Speaker Grace Attard, founder of the e-Spot and enSpire coaching, says it all comes down to time. Are we setting aside time to do the things that are important? Are there aspects of what we do that don’t bring us joy (and if so, why are we doing them?)? Are we honouring and paying attention to our values? She suggested asking ourselves how we measure our time, and if it is effective, in 11 areas:

1. Discipline (for example, using a checklist to stay on task, scheduling breaks)
2. Fun & Play (spending time with family, seeing friends, laughing)
3. Financial Relationship (a strategy to pay off debt, multiple sources of income)
4. Sales Process (how many new clients you need to meet your financial goals, how many people you must meet to gain new clients)
5. Operations (systems that support your life such as billing, maintenance, keeping on top of clutter)
6. Home Habits/Routines (starting work at a particular time, having breakfast every day)
7. Personal & Professional Growth (setting time aside to stay current, indulge your interests)
8. Health (nutrition, physical activity, stress management)
9. New Business Development (having a strategy, measuring what you do)
10. Team Relationships (how good are your relationships with friends, mentors, volunteers, family)
11. Values & Beliefs (are you taking on ‘should’ vs. ‘want to’ tasks, community involvement).

“Once you have awareness, you can put the strategies in place to change where you spend your time,” Grace advised. “The key is to be present in your own life. Set the boundaries that serve you.”

Do you have balance in your life? What makes the difference for you? For me, it’s working in a home office and not having a commute to be at a certain place at a certain time.

Image: Danilo Rizzuti and FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Happy International Women’s Day to all the fabulous women in my life. You are my friends, my inspiration, my support, my joy. You are brave and strong, beautiful and caring, funny and fun, whether you know it or not (I’m especially looking at you, Mom!).

Of course I’ve already heard the question, “So when is it International Men’s Day?” Sorry, guys, every day is men’s day.  Don’t believe me? Look at this snappy short film by artist and director Sam Taylor-Wood, released to coincide with this day.

“We’re equals, aren’t we 007?” asks Dame Judi Dench as Daniel Craig walks towards the camera. “Yet it is 2011 and a man is still likely to earn more money than a woman, even one doing the same job.”

She goes on to list many of the ways we are not equal: We’re responsible for two-thirds of the work done worldwide yet earn 10% of the income…we own just 1% of the property…one in four are victims of domestic violence.

The film concludes, “So, are we equals? Until the answer is yes, we must never stop asking.”

Image credit: The Google doodle highlights women’s economic, political and social achievements around the globe. Check out the Google map and the Join Me on the Bridge campaign, where women are gathering at famous bridges like the Brooklyn Bridge in New York and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. You can check in as being an actual or a virtual participant at bridge events around the world.

It’s New Year’s Eve, and superstitions abound. One of my favourites, besides those just listed, is the Scottish folklore tradition of First Footing, where the first person to cross the threshold of a home on New Year’s Day brings fortune for the coming year. The first-foot is traditionally a tall, dark-haired man bearing gifts, such as whisky for good cheer, or a silver coin representing prosperity. Yes, a resident of the house can be the first-foot, but he can’t be in the house at midnight, go out, and come back in. I guess he’d have to deliver a midnight kiss outside on the doorstep and then step in.

Snopes lists some interesting superstitions, including this: You should do something related to your work on the first day of the year (and be successful at it). “Limit your activity to a token amount, though, because to engage in a serious work project on that day is very unlucky.” I think I can handle that!

You should also wear something new on New Year’s Day. Don’t do laundry, lend money or break anything, which all set a bad tone for the year.

Whatever you do, have a safe and enjoyable New Year’s celebration, and here’s to a successful 2011!

Photo by Simon Howden via FreeDigitalPhoto.net. (Here’s Simon’s portfolio.)

Yes, they have done it again, with a clever and funny parody of the Old Spice guy, with Grover standing in for Isaiah Mustafa (“Now look at your man; now look at me”):

Grover as Old Spice Guy

Of course, I thought the original was pretty funny itself:

The original Old Spice Guy

Happy Thanksgiving!

Over dinner last night, one of my friends confessed that she is afraid of doing adventurous things. Oh, she wants to; but she has a hard time taking that first step. And experts say we all need to do things that scare us, to learn and grow.

