Three Tips to Avoid Late Fees
Do you ever procrastinate on paying bills? Solutions exist.
The List
First make a list of all your monthly bills and their general due dates. Note that some may be due weekly, while others are monthly or quarterly. Some bills will usually have due dates early in the month while others will be due later in the month. Organize your bills in the order that they need to be paid.
Pay Date versus Due Date
This is a place where lots of people screw up. Whether you pay electronically or send in a check, there is a time span between when the payment is made and when it arrives. If you pay online, your bank will usually have a note as to how many days it takes for the money to be transferred. If you put a check in the mail it could be anywhere from two days to who knows when. Scheduling pay dates a week before due dates is generally a safe bet.
Alert, Alert
If you’re income varies, have you noticed that institutions don’t like it when you try to pay a bill with money that doesn’t exist? Alerts can help with this. With online banking you can set alerts to send you an email with your balance daily or weekly. They can also let you know when a check posts, when you have a low balance threshold, and more. This is great information whether you are paying all your bills yourself or using automatic deductions to handle the job.
Finally, tips are only good ideas without implementation. So schedule a chunk of time in your calendar each week to be used for bill pay. Make it an appointment. If something that feels more urgent comes up, make sure to reschedule to a time within 24 hours.
Time Will Tell - Tools that Organize your Thoughts & Time
Do any of these sound familiar?
- You have a great idea in the shower and then forget it by the time you’re dressed.
- A task you thought might take an hour actually takes three.
- You sometimes get so caught up in one thing that you’re late for something else.
- Prioritizing your schedule to address all your To Do’s feels impossible.
Solutions exist. I like things to be simple and easy to use so these three tools have passed muster. They are Aqua Notes, Time Timer, and Planner Pads.
www.myaquanotes.com says, “If you find that some of your best ideas and insights are generated in the tranquility and solitude of the shower...then AquaNotes® is for you! These waterproof notepads help you capture and preserve your ideas before they're forgotten!” The 40 sheet, refillable pad suctions to your shower wall and even comes with matching pen.
www.timetimer.com has a line of timers, watches, and applications that helps you stay on track. Set the amount of time you want to spend on a specific task and have a bright visual of the time gradually elapsing so you know when you’re getting to the finish.
www.plannerpads.com has both paper and electronic easy-to-use systems that help you organize, prioritize, and schedule in ways that make sense.
Even the websites are user friendly. Check them out. Let me know if you start using any of them and tell me about your experience.
Who’s in Your Head and Why Are They So Negative?
If you had a friend who consistently said things to you that made you feel small, things that were damaging to your self-esteem, would you maintain the relationship?
What if that so called “friend” was an ever-present voice in your head? You know, it’s the one that says things like, “what’s the use?” “why bother?” “you’ll never…,” “you’re not good enough,” “no one understands you,” “you don’t deserve…, “you should….” Sound familiar?
I bet it does.
The thing is, as limiting and disparaging as those voices are, we tend to listen to them.
What if you didn’t?
Recognize that there are any number of positive and supportive options available at any time. No need to argue with the negative voice. Just thank it for its opinion and give yourself permission to recognize that you do deserve to have, be and do what’s important to you, that you can make mistakes and still be okay, that it might take a number of attempts to get t--hings the way you want them to be and that perfection need not be necessarily be required.
One caveat—that little voice never actually goes away, but you can definitely learn to ignore it.
The Last Newsletter You’ll Ever Read
Okay, this is not a promise. It’s more of a thought exercise.
What motivates you to read newsletters?
Do you look forward to useful tips, new information, special offers, upcoming events?
Do you open and read all the newsletters that arrive?
Do you anticipate the arrival of any of them?
Do you delete any unread?
I don’t know your situation, but I receive newsletters from people I barely know as well as from colleagues. Reading takes time and for most of us, our time is valuable.
There are three newsletters I read every time. Invariably they contain information I can use. A few others are interesting to me on occasion and I briefly scan them. And for the rest…there is a link at the bottom of every newsletter that lets you “unsubscribe.” (I hope I’m not shooting myself in the foot here).
