Mind - Mapping Check-In

As 2012 rolled in all seemed rather elusive and unfocused. The mind mapping 2-minute lesson really helped me to identify the larger areas of my work life, and as Roisin said the mind dump had the immediate calming effect that I needed.

It let me get it all out of my head and out there for me to see. Each major category has it's own branch that then can be pulled out and mapped on it's own. Once mapped out, tasks can be added and the priorities seen.

My own two branches that needed tending were -administrative & -product development.
Time is still tight, but I can now see what must be done and know that all the other things have there place on the map and will not be forgotten.

and, even though my original mind dump was with paper and markers I found a great app for my iPad that lets me take the maps along and work on them anywhere. my app choice... iThoughtsHD

above is a peek at my admin map -- what you can't see are the little +/- sign indicating more branches to be seen, but they are there to guide the way.

I'm off now to find some more coffee, check the map and start my day.

2-minute Lesson /or Pulling it together in 2012

True confession here! Things for me since the fall have been almost totally out of control. Amazingly good stuff on top of holiday stuff, but good or bad doesn't change the crazies you feel while being pulled in a hundred different directions. And, worse than anything, 2012 rolled in I was having a hard time focusing on just what I wanted to do with my time and energy.

Those closest to me will attest to Rose having the crazies, and I knew that it is time to take a step back and gain clarity, but HOW?

Luckily, a dear friend/ Roisin-Creative Dynamix, on the other side of the world helped me do this. Her two-minute lesson on how to mind-map has enabled me to find a pathway through the chaos. I had heard of mind mapping before but never really tried it. Roisin told me to get some markers and a big sheet of paper and drawn a circle in the center and mark it 2012/work. Then draw lines or arrows from that notating everything you can think regarding the various things related to 2012/work.

Just taking 10 minutes to start this mapping made a huge difference in how I felt. I now had cleared out the major areas that I know are part off my work life from my head, and each noted areas could now be seen, worked on, fitted in and generally (as I see it) dealt with. Opening up pathways of conversations with myself and others, too!

I am highly recommending that you give this a try, and there are a ton of resources out there that can help you open the gate and allow you to walk existing paths and carve out some new ones.

Each of these lines lead me off in a clear direction. Try it for yourself!

Just since yesterday I even found a couple of apps for my iPad to help with this mind-mapping journey... I can hardly wait to get going!

Calendaring: Resistance is Futile

Last week I found blogger Kesha Bruce and I jumped into my long overdue review of my self journey. I mentioned the need of focus last week and I have been using Kesha’s words of wisdom to guide me through this needed venture. She first calls our attention to the need to have an End Game.

You need to know where you wanted to head off to before you hit the road. Since many of use spend a great deal of time doing many things because they are expected of us it can be a bit daunting to acknowledge just what it is that we want, let alone put it down on a piece of paper and map out a plan on how to get there.

I’m here to tell you that resistance is futile, and it may not be as painful as you believe.

My End Game started by determining ‘my’ income. After all, I work for myself, and who but me can figure that out.

I’m not going to tell you that committing this to paper was easy. All week long there were two work stations calling my name. One with the sewing machine, with a really fun new piece needing stitching...

And the other, with computer and calendars calling from the other side of the studio.

Then I found a quote by Ursula LeGuin –
“It is good to have an end to journey towards;
but it is the journey that matters in the end.”

This was the next nudge I needed (I did mention resistance, right?)

I took a look at my revenue streams – teaching/ art sales & commissions/ product sales, etc and mapped out the potential, including my personal goals in each of these areas.

On a roll now I could see how the marketing plans could be produced in accordance to the importance of each of these in turn…

Ok, here comes BIG resistance…
for me, it is really hard to plan for myself. Schedule myself!
Those that know me well might think I’m lying here, for I’m the ultimate planner, and a really good project manager…. But this is more daunting, it is a schedule to make it all happen!!!!  

Breath… time to go back to the smaller pieces.

This is what helped me this week. It is great, and totally needed, to have a big plan…. But it is the journey that matters in the end… the little pieces. Figure out the little pieces that you identify you need to have in place to get to the End Game. They all add up in the end, and in order to deal with the inevitable, finding one is working better than another, I built in review points.

Enough… this next week I’ll be working on my weekly schedule. Need to make sure there’s enough time in the day/week to get the things done that I want.