It got me thinking, what seemingly perilous activities have I done? Here are some I came up with:

• Quitting a good job and launching my own business as an independent nearly 20 years ago. Heart-stopping? Oh, yeah. Also one of the best choices I’ve ever made.
• For many years, I’ve attended IABC World Conferences on my own — from flight to room to sessions, all solo. That first time was pretty scary, but you’d have a hard time finding a more warm and welcoming bunch than IABCers. (Lately, I’ve had the pleasure of attending conferences with my friend Donna Papacosta, and I can also vouch for the pleasure of the “buddy system”!)
• Just last year, I went ziplining for the first time. My husband, son #2 and his friend were all definitely going, but I wavered. For a few minutes, I considered going to the spa instead. Then I realized the men would all come back raving about how much fun they had, and I would be sorry. So I did it, and not only survived but had a terrific time.
• I took up skiing. From lessons at the little bunny hill near me (vertical drop of 72 metres), I made it to all-star places like Tremblant (650 metres), Lake Louise (991), Panorama (1,220) and Whistler (1,609). From the top. The scariest is that moment standing at the edge of what looks like a cliff, taking a deep breath and pointing the skis down.
• I’ve been hot-air ballooning quite a few times. The balloons are at the mercy of the wind, so one time we landed on the shoulder of a highway off-ramp. Eek!
• A friend and I tried para-sailing while on vacation in Mexico. I discovered that you actually don’t go as high in the air as it seems from the beach, but it’s still pretty scary.
• Same friend; Walt Disney World; Space Mountain. A wild rollercoaster ride in the dark. Say no more!
• And of course, my latest adventure, going back to school.

What scary things have you done? Did they help you try more new things? What’s still on your list to do?

(Scary pumpkin from Andre Koehne, Wikimedia Commons.)

While about two weeks remain before summer is officially over, you and I both know that if the calendar says September, summer is done. At least, that’s the case pretty much anywhere in Canada. So I’m already a little sad about that. Summer has always been my favourite time of year, and unlike winter, which seems to go on well beyond the bounds of the official months assigned to the season, summer always seems to come to an abrupt and screeching halt.

Now, after having my two sons home for the summer, I’m also a little sad to have said goodbye to both of them. Last week we helped them pack up and move out, Son #1 to a new city and his first apartment on his own, and Son #2 to a different house with five friends in the same university town he was in last year. They are excited, and so am I for them, and hopeful they will have a terrific year.

They are both just an hour’s drive away, so it’s not like they’re on the other side of the country or the world. But I’ll miss them.

I wrote about this before when Son #2 started university. At the time, I quoted a long-ago column from writer Barbara Brotman in the Chicago Tribune (from my “Damn, I wish I wrote that” file) that describes a bit of how I feel this time of year:

“It is a lousy system, parenthood. We are built to swoon with joy when we hold our babies tightly, to sigh with pleasure when we nuzzle our children’s plump necks, to delight in every kiss and tickle. Then we are supposed to let them go. Not right away and not all at once, but still…”

If we have done our job right, as parents, we have helped our children be strong and independent, able to walk away from us without a backward glance (well, maybe just one). But after so many years of holding their hands and their hearts, it’s difficult to do what you must, and let them go without a backward glance yourself.

You may recognize this road sign, which I have borrowed from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation‘s helpful guide to common and not-so-common road signs. It means there’s a bump or uneven pavement on the road ahead. The yellow “caution” indicates drivers should slow down and keep control of their vehicles.

There’s a bump coming up in the road ahead of me, too. I’ve decided to go back to school.

Oh, it seemed like a good idea back when I applied to Royal Roads University earlier this year. This is kind of a “bucket list” thing; something I have wanted to do for a long time. My own children are close to completing their own degrees, and they are pretty self-sufficient. It seemed like a good time to pursue my own.

The degree I’m pursuing is a two-year online BA in Professional Communication. It’s set up so students “manage their education while maintaining work and family life” due to the “unique learning model that combines convenient web-based learning with short [three-week] on-campus residencies.”

So I find myself three weeks away from this on-campus residency, which is on the other side of the country in Victoria, B.C., up to my neck in work and wondering what on earth I was thinking.

I already have a stack of “work” work. Now I’ve added three textbooks to read and assignments to complete every week until I go. There are apparently 45 of us in this class of 2012, and we all had to introduce ourselves in three separate online discussion forums and comment on at least two of the other posts. We have to watch several videos and speeches and comment on those. My in-box overflows every day with an extra 30-50 messages because there appears to be no way to subscribe to the forums in digest form.

