You know that feeling when you are in a new relationship and everything is shiny, beautiful and perfect? You just want to be with that person all the time. You can’t concentrate on anything else. You try new things because it interests them. You don’t spend as much time with your friends anymore.

Why? Simple, it feels good.

What happens when you have to go somewhere that you don’t really want to be? If you’re like most husbands at a musical or play, falling asleep is usually the first option.

This theory is prevalent in many areas of our lives. If you don’t like paying bills or cleaning the garage; falling asleep might be an option, but a temporary one. Whatever your motivation is for working on a project or completing even a small task, how much you love or enjoy it will always determine how efficient you are at it. Now this could work in either direction depending on the person, sometimes not loving to do something creates the band aid effect of getting it over with quickly.

One of the simplest ways to increase your efficiency and productivity is to do what you love, what you have a passion for, what energizes you. When we procrastinate our efforts and energy are focused on NOT doing something, which essentially puts us in a negative place to begin with.

There is a great quote about putting off an easy task makes it hard and putting off a hard task makes it impossible. There is also a quote about one persons trash is another ones treasure. Apply these to your world. What you may not love to do, someone else does. Why create impossible situations of dread for something someone else relishes in doing?

So as we celebrate this Valentine’s Day, think LOVE when you’re going through your TO DO list and delegate the tasks you don’t 

Anything existing undisturbed in its original pure state

An opportunity for a fresh start; clean slate 

Are you getting the picture? Or better yet can you see the blank canvas? If you aren’t or you can’t, odds are you need to do some de-cluttering of your physical (and maybe mental) space.

Productivity and efficiency are just as important as creativity. Whether you’re an artist, an entrepreneur or a full time parent all these areas need your attention. De-cluttering your environment can provide clarity and focus you may not have even realized you lacked.

Many of you may think that because you can work in a cluttered environment then everything must be ok, right? Wrong. It is so important for regular purging and de-cluttering of your space, if only to fully realize its potential once again. You can tell yourself that although there is clutter and chaos around you that you can always find what you’re looking for, regardless if you can or not it will take more time and could potentially be more frustrating.

Having a routine to completely empty your space and most importantly purge those items you haven’t used since the last “cleaning of your slate” is critical to success. Then take a moment and enjoy the blank canvas, see the potential for it and for you. If you can, leave it that way for at least a day. You would be amazed at how much your vision can change in 24 hours.

Focus on what the purpose of the space is and allow yourself creative freedom without over filling it. If you happen to be technically artistic, a great trick is to take digital pictures of the empty space and use a photo shop or photo editor type program to virtually create your ideal environment. If you aren’t, you can also print out the pictures and draw on them for the same visual outcome.

Whenever you can take advantage of tabula rasa, seize the moment. The opportunity to reinvent and re-energize yourself should never be passed up.

Some of you have created a piling system, each pile with its specific purpose. You have convinced yourself that you know where everything is within that pile and could find it in seconds. Reality is that whether it's your mind or your environment, clutter equals chaos, and there is no system to your clutter.

Creating a filing system does not need to be complicated. For my business filing I have 12 hanging file folders, one for each month. Within each month I have 4 colored folders; receivables (will probably be obsolete in 2012); payables (invoices I pay, charitable donations etc.); banking (Deposit receipts, merchant processing statements etc.); miscellaneous (everything else). That's it!

With recent scanning technology there's very little need for paper. There are on line faxing systems like Efax, or phone systems like Grasshopper, that also have fax options.

The trepidation we have in sentencing paper to the almighty shredder need not rule us. Get an use-at-home home shredder, or opt for a UPS Store that shreds a pound of paper for $5.

Following a simple 15 minute formula to a pile-free office system will get you organized, focused, and on your way to a harmonious and productive environment:

• 15 minutes a DAY of sorting
• 15 minutes a WEEK of shredding or scanning
• 15 minutes every 2 WEEKS of filing
• 15 minutes a MONTH of purging

Aside from starting your own local chapter of Pilers Anonymous, get support, especially the technology kind: a, shredder in your office, a printer with scanning capabilities, an on line paper/file management system (i.e.; Dropbox), an on line backup system (i.e.; Carbonite) and an on line paperless faxing system.

Focus on continually asking yourself, "Why, and for what purpose?" Most importantly, recognizing when you might have a problem; what-if-I-need-it-someday-itis.

Sadly, many times those boxes once carefully packed away will forever remain that way. Even sadder those who packed these momentos with such love and care will leave them behind for a family member, friend or worse a stranger to decide their ultimate fate.  If there is one thing that I can confidently tell you I have learned as an organizer and actively implemented into my life is the understanding of relevance and importance when it comes to my tangible memories.

The idea that my daughter will have to make any decisions on items that were memories long before she was even born wouldn't have bothered me so much before. But now, the number of families that we have assisted in packing up the possessions of their loved ones or downsizing their own belongings has been very eye opening. The burden it places on each of us to sort these boxes years after they were packed is tremendous and often the boxes will just be moved from home to home, family member to family member without ever being opened solely on the fear of what emotions they will bring up.

