Life Of E's

If you are like most teachers, you may have some clutter lurking in your classroom – and let’s start with your desk. Look at that big drawer in the lower right- or left-hand side of your desk – the one where files are supposed to go.  To use that drawer for its intended purpose, you will [...]

Tags: clutter, distractions, focus, Productivity, tips

How can you stay in the present (mentally) – or get to the present? Here are 5 strategies: Breathe. The idea is that you breathe in. Then you breathe out. This helps you to get centered – and somewhere I read that the space between breathing in and breathing out – that’s the present. So [...]

Tags: distractions, energy, focus, positive, Productivity, success, tips

Human beings love to achieve…to set goals and to reach those goals. It’s motivating. Use that to your advantage when you are cleaning, clearing, decluttering – and of course, destressing. Make a VOW to rid yourself of a certain amount, number, or percentage of your ‘stuff,’ whether your stuff is books, papers, files, cans, emails, [...]

Tags: clutter, distractions, focus, Productivity, stress, tips

Let us say that you have decided to close the door to negative people (figuratively, of course). What is tough about this decision is that sometimes the negative people work in our offices (or live in our homes or are related to us in some way). Deciding to “close the door” on the people who [...]

Tags: focus, positive, Productivity, success, tips

“Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” – William Jennings Bryan In life, “A door must either be shut or open.” (Anonymous); I think that means we need to determine which doors we [...]

Tags: distractions, focus, positive, Productivity, success, tips

It is not just the big things that need to be eliminated in order to reduce stress. You may need to get rid of those extra Cool Whip tubs that fall out of your cabinet every time you open the drawer. You will be surprised by what is on this list. How about starting to [...]

Tags: clutter, distractions, focus, just whelmed, Productivity, stress, tips

Eric Hoffer said, “A preoccupation with the future not only prevents us from seeing the present as it is but often prompts us to rearrange the past.” When you are deciding where to ‘live’ – in the past, in the future, in the present (or some other cosmic option you might know about) living in [...]

Tags: distractions, energy, focus, positive, stress, success

You may have noticed something that I’ve noticed:  Some of the people we are around who are the most negative appear not to be thankful for one single thing. And I have to believe that there is not a person alive who is unable to find something for which to be thankful. What always strikes [...]

Tags: focus, just whelmed, positive, success, tips

Have you ever tried to control other people?  How does that work out?  Are any of the folks around you a bit negative?  Can you change that?  Although we can’t CONTROL others, we can impinge on, have an impact on, and influence them. Knowing what is possible and what is reasonable is the crux of [...]

Tags: energy, focus, positive, Productivity, stress, success, tips

Unless you are ever-vigilant (and have been for the past 5 - 10 years) when it’s time for de-cluttering, you will need a trash container.  If you are only cleaning out one wayward drawer, then a teeny trash basket may be enough.  On the other hand, if you are de-cluttering your entire classroom, office, garage, or wherever else [...]

Tags: clutter, distractions, focus, Productivity, tips