So if time management is a concern for you, deciding how you can best use your time is important. If you are already using your calendar and focusing on your priorities (some of you know these are your “big rocks”) when and where do activities like reading newsletters fit for you? Deciding what’s important is important. If the information or education that arrives in a newsletter could have value, great. Look at your schedule and see when you have some time you can set aside for reading.
My intention is to provide a useful tip to you every month, along with a notice or two. If there’s something you’d like, please let me know. My goals is to give you information and tools you can implement.
Newsletter tips not enough? Contact me for that complimentary coaching session I offer.
Now Where Did I Put My...?
Does this ever happen to you? You’re carrying a few bags of groceries from the car to the house. Later that day, you’re in a hurry to leave again and your keys are nowhere to be found.
There are only so many things you can fully attend to at a time. When you’re engaged in a conversation, or have ten things on your mind something as “trivial” as where you set something down may shoot right past your short term memory.
My uncle Leon would have his glasses pushed up on top of his head. After looking all over the house for them, he’d offer me a quarter if I could find them for him. Easiest quarters I ever made. Like Leon, everyone misplaces things from time to time-you put your keys in your pocket because you’re carrying a few bags, hang up your jacket and later wonder where your keys are, or put the remote control down to get a snack then return and cannot find the darned clicker.
Two solutions:
1. Create places where you always (okay almost always) put certain items, like keys, phone, wallet, shoes. It’s kind of like having the address for them. Once you develop the habit, chances are you’ll find your items where they belong.
2. Calm down. For when you don’t put things where they belong, even if you’re in a rush, stop. Sit down. Close your eyes and breathe. Think about what you were doing when you last had the item. Recreate your steps. Do this as calmly as possible.
How do you decide where something “belongs” anyway? Where is the first place you generally look for the item? If there isn’t some place that seems obvious, pick a place a build the habit. I have a client who has to know where her keys are even if she cannot find anything else. Whenever she moves, the first thing she does is decide where “that place” is going to be for her keys. Even when she comes into the house with arms full of groceries, her keys always seem to land in their place.
Have you ever put something important in a safe place and then forgotten just where that place is? Again, having a special safe place that you use all the time can make a huge difference. Trust me. I still haven’t found two - hundred dollar bills I put safely away last fall.
Is Your Imagination “Running Away with You”?
Does this ever happen to you?
There’s something important you need to do but you’re putting it off because you’re thinking doing it will be difficult or unpleasant in some way? Strangely, it seems to be easy to imagine the “worst case scenario” as the likely outcome.
That story in your imagination is powerful enough to keep you from doing something you actually need to do. The Temptations understood this, as you may remember from this lyric:
“A cozy little home out in the country with two children, maybe three.
I tell you, I can visualize it all. This couldn't be a dream, for too real it all seems.
But it was just my 'magination, once again.
Running away with me.”
Since what you imagine can seem so real, why not practice imagining positive experiences and outcomes? Here’s one way to do that. Let’s say your task involves getting your financials ready for your tax preparer. You might have slogged through this task in past years and found it tedious. So you are imagining this time being grim and you just aren’t enthusiastic about starting.
The solution is imagining the task being more of an interesting challenge – something you can get involved in and make timely progress, and then feel a satisfying sense of accomplishment. Perhaps think about the benefit of doing the work.
“Oh sure,” you may be thinking. “Fat chance I’d buy into that.” No problem. The positive thoughts create what’s called cognitive dissonance, an inconsistency. Now your brain can recognize a choice.
Think of how you’d increase the appeal of doing the work. Consider what’s in it for you to complete the task, how you’ll feel when you do. It’s your imagination so you can enhance the experience in any way you want. Step into that picture and claim it as real.
The more you start thinking positive, the easier things become.
Need more tips? Check out the Artful Coaching Facebook page.
Unconscious Incompetence into Conscious Competence
You know the scenario. It’s a new year and you want to make some changes. Maybe you want to lose weight, or make more money, or be more organized. These are all good starting thoughts to help you set some specific goals. Yet, despite your best intentions, these goals may not come to fruition.
Henry Ford said, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” This is because habit is the main ruler of our thoughts and behaviors, and once something becomes a habit, it’s unconscious. To change the default behavior, the default habits take some undoing.
