One of the gifts that Wendy has given to me is the encouragement to keep a notebook.  When I say notebook I mean just that!  It can be a simple and useful spiral bound notebook or a beautifully bound decorative journal type book filled with empty pages just waiting to be filled.  Once you find your canvas, the goal is to start filling it.  Fill it with phone numbers and important to-do lists.  Keep track of conversations you have had with friends or colleagues, ideas that hit you while you are shopping for dinner and inspiring lyrics to a new song you just heard on the radio.  The point is – you should fill it with everything.  The notebook will then quickly become your ‘everything’ book.  Instead of having a to-do list, a phone book, an I-phone, your laptop, and the palm of your hand filled with all those things you want to do and remember it can all be neatly (if you are lucky) kept in your everything book.  You can take it with you and keep it nearby at all times, organize it however is comfortable for you (by date or subject) and always know the one place to look to find everything.

Keeping a notebook like this also makes it easy to look back over time and see your accomplishments and remain cognizant of all the things in life that you have handled successfully.  You can create journal entries along side estimates from the plumber to fix that hall bathroom and will end up with a scrapbook type collection down the road that will chronicle your life.  Many years from now, this can turn into a great gift for your self; but for now it is an easy and meaningful way to keep yourself on track in all circumstances.  

There are many people, myself included, who whole heartedly believe that the early bird catches the worm.  These people may be up before the sun and can have 3 loads of laundry done, the house cleaned, appointments scheduled and bills paid before anyone else has even thought to get out bed.  Others prefer the still of night and reach their creative and inspirational peak during those hours when the house is hushed of growl and peep and nothing is moving but the crickets outside.  It doesn’t matter when your most productive time is; it only matters that you recognize it and find a way to utilize it!

Knowing that my best work was normally done in the mornings I would find entertaining activities to keep my toddler busy for 15 minutes of blocks of time so I could capitalize on my creative and momentous sunrise rituals.  By 10am my energies had settled but I felt quite content with what it was I accomplished while I was making the most of my morning energy buzz.  Wendy accomplishes more in the evenings and feels that she hits her stride only when a night owl is perched on her tree. 

The point is that your time can be better utilized when you feel the best.  By making plans to accommodate your natural rhythm of productivity and energy you will be able to use it to your advantage.  Set your tasks accordingly and you will find that you can accomplish more in 15-30 minutes than you can when you are tired and not at your mental best.  Listen to your intuition and find ways to move things around in your life so that tasks which require creativity or concentration are performed at your optimum moments during the day.  You can mop a floor anytime – but the inspiration to write a book or prepare a business plan requires you to be ever present in your moment.