I Promised... And.Here.It.Is!

Good Morning!

Yesterday, I wrote to all of you about time management and honestly told you that the post might very well be fore you more so than for me... I would insert LOL here... but it's just the complete truth and it frustrates me often. At the conclusion of the post, I promised you a printable that might help you prioritize your time... and of course those of you who know me well know that I am a fan of animal print so I could not leave my zebra fettish out of the picture so I have created you all somewhat of a "to-do" list on steroids... meaning it allows you to prioritize your to-do list! I hope you enjoy this and stay tuned for more printables! Have a great Tuesday!

Terri

Here's the link to the printable... yes, I know it is on the Teachers Pay Teachers site... go ahead proceed and grab the free printable! (See the bottom after these images of the printable!)

Here is the cover of the printable so you will know that you are on the right track superwomen!

Here is what the "to-do" list looks like -- I left a place for the date at the top of the page so that all you need to do is print you several of these sheets and label your starting date and work from there! I hope that you find that this increases your ability to manage your time better!

Here's your link! If you are a teacher, please consider following me while grabbing this freebie today!
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Time-Management-Strategy-for-All-Superteachers-2434354

How Do We Do It All? Not Forego Ourselves and Our Health? And... Not Feel Guilty?

Good Morning!

WOW! That title is a mouthful if I say so myself! I think this post might be for me a lot more than it might be for some of you who really have it together! You see, when I train and present to other educators, I have to immediately give them this disclaimer if you will.... I share with them that my mind whirls in thousands of directions which might sound appetizing to you; however, it's not at times I assure you! So, having an educational background, and more specifically knowing I am a right brain by heart and also knowing "I'm a squiggle..." (more on that because you have to figure out what shape personality you are too...) okay, so knowing these different things and then here comes the kicker... I am so ADHD wired for 220 voltage most all of the time. I know those of you who know me are laughing right now because you are saying, "Well, that explains it... I can see that for sure LOL." Nevertheless, of course, it gives me creative energy; however, it can also make me so frustrated and it's number one cousin is that word called, PROCRASTINATION! Ugh! I hate that word -- don't you? Well, I found a couple of tools this morning that may help us with this "bad to the bone" word and I am hoping that some of you may have some tools as well! One thing that I think that may help if this is a "bad word" to you too is to become more self-aware of yourself -- meaning -- know if you are functioning more with your (1) right brain hemisphere or your left brain hemisphere (see earlier post -- I included a link for you to be able to determine this!); and (2) determine your "shape personality."  You will love doing this and don't cheat! Here is what you need to do. Look at the shapes that I have included below and without knowing any other instructions, pick the shape that you think best resembles your personality! GO! Don't cheat! Here are the shapes:

Here is your link! Again, don't click on this link UNTIL YOU DECIDE! Also, some will refer to the last shape as a zigzag and some will refer to it as a squiggle! http://www.learning-mind.com/geometric-shapes-simple-and-unusual-personality-test/

I told you! It's fun! I use it all the time when working with different groups of adults in training sessions! So, now let's move on to some steps that might be helpful to us (me namely for sure) that might help us beat "PROCRASTINATION!" Here we go...

(Step 1:) Stop in the name of love and recognize that in fact you are in procrastination mode! So, I have a link here for you as well to help you better define procrastination -- of course, if your like me, I know when I am there i just don't like to admit it LOL but here's the link: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_99.htm Try it and see if it confirms what you were thinking. Okay, yes I scored a 29 and confirmed what I have stated to you thus far -- now what??

(Step 2:)  Reflect and try to figure out what's the deal? Just why in the world are you procrastinating? Is the task unpleasant? Are you disorganized (that's a whole other story for me...)? Are  you honestly overwhelmed by the task itself and can't figure out where to start? Decide where you stand!