You know how when you repeatedly walk the same way through a field, the grasses flatten out and you create a get a path? A similar thing happens in your brain. Basically, you have to create a new “path” in your brain and let the grasses grow back to cover the old one.
Here’s how. First, decide what habits will help you reach and maintain your goals. Example: you want an organized office. A new habit might be to spend a few minutes putting things away after when you finish a task. You know, filing the paper AND putting the file back in the drawer. You might need to make a sign to remind you, or…you might want to work with a coach.
It takes work to create the new habits needed to change the paths in your brain; once you do, though, you will step from Unconscious Incompetence into Conscious Competence.
Coaching - Working with Sydney
Within the safety of the coaching environment, I will talk with you to explore what's going on in your life, and what are some of the challenges you're experiencing.
The Coaching Process
Coaching begins with an intake session in which we establish our working alliance. After identifying your values, needs, challenges and desires we set realistic, achievable goals and develop a plan of action that will forward you towards them.
In weekly half-hour phone sessions, I help you work through any internal or external obstacles that arise, hold you accountable, and offer support and acknowledgment. Success occurs as you make step-by-step progress towards your goals while you maximize your performance.
With coaching, results are immediate and measurable.
We work together on the average of four to twelve months, making sure you have the habits, resources, skills and confidence that you will be able to be the person you envision, do the things that are important to you, and have the life you feel great about.
During our time working together, we:
Clarify your values and direction
Set structured goals
Take directed action
Maintain momentum
Work through obstacles
Achieve desired results
Who's in Your Head?
Does this ever happen to you?
Before leaving for an appointment this morning, I checked my email one last time (just to make sure nothing urgent came in. Then, before I knew what I was doing, I opened one that had an intriguing subject line. Wouldn’t you know it, the article had information I was interested in pursuing. I clicked the link that took me to the website that had a list of “helpful resources.” As I scanned the list noting several articles and sites I’d like to check out the “adult voice” in my head reminded me that I had an appointment to get to and that the resources would still be there in the afternoon. Sometimes my eagerness to pursue something interesting gets the best of me. Fortunately, I have more than one voice in my head.
Eric Berne developed a theory of Transactional Analysis. He said we have three ego states – parent, adult and child. The parent state is the one that creates the "should” that make us feel so guilty. Everyone has this part and it can be relentless. Then there’s the child state. When we’re functioning from this place we’re either resisting the parent state, maybe even being oppositional, or we’re just into having fun. The place you want to come from is the adult state. When you’re there your decisions are not based on what you should do or what’s fun, but on what makes sense.
How do you know what makes sense for you at any given time? One way is to have a future check with an “if…then” conversation (yes in your head). i.e. “if I do this now here’s what is likely to happen as a result.”
You can develop the habit of listening to the adult voice in your head that suggests behaviors that make sense. This is really preferable to being cowed by the tyranny of “should“ or the voice that doggedly resists being told what you must do or be. Of course, it does take time to develop and maintain a habit. Having someone to hold you accountable will help you succeed.
You can do it yourself with commitment and a tracking sheet, find an accountability partner, or better yet, work with a coach.
Who do you know that would love a half hour phone coaching session as a holiday gift? My gift to you when you book your own complimentary session before November 30th.
Check out the Artful Coaching Facebook page for tips and information
And please do “like” us there!
Wait Your Turn
Does this ever happen to you? You have a thought, but before you can act on that thought another thought bumps the first thought and gets in front of it, and you start focusing on the second thought. Then as you’re attending to that new thought, you remember something related and start thinking about what to do with that. And you realize -- wait a minute, wait a minute, what’s going on, and you pause to gather your thoughts. You notice the first thought wandering around and you start to bring it back to the front before another interruption can occur.
This happens to many of us from time to time. It happens to people who are not linear thinkers with frequency. People who are creative thinkers, divergent thinkers, those with ADHD often have so many thoughts vying for attention at the same time that it can be difficult to prioritize and focus on just one thing at a time.
