The sculptor produces the beautiful statue by chipping away such parts of the marble block as are not needed – it is a process of elimination. (Elbert)

So what do you need to ‘chip away’ that is currently introducing or exacerbating the complexity in your life (and thus, the overwhelm)?  You might consider one or more of the following categories as you think about places where you can make the choices to introduce easier (rather than harder) into your life. 

1. Technology
2. Personal maintenance (hair, makeup, nails, clothing)
3. “Stuff”/possessions
4. Meals/food
5. Yard/garden

Let’s just look at this last category.  Depending on where you live, if you have a yard and/or garden, you can turn the maintenance of it into a full-time job, an overwhelming responsibility, a burdensome task, a dreaded weekly chore – OR, you can simplify it by any of following means:

• Hire someone else to do all the maintenance – year-round.
• Delegate out the portions of it that are most overwhelming to you.
• Xeriscape it so that there are only small pieces that you will have to maintain.
• Find out which plants (trees, shrubs, flowers, grass, etc.) are low-maintenance. 
• Decide that yards are meant to be enjoyed not fretted over.  It’s a mindshift for some people – but it can be a way to release much of the stress.

So, this week, observe yourself – and those around you – and notice the times where something has become more difficult than it needs to be.  Begin to minimize the complexity by the choices you make. 

And if the complexity of your everyday life is just one area that overwhelms you – and you would like to be ‘just whelmed,’ then you’re invited to join others (worldwide) who receive Meggin’s weekly emails (free!) at **I Want to Be Just Whelmed (http://www.JustWhelmed.com)

If you would prefer quick, short weekly tips, then the following site is another place to find suggestions and other tools to support you in your quest for peaceful productivity: **Top Ten Productivity Tips (http://www.TopTenProductivityTips.com)

(c) 2009 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., “The Ph.D. of Productivity”(tm). Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh changes what people know, feel, dream, and do. Sound interesting? It is!

1. Some failures are huge disappointments.  Generally, if your marriage “fails,” you feel some disappointment. You went into the relationship with some sense of expectation; when it doesn’t work out the way you were hoping and planning, then it’s incredibly disappointing.  Not earning tenure at your university MAY be a huge disappointment or it may be the best thing that every happened to you because you find another position at a different university – and you thrive there.   

Be sure to continue with tomorrow’s post and learn more about ways to view failure – and between now and then, you may want to access one of these tools (free): 

**Top Ten Productivity Tips (http://www.TopTenProductivityTips.com)

**Articles for Professors (http://www.ArticlesforProfessors.com)

(c) 2009 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., “The Ph.D. of Productivity”(tm). Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh changes what people know, feel, dream, and do. Sound interesting? It is!

1. What do you want?
2. What are you willing to do or go through to get there?
3. What will you have to give up?
4. What will you gain?
5. Is your life the way you imagined it or the way you wanted it?
6. How far off is it?

I titled this post, “Essential Questions – If You Can Answer These, You Have a Choice.”  So what’s the choice? 

Well, now you can do something about your life…or not.  Depends on your answers, doesn’t it?