(Step 3:) Adopt a set of strategies that you can put into motion that will help you tame or beat procrastination... your thinking... "yea, I would have already done that if I knew what they might be..." Okay, what might these strategies be: (1) Reward yourself ever so slightly for getting started on the task and/or completing the task; (2) Have someone be your accountability partner-- someone who knows that you might fuss when they ask you, "How's it coming?" Someone whom you know you don't have to have your guard up -- they will truly help you! (3) Identify why this task is unpleasant; make a list and look at this list! (4) Think about your "cost of time" to your employer... shame shame; (5) Promise yourself on a daily basis to eat the elephant first meaning tackle the big things first thing in the morning; (6) Use Einstein's Urgent/Important Principle (you have seen this in a previous blog post); (7) Make an old-fashioned "To-Do" list; (8) Get you a planner that allows you to look at a month at a time and then a day at a time -- work on mapping projects out that allow you ample time to have success; (8) Set goals in your planner and then put these aforementioned strategies into place to make them happen girlfriend!

I have included an image of the Einstein's Urgent/Important Principle to jog your memory! I will create you a printable of one of these quadrants for you to use as your "To-Do" list!

Einstein's Urgent/Important Principle
Time Management Quadrants

So, calling all Superwomen, here's your homework: (1) Right brain/left brain? (2) Shape personality? (3) Procrastinator? (4) Strategies that you find beneficial -- PUT THEM IN PLACE!

Stay tuned for a *FREE PRINTABLE* for your time management quadrants for a "To-Do" List!

Have a great Monday and be your best Superwom@n!

Terri

Source of Information: www.mindtools.com

Balance Your Brain Superwom@n! It's the Right Thing to Do!

Maybe this visual appeals to you more... I believe a "right brain" thinker created this visual! Remember that knowledge is power in terms of being a superwom@n! Know your brain dominance!

Here's where we are and what we are discussing! Where do you stand? It's important to know to up your game superwom@n!

Calling all superwomen... in our earlier post, we examined just a few things that we can do for ourselves to "up our game" in being the superwom@n that we all strive to be! Yesterday, we looked at paying more attention to our internal clock and working in tune with basically the way that God designed us extraordinary humans! Today, let's look at the second attribute -- that of -- balancing our brain! Here we go!

Obviously, the first that that we superwomen need to look at intensely is that of figuring out our dominant side of the brain and then going with it! There are plenty, plenty of online versions of figuring out your brain dominance. 

So, having said this, I have included a link to a free brain dominance test that will help you gauge where you stand... be honest and be quick in your answers! Have fun!

Here's the link: http://braintest.sommer-sommer.com/en/ 

Also, I wouldn't ask you to do the brain dominance test without having completed it myself so I took a screenshot of myself... I honestly thought my right brain percentage would be a bit higher but oh well... here it is!

So, see where you stand and then let's go from there! When you are presented with a challenge, a problem, a concern, etc. do you immediately begin to try to solve with your brain dominance? If not, you should! Then, if that gets you nowhere, proceed to your next brain dominance and try to come to a conclusion. In other words, if you are solidly left brain dominant (I am really not... the two percentages are somewhat really close), then you would purposely attempt to solve your situation with that dominance. For example, if you are left brain dominant, then you would approach your situation from the who? the what? the where? the why? and the how? You are solving from a logical, sequential mindset. If you see that is doing no good whatsoever, give that side of the brain a rest and focus on solving from your other hemisphere and see what you are able to derive. Honestly, ladies we all know there are situation out there that can't be solved with either dominance and those are the ones that we submit to our belief in the Serenity Prayer right? If not, it should be! There is NOTHING productive in worrying about things in which you can do absolutely nothing about!

This graphic will appeal to some of you; however, the next one is my favorite!

I wanted you to see characteristics of each side of our brain and the dominant characteristics for each! Some of you will benefit by just taking the dominance test and being more aware of your dominance because it affects how you perform in your job/career/profession! Please remember this! Here are some of those info-graphics:

Is this not the coolest? It says so much just looking at the graphic!