Like right now, I’m writing this article, but ideas for another writing project keep intruding, as does an impulse to take my dog for a walk, and wondering if the mailman has delivered the mail yet.
One possible solution involves using a timer.
* Decide on something you want to/need to do.
* Determine how much time that task might require and how much time you’re willing to devote to it at a particular time. E.g. This afternoon at 3 p.m. for 30 minutes.
* Schedule that in your calendar (if it fits, of course).
* Gather everything you need plus a note pad, and clear things that might be distractions.
* Set the timer for 30 minutes and commit to it. Really.
* Write anything that pops into your head as a different “to do” on the pad so you’ll remember it later.
* At the end of the 30 minutes decide what’s next, continuing with what you were doing if you haven’t finished, or moving on to another task that now has a higher priority.
If you’re thinking, “Yeah, sure, that won’t work for me,” you may be right. It’s only a possible solution. Try it. Make adjustments. If it works make it a habit.
Wait, Wait, Just One More Thing
Ever get pulled into an online story and know you don’t have time to read it all? Or see an intriguing headline posted on your landing page or on some other page you’re visiting? Maybe you’re working on a project and if you can just do that “one more little thing” you can put it away for the day.
When this happens you get time blind. This happens to us non-linear or divergent thinkers all the time. When you get very focused on and involved in something, it’s as if time doesn’t feel like its passing. In fact, you may not be aware of time at all. The downside is that spending that time “right now” can make you late for something you’ve already committed to doing.
Those fifteen minutes you spend reading an article on line causes you to walk out the door to an appointment fifteen minutes later, or have to skip something important, like maybe your breakfast. Wouldn’t you like to find ways to make time boundaries work for you?
It is possible to save online articles and bring them with you so that when you’re sitting in the waiting room at the dentist’s office, or on your lunch break at work you could read then.
Two options that help you save web pages for later reading are “Readability” and “Pocket.” The Readability site boasts “Readability turns any web page into a clean view for reading now or later on your computer, smartphone, or tablet.” And at GetPocket.com you’ll find another version of the same option. The exact article is right there when you have the time to read it.
Now all you have to do it remember to bring your phone when you leave!
August is a vacation month for many. Are you someone who finds it challenging to keep up with your goals and habit during and after breaks? If so, it might be time for a coaching check in. Call for a coaching session if you feel your momentum flagging. Single check in’s only $25 for a half hour telephone session through August 31st.
“Getting Organized for Non-Linear Thinkers” -- six week classes are scheduled to begin again this fall.
Tuesdays –starting 9/8 from 7 to 9 p.m. through West Contra Costa Adult Ed
Mondays –starting 9/14 from 7 to 9 p.m. through Piedmont Adult Ed.
Check the school sites for registration information, and be sure to register early.
Three Wishes
Imagine that you're being give three wishes today. Would your wishes be about money, relationships, health...world peace? Would you want to be different in some way? Paul J. Meyer said, "Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon must inevitably come to pass."
If you imagined your wishes you've already accomplished the first step. Now, do you believe that you can have, do, or be what you're wishing for? How much to you really, really want it?
If there was no genie and having your wishes come true depended on you taking action, are you ready to make the commitment to working towards what you wish for?
Are you really ready to have the outcomes you'd get from having your wishes fulfilled? Then let's make it happen.
My wish is that you'd consider coaching as a resource to help you define your goals, create plans of action and, with ongoing support, accomplish what's important to you. Contact me to talk about making your wishes come true.
Do you have, or think you have, attention deficit disorder? Here's what Eden Tosch says about coaching:
"I don't know anyone who doesn't struggle with attention deficit these days. How can we not with all the bells and buzzers, expectations and commitments that most of us are trying to fulfill? For me, a small business owner trying to do everything I want and need to do, modern life spins my head around.
The ever increasing stresses of life requires some new way to get grounded and supported. There are a 100,000 coaches of various sorts out there. But until I started working with Sydney I found that life was draining and disrupting my ability to be happy and cool headed. The simple activity of having a weekly call with Sydney has helped me do things that I would never have been able to do without her! She uniquely understands how to guide inspired and overwhelmed people to deal practically with their reality!"