There a few simple things you can do to minimize this situation. Create a schedule for yourself to periodically spend time with at least one box, this can be once a month or once a year. By continuing to re-evaluate the contents of each box at different moments throughout our lives what might have been valuable at one point may not seem so later. I will caution you to refrain from any re-evaluation when angry or upset for obvious reasons. Also, consider having your sentimental papers or photos digitized with at least two copies made of the digital version. This will have a tremendous impact on the space that is consumed and it can easily be passed on to future generations.

Most of all remember that you can't take it with you and those that love you should not have the burden of guilt when your memories don't have the same meaning to them.

Before I had gone into business for myself I had never heard of a business or life coach but now I was in the networking arena where I met several coaches and to tell you the truth once I figured out what I thought they did, I thought wow just another way people can pay to have someone listen to all their problems and hope this person will get them on the right path. I wanted no part of that and I certainly was not going to pay for it, after all I didn’t have a coach and my business already was successful. If only I could go back in time!

I am honestly shocked it took me as long as it has to realize I need a business coach. In high school I asked a local Jr. college coach to coach me my senior year in track because the high school coach had done the best he could with his training but I knew I had so much more in me and needed to be trained by the best if I were to achieve the times I needed to be the best. This worked out for me and I won nearly every race my senior year and went on to El Camino where I still hold a record in a particular race.

So, 5 years ago when Bibi and I started this company I felt confident with the determination we both demonstrated and past experience we both had we were going to make this business model successful and I was right.

Even though things were going well I was not able to put my finger on why it was not better. I started thinking about the coaches I had heard at the Success Summit last year and even went to an event one hosted in Florida a few months back and realized I did need someone to listen to all my problems and guide me in the right direction in my business to achieve my goals.

What I realized was my business is no different than my track days in high school and college. I knew how to run and did better than most but that was not good enough for me then and I knew in order to get better I needed to trust a professional to get me their. It is the same for my business, I know how to do it and I work hard at it every day but I need a coach to keep me focused on my day to day goals and hold me accountable if I did not achieve them and then have a plan of action for me to follow to make sure these goals are met.

What about you, what aspect of your life could you use a professional? No matter what your goals are you can achieve them if you set your mind to it but having a coach gets you there quicker.

My coaching has just recently started but honestly it is the best decision I have made when it comes to my business and look forward to letting you all know how things progress in the next few months! 

1. Sign up for a WordPress account at http://wordpress.org/.
2. Download the latest version of WordPress.
3. After it has downloaded, click on the option to get a free account on WordPress.com.
4. Choose your URL.  WordPress offers free blogs, but in order to get a free site you have to include "wordpress.com" in your URL. 
5. Choose the title of your site, blog language, and privacy settings, which you can also update later.
6. Register the site by filling out your name, address, and general contact information.  Be sure to "Protect Your Privacy" at the bottom of the page, to make your contact information private.
7. After the site is registered, go to your dashboard.
8. Select the General Setting tab on the left side navigation to personalize your site.  You can edit the title, add a tag line, and set the time, date, and language. Tip: The title of your site should basically be your URL, or a variation of it.  Your tagline should incorporate the key terms that you will be focusing on throughout your site.
9. To change the design of your site, select "Appearance" from the left navigation and add your own design or choose a pre-designed theme.
10. Lastly, create pages for your site by selecting "Pages" and then "Add New" in the left navigation.  Write unique content and add pictures to the new pages, then "publish" these to your site.

Now that you have your website up and running, it is important to not just let it sit there.  Set aside 20 minutes a day to work on your website.  Whether it's writing new content, optimizing it for the search engines, or promoting it through social media outlets, there are endless quick and easy ways to grow your site.  Here are just a few tips to optimize your site all of which take less than 20 minutes.  

• Submit your URL to search engines after publishing your first page, so the search engines have an easier time finding you.  Here are the URLs to accomplish that:
  • Google  
  • Yahoo  
  • Bing 
• Reach out on behalf of your site, get fans, ask other relevant sites to link to your site and ask guest bloggers to appear on your site.  Remember to acquire links back to your site to grow its reputation in the search engines. 
• Increase the online conversation about your new site by 'Sharing' it with your Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks.  There are two approaches with this sharing capability, you can either create new social media outlets dedicated to your site, and essentially repost content or similar content on social networks, or connect your site to your personal social media outlets.  Both of these functions can be set up in the Sharing section of the Settings in the left side navigation.

If you are finding you just can't find the time to optimize your site, online marketing agencies such as Wpromote, can help you with ongoing site optimization and promotion.

When 24 Hours in a day is not enough,

Remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, wordlessly,

He picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students, if the jar was full.  

They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full.   

They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He asked once more if the jar was full.  

The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents  into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.  The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided,
'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things - family, children, health, Friends, and Favorite passions - 
Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, Your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else --The small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar first, He continued, 'there is no room for  the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, You will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So...