I’m having to work hard at not freaking out, too:

• I’m paranoid about missing an assignment because it’s up to the students to find them, and I’ve already discovered a forum I hadn’t subscribed to a week after it had launched.
• One of the first three concurrent courses is my absolute all-time least favourite, Public Speaking.
• Almost all the other students are quite a bit younger than me; one or two have children, but I’ll be the “senior stateswoman” for sure.
• My three weeks in residence will be in a typical tiny single-bed dorm room, with a shared bathroom down the hall.
• It’s been a long time since I’ve been in school and I can’t help but worry about keeping up.

All of this to say that there is very definitely a big bump in the road ahead. Part of my attempt to slow down and keep control of the vehicle is sharply cutting back my online life outside of Royal Roads. I’ll try to blog occasionally and share what’s going on, and maybe I’ll get on Twitter or Facebook once in a while.

So it may seem like I’ve dropped off the face of the earth, but it’s just off the radar for now. See you in September, maybe!

IABC/Toronto treated volunteers to a lovely appreciation event on June 16, a buffet dinner aboard the Jubilee Queen, a replica of a Mississippi paddlewheel boat. The weather had been iffy all day, but the sun came out as we lined up to board.

Having arrived early, my friend Donna Papacosta and I first toured the beautiful Toronto Music Garden. This charming space celebrates its 10th year this year, and I am somewhat embarrassed to say this is not only the first time I have visited it, it’s the first time I’ve even heard of it!

The space is the creation of renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and landscape designer Julie Moir Messervy. The garden has six “rooms,” each an interpretation of the traditional dance forms featured in Bach’s First Suite for the Unaccompanied Cello. For example, Courante is “an exuberant movement” interpreted in an upward-spiralling path through tall grasses and perennials, topped by a Maypole (the creation of Canadian artist Anne Roberts).

It’s a lovely, calm, inviting spot, and a fine example of communicating meaning in unexpected and inspiring ways. Even better, throughout the summer it showcases free concerts in the Music Pavilion (created by architectural blacksmith Tom Tollefson) every Thursday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m., weather permitting. The garden is located at 475 Queen’s Quay West, between Bathurst Street and Spadina Avenue in Toronto.

A Maypole tops the Courante "room" at the Toronto Music Garden. Look closely and you'll see a visitor doing her own interpretation of exuberant movement!

“Making the decision to have a child — it’s momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” – Elizabeth Stone

You wouldn’t believe it, looking at my office last week, but I am not a hoarder.

Hoarders, as displayed to the world in the A&E show of the same name, have “an inability to part with their belongings” that is so out of control, they are on the verge of a personal crisis. A crisis, of course, that they are proud to have on national television.

It’s not an inability to let go that causes my office to overflow with papers and stuff. It’s a tendency to keep a lot of things for reference, and a lack of disciplined and regular purging. Who has time for tidying, especially when you’re juggling multiple projects and meeting urgent deadlines?

So when I decided earlier this year to finally treat myself to a new desk large enough to hold everything I need at my fingertips, and a new bookcase to replace the shelves hung on wall-mounted brackets, I had my work cut out for me. Out went the old: desk, shelves and contents. Before anything went on or in the new, I had to review and purge, which explains the waiting pile shown here.

It took me several days to conquer the mess and end up with an office that brings a smile to my face rather than an involuntary shudder. Here’s how you can do it, too:

•  Get rid of old files, out-of-date software manuals and conference summaries. If you haven’t looked at something for years, or it’s obsolete, you don’t need it.

•  If you subscribe to magazines and newsletters, don’t keep the entire issues. Instead, cut out the appropriate article or section you want to keep and file it somewhere you can easily find and refer to it again. I used to have dust-covered collections that went back years; not any more!

•  If you keep hard copies of projects you worked on, put them in one place. I had binders of client work in three or four different places and couldn’t always find one when I wanted to look something up. Now they are all on the shelves over my desk, where I can refer to them easily.

•  Gather all your office supplies in one spot and put like items together. Doing this showed me that I had bought envelopes when I didn’t need more, among other things.

•  Fix the things that bug you. Why did I have duct tape holding together a binder that I referred to often, when I had a perfectly good almost-new binder I could have used? Oh, right, that binder wasn’t available because it held back issues of a newsletter that I never referred to.

•  If you have awards or other items that make you smile, put them on display.

I promise that my office will never get to its former untidy state. But it will be an ongoing fight against my packrat nature, so I can never let down my guard!