Are you familiar with the beach ball of death, {{ first_name }}?

If you are a MAC user, then you might be all too familiar with the spinning beach ball that occasionally slows down your productivity.

I say "occasionally" with caution.

By the time people come to me for help with organizing their digital filing cabinet (a.k.a. their computer), the spinning beach ball of death is out of control.

And no...you don't need a new computer!!

You simply need to create some order out of the chaos of your computer.


In this week's podcast episode of Get Your Shit Together, you will learn my process for how I started tackling this beast of a project.

My hope for you is that you walk away with a little bit of inspiration to do the same. This step-by-step approach could be the difference between feeling as though you need to buy a new computer or saving the one you already have.

Here are a few key takeaways.

 Creating order out of chaos is liberating
...

Do you have a lot of items on your to-do list?

One of the most effective ways of being productive and staying organized is by systematizing your tasks and to-do list. My friend and client, Laurey, used to have a 7-page (back and front) bible of notes until I helped her redesign it.

In today's episode, Laurey Bennett-Levy is our client spotlight. She's an artist, philanthropist, mentor, and all-around amazing human. Working together over the past 7 years, I have seen both the highs and lows of growing her artistic career.


During our conversation, Laurey shares how her life and career changed over the years and how each phase has led her to reignite her passion for creating art. But being an artist is not her only strength.

She knows how to bring people together and because of her generous spirit, she shares her knowledge and expertise in her 300+ member community. She also talks candidly about how she built a business in her 50s.

Here are a few key takeaways.

...

Is your computer a mess?

A cluttered computer can be challenging to navigate. Thus keeping those random photos, downloaded pDFs, recipes, and important documents tidy and organized is key to both your creativity and productivity.

In today's episode, "Get Your Shit Together," I am giving you bite-sized actionable tips you can take and apply to build your digital filing cabinet.

These simple tips will inspire you to clean and organize your computer so you have the confidence to use your machine in a way that serves you.

Here are the 5 tips you can expect to learn:

 Build the structure first
 Identify the different pillars or "drawers" of your life
 Pick one topic and one topic only
 Purge and merge
 Create your labeling system

Being a systems girl myself, there's one thing I've learned, it's that having some simple systems in place not only helps me with clarity but also leaves lots of room for growth and creativity. Whether you are building a business or not,...

I have never really liked New Year's Eve.

Aside from the fact that I don't enjoy dressing up, overspending on a meal that is never really that tasty, and don't really love big crowds.

But the real reason is because I don't believe that you need a reason to set intentions just because you are being told that it's a "new year, new you."

Every month, week, and even day are great excuses to establish goals, set boundaries, and celebrate your accomplishments. Even the small ones.

As I start to look at what 2023 could look like, I have been thinking about what are some things that I could do differently so that I can scale my business and organize my life in a way that feels authentic to me. 

Here are a few things that are part of my plan:

1 concentrate on building stronger relationships with organizations and institutions that resonate with my core values
2 build a bigger community of women who truly want to use their gifts and expertise to grow their impact and...

I am going to keep this brief - I promise!

Because, to be totally honest and transparent here, I am exhausted.

The fact that it's December 5th and I haven't put out one decoration or made a Hanukah list for my kids is saying something.

And it's telling me that I am tired.

I am ready for a break. A break from:

my computer

the constant dings and pings on my phone

the emails pitching me to buy a bunch of crap

the news

and the list can go on and on. But I won't bore you with that.

Instead, I am going to re-evaluate what's important. Take a look t my list from last year and prioritize what I want next year to look like.

One of the tools that I use to help me do that is the 360 Review. It's the perfect time of year to take the temperature of what you have accomplished ( or didn't), what you want your life to look like in the future, and where you are today.

My three tips today might help you lean into that.  

Tip #1
Instead of looking back on last...

This was the first Thanksgiving in a long time where I didn't feel stressed or frantic.

Do you know why? Because I had a plan. As a mom of three man-children, the expectations on this meal is very, very high.

My fault entirely. I have spent 25+ years setting up the promise of what ends up on our holiday table, so I take full responsibility for that. In addition, being the sole "cooker"(as my youngest used to call me when he was a toddler), there's much to prep and do.

But over the years, I have developed and adopted a system on how to make the process as effortless as possible. It wasn't until I wrote an e-book about my Thanksgiving meal and prep that I realized that my success in both life and business comes down to one thing.

Systems!

Without them, in my opinion, you're pretty much screwed!

With only 34 days left in 2022, there is no better time to get your sh*t together and feel good about entering a new year. That's plenty of time to...

There's something you should know. I actually loathe the word "goal."

I dislike it because I feel it's saturated and overused.

Don't get me wrong, goals are essential to achieving both life and business success. But I just feel like the word has become a tool for so many to sell their services, products, or expertise (or lack thereof). I almost feel as though it's a trap for those of you that feel vulnerable, overwhelmed, and stressed.

Unfortunately, being overwhelmed and stressed is a state of mind that you will feel at certain times in your life, month, week, and even daily. It's just a fact. And the struggle of getting on the other side of that emotion is ultimately reframing how you attack it.

Instead of focusing on the goal itself, it's my humble opinion that the key to getting to the goal is the systems you use to get you there. "The goal is the vision, the system is the roadmap".

I have worked long and hard on creating that system. And when I started sharing it with...

Don't want to scare the crap out of you, but have you ever thought about how many computer files are buried on your computer's hard drive?

Most computers today have anywhere from 500GB to 1B of space. Does this mean you have so many files stored on your computer that you probably can't remember where they live?


I would bet you are one of the many that are shaking your head yes.


Life is busy. Or as I like to say "focused." The last thing on your big, fat to-do list is prioritizing and organizing your computer files. Out of sight, out of mind is what I always say and because you cannot physically see or tangibly touch those files, they are forgotten.

Until you want to create that birthday post for your kid and are searching for that one particular photo from kindergarten. An hour or two later, you are still diving deep down that rabbit hole.

What you intended to get done on that particular day is now pushed even further down your to-do list. Frustrated and...

Do you ever experience brain fog?

I was asking because just recently, I was reading an article that said that the average person is processing about 75 GB of information per day. 

That means that the amount of information, entering your space and your brain is equivalent to watching more than 32 hours of television. That's 32 hours in one day. How is that possible? We only have 24 hours in a day.

When you look at it that way, it's no wonder that so many of us are struggling. 

Just the other day I was working with one of my clients who is carving out a completely new path for herself. It's nothing even remotely similar to her previous career (of 20+ years, I might add). She is completely committed to this new lane, but the hoops she has to jump through in order to get this new machine running is a lot for a one-woman show to handle. 

I knew she was overwhelmed - because she told me. So, in trying to help her feel less overwhelmed I realized a few things.

Being...

Do you ever take things for granted?

I certainly do and was reminded of this the other day when a fabulous human in my group, Tech Talk, could not figure out how to share her “Zoom” screen.


Over the past 2 plus years, I bet you have used Zoom over a dozen times. And if you haven’t, I commend you.

When I got off that coaching call, I started thinking about all of those I have worked with over the years and how the majority of them are challenged when it comes to computer stuff.

I can confidently sit here and tell you that that is not me. And not because I am an above-average tech-savant but more so because I am wildly (to a fault) curious. Nothing lights my butt on fire more than figuring something out. Google is my friend and so are those “live chat” options that live in the bottom right corner of most digital platforms and apps.

But that is just me.

And the biggest challenge I see is that most of us can’t figure...