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play With your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

'Take care of the golf balls first --
The things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled..
'I'm glad you asked'.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life  may seem,
there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with  a friend.'

Author Unknown

I wanted to share this with you all because many of us get caught up with the "pebbles" and the "sand" of our lives and need to read or hear about things like this to remind us of the truly important things in life.

When you have stacks of papers that have not been filed the difficulty in deciding how to file them, causes frustration.

When you have a poor filing system and you can't find what you're looking for, that causes frustration.

Last week Bibi and I traveled to Florida for a 3-day seminar put on by Suzanne Evans.

We started the morning at 5am and arrived at the airport to see about 100 people standing in the doorway of the airline we were taking.  An airline employee noticed our bewildered looks and came over to us and explained that our 7am flight was postponed until 12:30 and instructed us to stand in line so that we could get re-routed.

This process took almost 2 hours and we ended up with a later connection getting us in about 3 hours later than we were originally supposed to arrive.

At this point, several people were beside themselves. Their stress was getting the best of them even though there was nothing they could do about it. I have never understood why people yell at the employees trying to help them. I mean do they really believe the employees are not telling them about a flight available just to piss them off? I realize not everyone is as fortunate as I am in regards to still being able to work/get paid during this waiting time. Regardless why do people stress about things beyond their control? Does it make them feel better? Does it get them any special treatment? Do the airport employees really have extra seats on other flights they only give to irate people?

Since Bibi and I had already prepared our staff and informed our one-on-one clients that we would not be available the entire day, we made the best of it!  I was delighted to find a Best Buy kiosk in our terminal where I was able to buy some Easter gifts and some other things for myself that I hadn't had time to get. Feeling very satisfied with my purchases, I turned around and to my delight there was a Gladstone's restaurant right in front of me! Seriously, when did Gladstone's go into airport terminals? I really need to start flying more often!

This mini vacation just kept getting better and better. A Gladstone's Bloody Mary and a delicious omelette were a filling alternative to the huge bowl of nothing that I had originally planned for breakfast.

Our flight ended up being delayed for an additional 2 hours, by this time the people were going berserk, and for what? What good did it do them the last time?

During lunch the airline employee I mentioned earlier found us in the restaurant and told us not to worry about checking on our flight status because he would notify us personally when our flight was boarding, so we were able to enjoy our lunch without worrying about missing our flight!

Hmmmm...seems like we got better treatment than the irate people.

Stress is something none of us will avoid for a lifetime but why stress when things are beyond your control? You need to deal with the situation, not stress about it. When you can control the things stressing you out is when you should think why does this happen and what can I do to resolve it?

So, think about this the next time you start to stress: stress causes many ailments, one of them being heart disease. Is what you are stressing about really worth it?

I think what bothered me the most is that I felt like the personality type I was categorized into was telling me something about myself I didn't necessarily want to face. I have been hearing the word overextended a lot lately and kept trying to convince everyone (including myself) that I was fine and could handle everything I was committed to. What I learned was that I had so enjoyed all the volunteer work that I had been doing that somewhere along the way I forgot how to say "No I'm sorry I can't fit that into my schedule" or I just didn't want to.  I want to feel like I can do everything and manage it so effectively that it would only solidify MY need to be superwoman.

Well, I'm telling myself to Get Over It, re-evaluate and re-prioritize work and service so that I can begin to be a little more present with my family and friends. I'm not sure that in a few words I can convey how incredibly difficult it will be to go through this process of reducing my involvement in the service organizations I'm currently working with. But with the incredible things happening in my business and with my life in general I want to be present to enjoy all of it.

I have a feeling that this year I'll be telling myself to Get Over It many times for many things, but I know that in the end I'll be better for it. It's hard to face things about yourself that you don't want to and this is only the tip of the iceberg with what I recently learned that I truly want to change and improve.

First you might have already noticed our new look up there, a bolder cleaner logo. As we embark on our 5th year of being in business Tandie and I thought that it was appropriate to reflect who we have become as a business.

The thing I'm most excited about sharing with you all is our new website, please check it out www.buyingtimellc.com there are some great specials we have running right now. Christian Anthony at Champ Creative did an incredible job with every aspect of our new website. He was so patient and thorough during the stages of design, development and implementation (I guess that's pretty much the entire process). Ultimately, he captured everything we wanted to convey and put it together in the perfect package for this stage of our business. We welcome your feedback!

Throughout this year of celebration we will be posting specials for everyone to take advantage of and will be planning an appreciation event on 5/5/2011. We will also be launching our new line, Buying Time For Your Life, organizing products. The first module Buying Time For Your Office is available for purchase on our website now.

I am truly excited to see where the next 5 years will lead and am hoping that you will be there to experience the journey with us. When we started Buying Time, LLC we were excited about working for ourselves and making a little money. I never anticipated the level of joy and satisfaction I would gain from helping people with my business. We are committed to being of service to our customers and our community, and look forward to doing so for a very long time.

Here's to another 5 years!