Are you using your brain to manage your day?  My Toastmaster friend handed me some papers and asked me to submit his work to Toastmasters International for a leadership award. I’ll call him Christopher.

Christopher had met the requirements for his Advanced Leader Bronze award. I am an officer in our club and told him that I would be glad to submit his application.

He was missing some required information

At my desk later I looked over the paperwork and realized that I was missing some information. The application asked for two dates that I did not have.

• The date he had attended a club-officer training program
• The date that he had helped prepare a Club Success Plan.

I have served alongside Christopher as an officer in our Toastmasters club for several years. I knew that he had met his requirements. I was unsure of his dates.

I called and asked for them. He could not remember.  “Can you check your calendar?” I asked. “I don’t use a calendar” he replied.

I was speechless. Continue reading →

It’s been awhile since I posted to this blog. I must confess the gardening bug bit me early in the spring. I have spent every minute of available time working in my gardens. I pulled weeds, moved plants and re-shaped beds. I thought a lot about the similarities between maintaining a garden and maintaining an organized home.

Another Confession

One question that I asked myself was “Why didn’t you do a fall clean-up?” There was another disturbing internal conversation. “You know Karen, weeding is a repetitive task and you teach others how to identify and schedule repetitive tasks. Why didn’t you apply the same advice to the gardening?”

So here goes another confession. I ignored my gardens last fall, except for one small Bearded Iris bed that I created. This neglect resulted in an overgrowth of weeds that was maddening. Not just weeds… I seem to have a love for invasive plants.

They Could Take Over the World

I have a gorgeous blue Rose of Sharon that I have trained as a small tree. It stands about eight feet tall in one of the planting beds and every seed pod that drops sprouts. The wind carries them as well and the little offspring clutter up the entire garden. Continue reading →