OSC: One Step Closer

I came up with this term when I ran a "webinar" (a.k.a. workshop using a chat function) for home-based working moms just over 20 years ago, back in the days before we called them webinars.  LOL  The good news is, it is a tool that can work for anyone, not just moms who work from home.  You use it to get going on a time-consuming, but very important, project that you haven't started because you have a "process" problem:  the process you will use to tackle the project is not obvious.  Perhaps there are multiple ways to approach it, and you don't know which one will work best for you.  Or, worst-case scenario, you think you have to figure out a process from scratch.  In either case, you haven't taken the time to think it through and decide yet.  Once you do, getting started on the project itself should be easy.

A prime example that most of us can relate to:  a decluttering project, especially if it is all the contents of a dear, recently-departed loved-one's home.  I really like Julie Morgenstern's "SPACE" formula http://juliemorgenstern.com/blog/?pID=101, so that's a big head-start, but sometimes I don't have any floor space to sort things into categories, or it's not safe or feasible, or it's too time-consuming to keep walking 20 feet to the appropriate stack, to just place stuff in piles on the floor.  So where am I going to put everything?  Boxes?  Bags? Hanging files?

Using the OSC method, you just need to give yourself 15 minutes, maybe 30 minutes, to start brainstorming what the process will look like.  If you don't finish when the time is up, that's okay -- you're One Step Closer!  But much of the time, you will have figured out the process and maybe even have time to set it up right then.  Once you do, there is nothing standing in your way of starting the job.  YAY!  

Your homework:  think of a project that meets this criteria, set a timer for just 15 minutes, and take just One Step Closer.  Then, report out in the comments on how it went.  

-Lori.

The Dreaded "To-Do" List: A Novel Approach

For me, if I am not finding time to create, it is usually a sign that I am mismanaging my time in general.  So today, I thought I would just quickly share with you a time-management tool that I really-really like, and even better, it is FREE!  

http://davidseah.com/blog/node/the-task-progress-tracker/  

What distinguishes David Seah's Task Progress Tracker (link above) and Emergent Task Planner (http://davidseah.com/blog/node/the-emergent-task-planner/) from most other planning tools is that they include a very simple way to record your estimate of how long each task will take.  Time-management guru Julie Morgenstern* insists that knowing how long tasks will take is the gateway skill to good time management, and I think she is right.  In both Mr. Seah's time-management tools above**, you can place a little hash mark after the correct 15-minute interval to indicate how long you think the task will take you.  Then, as you work on the task, you fill in 15-minute bubbles as you complete them.

I hope this helps!

God bless,

Lori.

*Note that Ms. Morgenstern also includes a box for "How long will it take?" in her time-management forms, but (1) hers are not nearly as fun as Mr. Seah's and (2) they are not free.

**As you will quickly see on his website, these are just two among many free tools he makes available.  The Emergent Task Planner is also available as a notepad or a spiral-bound notebook at Amazon.  If you are considering buying one, please make sure to pay attention to the sizes.  One is considerably smaller than the other (if I recall correctly, the larger one is 8.5 x 11" and the smaller one is only 5 x 8").  Reviews for the smaller one suggest that it is too small for the taste of most users.

Building Bigger "Barns"

And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness:  for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

                                                        ~ Luke 12:15

Now, the man in Luke 12 was building bigger barns, not adding cubes and shelving to his craft space LOL, but hopefully we all still get the message.  Too often, even Christians get caught up in buying more-more-more!, then having to organize and store more-more-more!  I have been guilty of this myself lately -- buying some loose sheets of scrapbooking paper and TWO!  WHOLE!  PAPER PACKS!!! when my 12" x 12" hanging file box is already chock-full of paper.  We need to catch ourselves doing it, possibly purge from the stores of goods we already have, and "hold the line" on how much we are buying.

I'm not trying to keep us from having fun pursuing our crafting.  I'm just saying we have to discern what our motivation is for thinking about purchasing something new.  Do we really need it?  Or do we just want it?  By spending, are we trying to fill a void in our lives that only God can fill?

May our lives be abundant in the right "things", which aren't things.

