Work at Home Productivity Tips –

Following is a tale of misery and suffering, hitting the bottom, and then sinking some more.

And of course redemption.

And one of the best lessons that you could learn early to make 2009 your best year yet. 

Be sure to read to the bottom so you don't miss it.

THE SAD TALE 

Sunday Dec 27, 2008

Starts out with a flurry of excitement about all I am going to accomplish during the week to come, happily getting started on purging my office and enjoying a chance to listen to Brian Tracy, one of my favourite motivational speakers.

Totally pumped about the coming New Year. 

Christmas stress is over, time to move on to my favourite time of the year – the time that I come alive to reflect, renew and jump right into the coming year and all of it's possibilities.

STOP

No I don't. 

Not this year.

This year comes a warm, blowing wind with rain by the buckets.

December 27 marks the beginning of 5 days with no hydro.

Who would have guessed? 

After getting through the cold, the dark, the stunned disbelief… and no coffee in the mornings, the power comes back on!

Yahoo! 

STOP

Unknown to us, not using the drains for 5 days, along with the flash thaw and then flash freeze of -30, our septic pipe is plugged with ice.

4 showers, 2 loads of laundry and 1 load of dishes later, I am watching – with horror – as the water – stinky water that doesn't look like the water I just put down the drain – starts rising UP the drain and filling the kitchen sinks. 

I yell for hubby to tell my daughter to get out of shower and shut off the washing machine and to get up here. He argues with me for a precious minute, having decided to choose the hours before to presume to sit down with a half bottle of rum he bought for New Years Eve. He has never been good in emergencies. (like the time the bear was trying to knock down our back door, he never even woke up. I had to go and scare it away. I've never let him live that one down.)

Eureka! 3 days later, we get the septic fixed. (I should say hubby, father in law, brother in law and son get the septic bed fixed against all odds. Ever try to get tools or service to fix a septic in the middle of winter? I'm in charge of javex. At least it's easy to find.)

SO WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?

I have to ask, why now?

Why on the week that I LIVE FOR every year.

My only favourite holiday.

The week that I was over the top with enthusiasm to move ahead with focus that I have only had one time before. The time when almost the very same thing happened only in a less dramatic way.

I am not sure but I can tell you a few things that I learned from the ordeal.

With no heat, running water, light or hot food, I may as well learn a few lessons, right?

1. Unplugging for awhile does more good than harm.

Granted, I would have preferred a different week, and so would the kids and my husband who all have to go back to work or school tomorrow with hardly a holiday to speak of. But 5 full days with no email, no surfing, no lost hours at the computer where revitalizing in a way that I will be sure to repeat. On my own schedule and a smaller scale. It was like a full scale electronic detox. It was like the good old days when I could relax and be in the moment without running to the computer, or expecting everything to be high speed. I was present for a full week in my life. I recommend it to everyone. Even if for just a weekend per month.

2. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS CONTROL.

Yes, I am screaming it. That was the big lesson I learned the last time this happened, when I was getting ready to launch my first ebook and 'it hit the fan – basically everything I owned broke down over a period of months and I spent so much time dealing with the fiasco that everything I was working on went down the tubes. As a matter of fact, I scrapped my tagline – The Queen of KAOS takes Control. I felt like a liar.

We cannot control our environment. We can only plan and try to be a jump ahead of what ever comes along. Which brings me to the next lesson.

3. Don't give up.

When life throws a curve ball at you… repeatedly… be flexible.There might be another way. The only way you are sunk is if you go down and don't get back up. Despite the misery and disappointment, I still managed to hit a few goals and am starting this week far ahead of last. And I am more determined than ever to achieve what I set out to over the holidays. I will have more on that coming up very soon. I'm working on it :0)

4. And you knew I was going to say… be thankful.

We had unbelievable good luck. My husbands parents had just purchased a generator, there were over 30,000 people out of power, some longer than 5 days. But theirs came back on so we were able to use it. It was still cold and damp – but we had some heat, still dark at 4:30 every afternoon. But we got to run the kettle in between the freezer and I got to save my beta fish Bubba (sometimes I call him Fishy Swass – so do the cats), who was on his last legs – or should I say fins – when we were able to plug his fish tank heater in.

And we got to go to my inlaws house for showers, the girls stayed there a few of the colder nights, and we had the best dinner that I've had in a long time. All in all, we were in a good place, much, much better than it could have been. And I'm sure there were lots of others who would have gladly traded us. 

And my husband was home to take care of the guy stuff. Last time the power went out for 7 days, he was away working.  Not sure if he is glad, but I am :0)

It's not an experience that I would repeat any time soon if I have a choice, but we have come out the other side with a clean office, further decluttered kitchen and I am so rarin' to go that I can't see me running out of steam any time soon.

One more thing.

5. Streamline like your life depends on it. It does.

One thing that became glaringly obvious as my usual routine was stripped to the bare necessities the importance and worth of doing less. So many of the things I often spend my time on simply were not an option and I really started to see what was important to me. What I missed doing. What I wanted to be doing. How much of my time I spend doing things that I don't want to do.

Guess what. The world didn't fall apart. I figure that if I can take a whole week off by necessity with no major reprocutions, I can start taking more time to do the things that are truly important to me on a more regular basis.

Bet on it. 

That is probably the biggest and best lesson of all.

Sit down and take a good look at the noise and make a big effort to quieten it by getting rid of what ever you can.

BEST LESSON FOR 2009? 

If you can't make the time… TAKE IT… to live your life your way.

It may take some guts and it may mean a change. It's your life.

There has never been a better time than now to clean it up. 

If you are feeling like the life that you want to live is passing you by, what can you do?

Get off the computer right now. Go sit in your favourite place and think about it.

Then take one step forward to living your own life by taking action. Do the first thing. 

HINT: The first step forward will probably involve removing something that you don't want to make room for what you do. 

Taking the first step will set the wheels in motion 100x better than reading any more goal setting or self help articles today, tomorrow or next week.

Trust me. 

Wishing you all the best in 2009!

THIS JUST IN! 

With perfect timing, my mother in law just sent me this video.

Nick Vujicic is a real inspiration.

A must watch to start the new year if you are considering for even a second that your challenges are holding you back.

NOTE: This isn't a wishy washy feel good video. It's a real life example of winning and being happy against the odds by using the power that is within each of us if we choose. 

BORN TO WIN