Friday Reads: Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin (& My 2016 Goals)

Wow, what a week. First, before I get into today's reading pick, I just want to say a big thank you to all of you who have bought, read, posted about, and/or reviewed OFF THE CLOCK this week. I appreciate all the book love so much! And I'm thrilled that so many of you are enjoying it! I'm really excited to continue the series, and hearing your thoughts on who you're hoping to see in future books and such really gets me jazzed up. And for those asking, the next book is going to be about...Lane! :) I start on his story next and I can't wait. And if you haven't gotten your copy yet? What are you waiting for? ;)

BUY THE BOOK:  Amazon  | Barnes and Noble |Books-A-Million |Indie Bound |The Book Depository 

BUY THE EBOOK: Nook | Kindle  | Kobo | iBooks | Google Play

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Friday Reads

Okay, so onto today's reading pick. I know that not everyone is a New Year, New Start kind of person. My husband definitely isn't. He thinks it's silly to start something because of a particular point in the calendar. "Just start when you want to start." BUT, I am a person that gets that big sigh of ahh... at the beginning of the year. It's a physical and mental sense of having a fresh start, of renewal, and of all this exciting possibility ahead.

And though this year I thankfully don't have to do the official start-a-diet thing because I've been on the wagon with that since fall and am sticking to it, I do have other goals for the year. The main ones being: Less stress. More intention. More joy.

This last year was a crazy busy one. I said yes to too much and ended up feeling burnt out by October. Writing became a slog, my story was fighting me, I was dreading getting to my desk. That is no bueno. I have my dream job. I don't want to work myself into a rut. I LOVE writing. I don't want to lose the joy of that.

So this year, my main action item is to be much more intentional and structured about my time. I'm going to use my fancy new planner (more on that in another post where I have room to fangirl about my planner. :) ) I am going to block off writing time and turn off the internet during that time. (I need a digital detox in general.) And I'm going to say no to things that will crunch my time too much. 

And all of those things require one thing--forming new habits, which is where today's Friday Reads pick comes in. See? I was getting to the point. Eventually. :)

I've been a fan of Gretchen Rubin's work since The Happiness Project. I like her anecdotal and chatty style and how she breaks down big concepts like happiness and, now, habits.

Better than Before is a quick read and will give you insight into how your personality plays into how you form habits. There are Four Tendencies (of personality) that explain a whole lot. You can read more about the four tendencies on her blog. But I've discovered that I'm an Upholder, meaning I respond readily to inner and outer expectations.

October 2016 Update: I have discovered I've fooled myself with the Upholder thing. Turns out, I'm a Rebel, lol. I figured it out after taking her quiz and listening to her podcasts. Rebels are those who resist inner and outer expectations. 

So though I love, love, love my planner, I have to be careful about writing things down on my To Do list too far ahead because then it feels like an obligation and I want to rebel. I'm doing better tackling my plan at the beginning of each day to determine what I "feel" like doing most and in what order I feel like doing it in. 

There's a lot more in the book about different aspects of your personality and how that fits into habits, so I highly recommend you check it you if you're trying to start some new habits this year. 

About the book:

The author of the blockbuster New York Times bestsellers, The Happiness Project and Happier at Home, tackles the critical question: How do we change? 

Gretchen Rubin's answer: through habits. Habits are the invisible architecture of everyday life. It takes work to make a habit, but once that habit is set, we can harness the energy of habits to build happier, stronger, more productive lives.

So if habits are a key to change, then what we really need to know is: How do we change our habits?

Better than Before answers that question. It presents a practical, concrete framework to allow readers to understand their habits—and to change them for good. Infused with Rubin’s compelling voice, rigorous research, and easy humor, and packed with vivid stories of lives transformed, Better than Before explains the (sometimes counter-intuitive) core principles of habit formation. 

Along the way, Rubin uses herself as guinea pig, tests her theories on family and friends, and answers readers’ most pressing questions—oddly, questions that other writers and researchers tend to ignore: 

• Why do I find it tough to create a habit for something I love to do? 

• Sometimes I can change a habit overnight, and sometimes I can’t change a habit, no matter how hard I try. Why? 

• How quickly can I change a habit? 

• What can I do to make sure I stick to a new habit? 

• How can I help someone else change a habit? 

• Why can I keep habits that benefit others, but can’t make habits that are just for me? 

