Life without meaning can be very depressing. Having no purpose behind what you do everyday can make your days grey and foggy like a November morning. But once you discover something you love (or someone , sometimes :) ), all rays of light seem to gather to shine on that new purpose. It puts an engine ...
Taking the time to read
In a different life, my dream job is to be a librarian. I spent many autumn and winter afternoons in the Bucharest British Council library, near a roof window facing trees and grey skies. While working 3 months in Chicago, one of my favorite places was the Library - the large one with 7 floors, in the ...
How to quiet your brain
Does this look familiar to you? You wake up. You stumble to the batroom, brush your teeth, get dressed, gulp down some coffee, head to work, answer emails, answer phone calls, answer questions, sit down in meetings while thinking about the shopping list for the evening, drive home, clean up, cook, eat, wash, go to bed. ...
How to create a weekly meal plan
I've been cooking (ha!) this idea for more than a few weeks, since I've started looking in the fridge and realizing (a) there is no cookable food in there and (b) I don't have the energy to think up or look up what could be possibly assembled from the bits and pieces there. I am lucky to say ...
Building traditions, for mental health
You know that feeling you get when you start noticing the same thing everywhere around you, and it keeps popping up? That's what I get this year about building own holiday traditions. I found it first on The Nest website, and as much as it gets into the typical one-two-three-tips type of articles, it got me thinking. Then ...
The importance of daydreaming
Did you know that children of 10 -12 years old started to suffer from stress? Really now, do you imagine a 10 year old saying that he's got bad time management and he needs to check his agenda before seeing his friends? Unfortunately, that's the truth today. Stress comes (also) from little time with ourselves Young children spend their ...
How to save. More.
Since the crisis started, I've been seeing a lot of articles on how to cut down on spending. I've always been the saving kind of person, doing budgeting, checking where my money goes, saving at first 10% of my income, then reaching up to 30% monthly. Recently, I've been looking a lot at my finances, income ...
Your balance point
Think about your most usual state. Is it depressed? Anxious? Happy? Enthusiastic? Silent? Leading? Communicating? Contemplating? Vegetative? What is the state of being that you will return to, once left alone? Mine is a mixture of worried and contemplating. A mask with eyes looking somewhere far, and a bit of a frown. People frequently ask me why I'm ...
How to minimize distractions
You know what they say, the person who's less knowledgeable will be the best teacher? That's me. My attention span is about 2 seconds. If an Internet page doesn't load quick enough, I open another tab. I do about two things at a time and think of another 3. I can't work more than 10 ...
The Good Life in 2 easy steps: Part 2. Well-being
I wrote here about the good life in eating well, and got quite a few comments! Thank you all for replying and sending back tips and links on choosing - and cooking - good food. Now that spring is coming close, we're getting more and more aware of our own bodies. Here are some extra tips ...
Idea of the Week – How to create Productivity Structures
It's early February now, and I wonder how many of us kept their New Year's Resolutions. Or whatever goals we set for ourselves a few months ago. I wrote here about how to set simple, kind-of-motivating New Year's Resolutions, that will still keep you going - yes, even mid-February!. And then I wrote here about the ...
Build a Life Changing Habit
If you haven't read at least one article on New Year's Resolutions (yeah, I've got my own) in the past two weeks, you've been living on another planet. Or don't read blogs too often. Now, as the buzz on New Year's Resolutions wears off, phew, we can all go back to our usual life-consuming boredom. ...Can we? In ...
How to Internalize Learning
A friend sends me often inspiring videos or books. He asked me yesterday "But how do you stay with that mindset? How do you keep the inner drive that a good speech or good training gives you?" The simple answer is this. You don't. One of the biggest challenges the training industry faces at the moment is ...
