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Dear Friends of Balancing Act, 
Summer's around the corner, and so are the usual rounds of graduations, weddings, and end-of-school activities on top of the usual fare.
To help you out, I'm featuring three little questions that can help you decide how you spend your time. Also, a system for busy families to manage the time choices they've already made. And finally, if you're still feeling overloaded but without time and resources to take a traditional vacation, some tips for taking a mini one.
By the way, readers showered me with so many procrastination success stories last month that I decided to take my time getting out the May newsletter. Personal fave was from Nancy Metzger, who reported success with delaying her preparation of overstuffed potatoes till just before dinner. Why does this work? Otherwise, the dog eats them. Her prize, of course, is a copy of The Dog Ate My Planner.
And finally, if you don't know why Nancy's potato procrastination will not be a must for me, find out in this month's column, in which the merits of dog ownership are weighed.
Wishing you many in-the-moment moments with or without a dog,
Pat |
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Ask Yourself These Questions
 Decisionmaking is never easy where time is concerned. With so many opportunities to spend it, how can we decide what to take on?
Here's a three-part test for decision-making picked up at a long-ago conference otherwise forgotten:
� Does it feel right?
� Can it get me into trouble?
� Is it goal-oriented?
If you're getting a green light on all three, it's a no-brainer. If only two, maybe ... but give it some thought. One or none? Might be time for the gong. |
Run Your Household Online!
 Skeptics may be prepared to diss it because Cozi, the free online family organizing system, sounds too good to be true.
It has color-coded family calendar that can send the kids reminders (on their cells) to come home for dinner. It has a toll-free number in case you forget your grocery list and need it read to you at the store. It even has a family journal that lets you enter those oddball comments from the kids simply and in the moment.
Sign up, log in and check it out, It works so swimmingly that it's almost worth adopting several kids just to use it. Well, maybe not. But it's certainly worthy of safeguarding that grocery list. |
 We know all about staycations - those stay-at-home vacations so popular in this uncertain economy. But how about a mini-vacation, where you inventory your stressors and choose to eliminate one for a week? Good candidates might be at-home e-mail (set up an auto-responder), TV news (trust me, they'll still be cleaning up that oil spill next week), or that free teleseminar that sounded good when you sign up for it, but.... Use the time instead to read a good book or take a walk or do nothing. You'll be surprised how refreshed you feel. |
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Leash Law No. 17: Going With The Flow
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There's a lot of truth to the premise that what happens to us is not as important as how we react to it. Life will be more balanced if you leave room for surprises, creativity and the possibility of changing your mind. When strong winds come, the branch that bends does not break.
Ths is one of 74 leash laws offered in "The Dog Ate My Planner: Tales and Tips from an Overbooked Life."
Copyright 2010 Pat Snyder |
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NEW TOPIC: HUMOR AND LOSS
In addition to her talks on the importance of humor in dealing with stress and overload at home and at work, Pat's now available to speak about the importance of humor in dealing with loss. Find a description of this new topic on her web page.
One-Day Tour
With
Gail Sheehy |
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This month, Pat joined a national book tour. Not, however, her own. Best-selling author Gail Sheehy entrusted herself to Pat and her Prius for a day when she was in town promoting her new book Passages In Caregiving: Turning Chaos Into Confidence. Confidence might have turned into chaos if the title of Pat's book or the model of her car had been disclosed ahead of time, but no. She was blissfully unaware. Inside story from the tour: Sheehy walks the talk about the importance of meditating as a life balance tool. She meditated before her lecture, which was hosted by the Central Ohio Chapter of The Transition Network. Or perhaps meditation was overdue after a day with Pat.
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WHY KAZOOS ARE FUNNY...
At the Coshocton
Write On Writers Conference, where she led a workshop on humor writing, Pat shared little-known parallels between kazoo-playing and humor- writing. Participants were urged to do both and happily complied.
BOOKING NOW FOR FALL
Pat's taking bookings now for life balance speeches and workshops, writing workshops, and laughter programs, all described on her website.
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