This one really helps us and explains the difference well between the two hemispheres of the brain and how we approach things!

Have an awesome Tuesday everyone!

Terri 

Take A Look at Your Internal Clock Superwom@n! It's Important!

I hope that all of you had an extra special day for Valentines and I hope that you haven't started this Monday morning in the rain. So, yesterday we looked into a few characteristics that will help us "UP" our Superwom@n status. You remember? The first characteristics that we looked at was taking a hard look at how we are wired internally so let's do just that! First of all, I need to give you some homework, and it is this: Investigate your "circadian rhythm (your internal clock)" and your "ultradian rhythm (different periods of alertness and drowsiness during the day)." This is essential to understand some of these concepts!

Is this how you feel? I know that I do many, many times!

I looked and investigated three different sources, and they all seem to say very similar things so let's delve into this and I hope you are able to have some "aha" moments! Let's see what our internal body clock tells us about the following:

Our food intake? Our internal body clock really does need us to eat during our eight most active hours of the day. So, here comes the temptation... it is really is hard for me not to want to snack in the evenings so be aware of this -- it is harder for your body to process glucose when you eat late in the evening. Pay attention to what we know and heed the advice superwomen!

Our Sleep? Now, superwomen here is where we can all learn a lesson. Here is what I read... Until we are around the age of 10, we tend to be early, early risers. You know mommas, remember when all you wanted to do was to sleep just a few more minutes and your little toddler and maybe your little prince or princess was waking up like a little alarm clock themselves at 5:00 am or 6:00 am on a Saturday morning... point proven! Then, around the age of 10, our bodies start switching into another gear that of going to bed later and later and waking up later and later... and to think we just all thought teenagers chose this path. Then, as expected, around age 21, we start that upward climb again to get up earlier and earlier. We peak and then around age 50-55, we began the same habits that we had when we were just babies. It's really amazing... look deeper into this! So, what else can we learn about our sleep? Basically, we have "two sleeps" per 24 hour period. One is a long sleep which is when we go to bed at night, and then the "other sleep" happens around 2:00 in the afternoon. Your like, "Yeah, I know, LOL." So, if you know this, then do something about it! When you feel that 2:00 slump creeping up on you, what can you do? We will be looking into this specifically!

Our Exercise? In researching this, it looks like around 3:00-6:00 wins the prize for the best time to work out. Actually, I learned that our muscle tone is at it's peak anywhere from 2:00-6:00. Our lungs tend to function the most efficiently at 5:00. Our eye hand coordination is at it's peak around the late afternoon. And... here it comes... our blood pressure tends to be a bit higher in the morning. Can you believe all of this? If not, check it out for yourself. I will list the sources that I used at the end of the post!

Our WORK? Obviously, we already know that we perform best when we are working at our peak. But, probably what we need to know more about is exactly what is our peak? and why? Look below for how I have tried to take a look at how maybe we can break down our day to bolster our productivity no matter what our profession is!

Our Lighting? Did you know this? Lighting is the single biggest external factor in how our body is operating. Our bodies are programmed to know that the more light the body is provided, then it realizes it is supposed to stay awake! Some of us are hardwired to have what we call a 22-hour "fast" body clock and tend to be called the "morning larks;" whereas, the rest of us have what we call a 25-hour body clock and we tend to be called the "night owls." Where do I fit? I think somewhere in between... I strive to be more of that "morning lark," because I know that is when I get my best completed. And I used to be this way... for example, way back in the day when Zach, Blake, and Brady were just little pea-mites, and I was in graduate school, I set my alarm each morning at 4:00 am. I got up and worked on my dissertation every morning without fail until 5:30, and honestly folks that is how I was able to graduate!

So What is All of this Hype About Our Work Schedule... Simply put examine below!

Things that We Probably Need to Do Prior to the Lunch (12:00) Hour: 

1. Check your emails while you are at your peak-- BUT, don't let the time monster eat you up checking them... this can happen before you even realize it!
2. It is during this time your brain is operating at it's highest capacity, so be sure to schedule your "cognitive heavy tasks" during this time-- it is during this time that you will be more likely to be able to push through these tasks most successfully!