  

Count Your Blessings

I need this post today as much as anyone.  I am really struggling with how I'm not overcoming a certain chronic health issue...how little my four children accomplished yesterday even though I was feeling pretty good and trying to drive them like mules...how when I was cleaning the kitchen yesterday, I quickly discovered that a fresh roast had bled all over most of the other items in the meat drawer, which -- of course -- caused me to have to stop and take care of that issue instead of proceed with what I was doing.  

The day set aside as "Thanksgiving" may be over, but thankfulness should be a way of life for us as Christians.  Easier said than done many times, I know. But stop now and either pick up your journal (or prayer journal, if you keep one) or a piece of decorative paper and a nice pen, then start writing your blessings.  Number them.  Start with the simple ones, like one of my favorites:  "I'm vertical and suckin' in air."  LOL  If we can keep ourselves from taking the most "basic" blessings for granted (and yet, how amazing is it that our bodies just keep breathing each day, without us having to tell them to?!), we can see that even though life's circumstances aren't always going the way we want them to, God is good.  All the time.  

When upon life's billows you are tempest-tossed

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost

Count your many blessings, name them one by one

And it will surprise you what the LORD hath done...

                                             ~ Johnson Oatman, Jr.

Present Yourself a "Living Sacrifice"

I meant to post this November 24th, that first Sunday morning after I started this blog, but I was sick, so it just didn't feel right to post about the importance of attending the worship service when I was unable to attend it.  ;)

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
                                                                                     ~ Rom. 12:1

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:  not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another:  and so much the more, as ye see the day appearing.

                                                                                      ~ Heb. 10:23-25

Several years ago, I was fairly good friends with someone who decided to stop attending church.  When I admonished her with one of these verses, she said something to the effect of, "You and I have different paradigms" and dismissed my concerns.  My dear friends, I believe we need to be much, much more careful than that with the word of God!  

Hopefully I will "gussy up" this post a little later, but in the interest of focusing my own thoughts on the Bible this morning, I thought I would go ahead and post the key thought of my blogpost:  unless you are sick, it is your reasonable service to attend a worship service on Sunday morning.  We cannot expect life to go right if we are not honoring this basic principle.          

 

 

Welcome!

Welcome to Christian Creater.  We seek to draw closer to and learn more about God, the ultimate Creator who created the whole universe from nothing, and we are rejuvenated by time spent using the creativity He designed in us.  At the time of this writing, this is a solo endeavor, but I pray that others will feel led to journey with me as we strive:

• first and foremost, to make time each day to read and study God's word, pray, and listen for that still, small voice;
• second, to set aside 15, 20, even 30 minutes most every day for the purpose of creating:  a scrapbook page, a card, a poem, several pages of a novel, a musical composition...whatever form creativity takes for each of us individually; and
• third, to use consistency in the first two goals as a springboard to greater peace and productivity in other areas of our lives that we feel have slipped into chaos, clutter, and disorganization in recent days.

In my own life, health issues over the past four years have impacted my consistency with respect to my personal devotions.  For a Christian, this is a vital aspect of daily life.  Now, I firmly believe that God's grace can sustain us through difficult times even when we fail to follow through on this -- I probably would not be here were that not true.  BUT we are much better off if we consistently have that time in His word and in prayer.  That close communion gives us peace and comfort for the journey, insight into how better to relate to our spouses and children, greater creativity in solving difficult problems, and true joy.  Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not into thine own understanding.  In all thy ways...and He shall direct thy paths.  Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all the rest shall be added unto you.  

My health issues also have seriously hampered my homekeeping abilities and my success in delegating tasks to my four children.  Not everywhere I look, but certainly in more places than I would like in our home, clutter and dust have set up shop.  But something happened when I participated in a crafter's "organization challenge" earlier this year.  Similar to that first success professional organizers like Julie Morgenstern relate from their own histories, once I organized my scrapbooking paper hanging-file box according to the prescribed directions, I felt a sense of accomplishment that I had not had in a long while.  I am now determined to continue until our home is a haven of quality family time, peace and rest.

I felt led to start this blog in order to seek companionship and accountability along the way.  While I definitely have ideas that I hope will facilitate the "Christian Creater" process for all of us, I enthusiastically welcome feedback and suggestions.

God bless,

Lori.