together to create the "whole" picture. Your thought process can appear quite illogical and meandering. The problem-solving techniques that you use involve free association, which is often very innovative and creative. The routes taken to arrive at your conclusions are completely opposite to what a left-brained person would be accustomed. You probably find it easy to express yourself using art, dance, or music. Some occupations usually held by a right-brained person are forest ranger, athlete, beautician, actor/actress, craftsman, and artist. Your complete evaluation follows below: Your left brain/right brain percentage was calculated by combining the individual scores of each half's sub-categories. They are as follows: Your Left Brain Percentages 22% Linear (Your most dominant characteristic) 22% Sequential 20% Verbal 17% Symbolic 17% Logical 14% Reality-based (Your least dominant characteristic) Your Right Brain Percentages 57% Fantasy-oriented (Your most dominant characteristic) 39% Random 37% Concrete 36% Holistic 34% Intuitive 25% Nonverbal (Your least dominant characteristic) What Do These Percentages Mean? Low percentages are common in the Brain Type Test and are not indicative of intelligence. Instead, medium to high scores (30 - 50%) are desireable, as they show an ability to utilize a processing method without an abnormal reliance on it. Special focus should be paid to highly dominant (50% or above) or highly recessive (0 - 30%) methods, as they tend to limit your approach when learning, memorizing, or solving problems. If you have Highly Dominant characteristics, your normal thinking patterns will naturally utilize these methods. Conscious effort is required to recognize the benefits of other techniques. Using multiple forms of information processing is the best way to fully understand complex issues and become a balanced thinker. If you have Highly Recessive characteristics, your normal thinking patterns naturally ignore these methods. You may only consider these under-utilized techniques when "all else fails," or possibly not at all. It is important to recognize the benefits of all of your brain's capabilities in order to become a balanced thinker. Well, its definitely me! Isn't it amazing how God creates us all different, and then makes some of us smart enough to work the rest of us out?! Take the test yourself, any other Right Brainers out there?

Woman of Help

After reading from Elizabeth George this morning, and being challenged to commit to being a helper to my husband and not a hinderance, I went ahead and asked one of the questions that Elizabeth asks her husband everyday.

"What can I do for you today?"

He stopped packing his bag for a moment, frowning, stared at the wall and just as I thought prehaps I'd upset him somehow, he looked up and said...

"I'd like for my wife to get some sleep. It would be good to come home to a rested and less grumpy wife."

Well, that wasn't the reaction I was expecting at all...! God is certainly surprising. Rest is not something I am good at, and with the many issues and dramas happening at work at the moment, I have not been taking care of myself well. I look... well, I look like a zombie! And I feel a bit like one too.

So early to bed tonight (after a dress fitting for my darling friend's wedding).

I wonder how I can honour him tomorrow?

New-Found Stillness

I am learning during a very busy first year of marriage, that there is really no rush. No sense in being busy. It helps no one to be short tempered, stressed and worried. And I forget too many things when I am doing everything at once. Especially at work.

So, I am trying to go a little slower, wake a little earlier, pray, read, think, breathe.

If I'm eating, I'm eating. Walking, I'm walking. Talking on the telephone, without doing anything else. Trying to be less distracted.

And I've noticed its working. I am finishing things, returning phone calls, remembering details, passing them on. Not all the time, but more often.

I have made a quiet time box. I want to be intentional in the time I spend with God and not spend 20 minutes looking for what I need. An old shoe box now contains;
-My Bible
-A notebook for recording things I'm grateful for
-The Power of Praying Through The Bible by Stormie Omartin

-A Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George

-A small photo album containing photographs of each of the family and friends I pray for each day of the week

-A prayer journal

-The Power of A Praying Wife by Stormie Omartin

-Pens, paper and bookmarks

-A Woman's Book of Prayers

The box is the perfect size and completely portable, depending on when and where I have my quiet time each day. I am aiming to move towards more consistent times each morning, but shift work makes it tricky.

I am amazed how much I can see God changing my heart already, and I think my countenance at work has improved too!

Looking forward to more times with God in the coming weeks and months.

What helps you with your quiet times?