Things that We Probably Need to Do from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM:

1. Check Facebook (if you just have too)
2. Tweet (if you just have too)
3. Focus on low energy and low value tasks
4. It is imperative to remember that it is during these times that your attention span is at its lowest and you can become highly distracted and potentially make mistakes in your work and productivity, and part of your superwom@n abilities is to be able to see and be aware of this and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
5. Hammer out those big tasks and complete those "heavy thinking" tasks that you planned the night before as you thought about today!

What Happens at the 2:00 PM Hour?

1. It is at this 2:00 hour that you are most likely to just simply fall asleep! Did you know this? Chances are that you have experienced it honestly!
2. If possible, go for a fast walk!
3. If possible, take a "brain break!"

Around 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM, What Should I Do to Work With my Internal Clock?

1. This is the very best time to work out and exercise.
2. Be creative... if this tends to be homework time at your house, be creative, wear a pedometer and be walking around the house in between those math problems and that language homework!
3. If this is your time to get dinner going, again get creative and walk, jog, etc. in place while inner is going!

What Happens Around 9:00 PM at night?

1. It is at this time when we tend to actually be the most creative! Why in the world is this? Think about it... it is actually at this time when our brain is fuzzy and tired, and it doesn't naturally inhibit our creativity, and it is during this time that honestly we have the best opportunities for hashing out a creative project that we are working on and can make big strides in its progress!
2. So, some of us are ready to go to bed shortly after this, and then some of us are inclined to stay up until around 11:00 PM as we write our tasks for the next day! 

What are the "Take-Aways from This?"

**Pay attention to the research that folks have done who have way more expertise than us!

**During your day, pay attention to what you have just read and heed the advice and practice these suggestions!

**Make the changes in your day that help your internal clock so that you can supercharge into hero mode for sure! I will upload a couple of tools that may help you with some of this!

Try to Stay Dry Today Superwom@n!

Love,

Terri

Sources: 

www.lifehacker.com

www.lifeweb.com

www.asianefficiency.com

Happy Valentine's Day Superwom@n!

Happy Valentine's Day Superwom@an! I hope that your day has been awesome! Have you thought about what, in fact, makes you a superwom@n? I did some investigation (and I plan to do a lot more...) about the characteristics that just flat out make us all superwomen, and some characteristics that we might need to pay more attention too in order to become greater superwomen. Here is the beginning of my investigation:

Happy Valentine's Day Superwom@n!

(1) We must pay great attention to our internal clocks! There are times when we are obviously at our best and then times when we are ready to wilt! (More to come on this... it is really interesting...)

(2) We must balance our brain! Now, what does this entail? More to come... it has a lot to do with serotonin, dopamine, and cortisol!

(3) We can LAUGH! You know that laugh so hard that your eyeliner is running down your face!

(4) We can CRY! Sometimes, heck we need too. There is nothing absolutely nothing healthy about keeping things bottled up inside-- it will cause us to release more cortisol which is bad on our health!

(5) We must learn to prioritize ourselves! Prioritize your day... we will look at this more and use some tools for being able to graphically represent this! I  don't know about you all but I need some of this!

(6) We need to feed our brain with foods that fuel our focus... so what are they? (more on this too!)

(7) We MUST learn to delegate! You can not do it all, and you shouldn't have too!

(8) We must learn to listen carefully! This is an art and unfortunately is sometimes very hard to do!

(9) We must rid our bodies of toxins that harm our focus, our concentration, and out productivity! We will talk more about these toxins!

(10) We must make absolutely sure that we are not our own worst enemy! Examine things... more later!

We will take each of one these statements and expound on them, and see what kind of superwomen we shall become! 

Until tomorrow! We will investigate "tuning into our body clock!"

Happy Valentines Day! 

Terri