EdenAyurveda.com
facebook.com/EdenAyurveda
/Find out how coaching can work for you. Call me at 510 223 3882. Phone and Skype sessions are available.
Busy, Busy, Busy
Do you find time management to be a challenge? Does it seem you often have “too much on your plate?” Planning your day, your week, and your month might be the answer that gives you a sense of control over your time and your life.
Perhaps a little voice in your head has said:
• “Planning takes too much time.”
• “Life is too unpredictable.”
• “I’m never sure how much time it takes to do something.”
Consider that every minute that you spend planning will save you four to ten times that amount of time in execution. So at the end of each day, look back over your calendar (you do keep one, right?) and see if anything was unfinished that needs to be moved ahead, or if there is some new task that needs to be scheduled. Update the calendar. Then, as you begin the day, review your calendar and see if any email, phone messages, texts, etc. have come in that will require a bit of calendar shifting. Do the same at the end and beginning of the week and the month.
As you work with your calendar be aware of your priorities, not just at work, but in the other parts of your life. Make sure your schedule has time booked for relationships with the people and things that are most important to you and help you live a meaningful life.
To Buy or Not to Buy...A Very Good Question
Sale! This weekend only! Prices slashed! Best prices of the season! 
How can I possibly resist offers like these? Why look at those things. They're wonderful. What great boots. I love that lamp and mine is so old. A new phone with no contract, I'd better get that, my phone has a cracked screen. Oh yeah, and gifts for the family. My nephew is into....
And so it goes. The proverbial "bright, shiny objects" have led to a whirlwind of impulse buying. The credit card now has a really scary balance and the enjoyment of new things is tempered by the anxiety over paying for them.
Are there solutions? Absolutely.
Do:
Make a list of all the people you really must have a gift for.
Look at how much money you realistically can spend.
Decide how much you can spend for each person and if there's any left for yourself.
Think about what kinds of gifts fit your budget.
Consider things you can make yourself.
Don't:
Go to stores and holiday fairs credit card in hand and ready to buy things that appeal to you.
Shop with friends who have way more money than you have and can spend freely.
And here's a tip, if you don't wait until the last minute you can start gathering things through the year and storing them so you have your own cache of gifts.
Still not sure you can manage. Find someone who will help you set limits and hold you accountable. Maybe a coach.
Ten Tips to Keep Up During the Holiday Season
The days are getting shorter as we approach winter, and you might feel like there's just not enough time in the day to get everything done; especially during the holiday season. Is it possible to keep up? Or even get ahead? Here are some tips.
1. Look at the dates of the big holidays you celebrate. What do you typically do for each of them. Think about how long the preparations have taken in past years and schedule start dates for the tasks.
2. Do you have to do everything yourself? Consider what you can delegate and let others take care of those things.
3. Are the items on your list tasks "must do" or just "it would be nice to do." Focus on the must do items.
4. How much time can you free up to do the things that are actually important? Is watching television or hanging out on Facebook really necessary?
5. Plan each day every morning. Think about what tasks will give you a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.
6. Learn to say no. It's okay to set limits.
7. Less is more. Think about what is enough and what might be more than necessary.
8. If things feel overwhelming just pick three things you will do that day and put your energy and time into doing them.
9. Give yourself credit for anything and everything you accomplish no matter how small.
10. Get plenty of rest no matter what.
Think of being the person who designs your life.
Need help? Contact me for a complimentary half hour phone coaching session before 11/30/14.
Group Coaching for People with ADHD and Other Non-Linear Thinkers
Have you considered ADHD coaching, but thought it’s too expensive? Or too inconvenient and time-consuming?
Here’s the solution—Group Coaching
• 6-weeks – the next session begins Tuesday evenings, October 21
• Each session = 90 min. sessions
• Group limited to 8-10 people
Total Fee: $150.00
Web special – 30 minute coaching session prior to the first session
Each group session will include discussion of a specific ADHD topic and explore strategies to manage the issue.
Contact me: Sydney Metrick to sign up
510 223 3882 Sydney@ArtfulCoaching.com www.ArtfulCoaching.com
And check out my new video series on YouTube
Addressing ADHD: A Whole Person Approach