Whether readers want to get more sleep, stop checking their devices, maintain a healthy weight, or finish an important project, habits make change possible. Reading just a few chapters of Better Than Before will make readers eager to start work on their own habits—even before they’ve finished the book.

BONUS FRIDAY PICK:

In addition to Better Than Before, I've also gone through this workbook this week -- Your Best Year by Lisa Jacobs. This is more geared to those who are running a small business or blog or writers like me. But I found it helpful in setting up goals for the year and for looking back at 2015 and analyzing what worked and what didn't. The link is to the paperback, but you can also go directly to her site and pay for a download and print it out yourself to fill out, which is what I did.

 

Reminder:

If you haven't gotten your FREE reading journal (especially designed for romance readers) for the new year, be sure to sign up for my updates. The printable journal will come to your inbox after sign up. :) Click the banner at the top or click here to sign up.

So have you set any goals for 2016? Has anyone read either of these? 

Friday Reads: An Organizing Book For the Right Brainers & Visual Learners

So at the beginning of the school year, I get that same new year feeling I get when January rolls around, that feeling of a fresh start. And with that usually comes a focus on my two regular challenges: diet/exercise and organizing.

I'm back on track with the diet thing and have even started a private Facebook group called the Healthy Habit Exchange if you want to come join us and share tips and encouragement.

Request an invite here.

But I've also started working on the organizing thing again. Last year I did a big purge in my house when we remodeled, going with the minimalist mentality. So too much stuff isn't my problem this year. However, organizing my schedule and not forgetting things is an ongoing challenge. I've discovered that a lot of my issues come from the fact that I'm a visual person and pretty right-brained. Organizational apps and calendars on my phone are pretty useless for me. Unless I see it right it front of me all spread out and big picture, it's forgotten the minute I type something in. And yes, I can set up reminders but that doesn't help me see the overall view of what my week or month is looking like relative to everything else.

So I've gone to a paper planner and have made it like an art project, which is feeding my creative brain and tricking me into writing everything down because it's fun. Isn't is pretty? This is the

Happy Planner

from Create 365 if you're interested. It's very, very nice and worth every bit of the twenty-five dollars it costs. There are

other designs

besides this one as well.

But while I was poking around on Pinterest for planner stuff, I came across a few articles about how to organize for the ADHD brain. I clicked on them and was like--wow, this is so me. Now, I'm not ADHD. The list of symptoms doesn't fit me. BUT I definitely suffer from hyperfocus, especially when I'm writing, and that means all these other things get forgotten or dropped. And the strategies that work for people with ADHD totally click with how my brain works when it comes to organizing. It was an a-ha moment, honestly.

So with more research, I found this book:

Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD

. It was recommended on a few sites and most said--ignore the fact that it's aimed at those with ADHD, these tips can help a lot of people who have struggled with traditional left-brained organizing techniques.

Those recommendations were right on. I found this book so helpful. And more than once thinking--yes, this! Like, for instance, putting things in nice covered bins or boxes never works for me. Once it's out of sight or under a stack, it's dead to me. I will never remember what's in there and I won't go digging through it. And if things get stored in the back of my pantry, I may as well throw them away. If I can't see them, they no longer exist.

There's a lot more than just putting things in sight in the book. It's a quick read with lots of pictures and a ton of great tips. Some are on the extreme side (like only having one towel per family member), but there's way more good stuff to takeaway than stuff that didn't resonate with me. And it plays into the minimalist mentality as well. So if you're looking for something that's going to tell you how to organize a tone of STUFF, this isn't the right book unless you're willing to purge.

So anyway, though I usually reserve Friday Reads for fiction, I thought I'd pass this along since I know there are a lot of right-brainers (or those with ADHD) out there who maybe could use these tips too. If you're highly left-brained, this book will probably give you hives though. So be warned, lol. 

Check out the book:

Amazon

|

B&N

So are you left-brained or right-brained? Anyone else in love with their paper planner?

*Note: I have not been asked to endorse any of these products, but the links are affiliate links.

New Year's Resolutions and Why I Can't Resist

Photo courtesy Flickr Commons

Happy New Year, everyone! It’s that time of year again. The time when all the segments on morning TV switch from Buy this gift, bake this delicious thing, eat all the food! to Lose weight! Declutter! Save your money! Quit <insert bad habit>!  We’re a predictable bunch, aren’t we? 

And generally, I have an against-the-grain nature and resist outside forces telling me what and how I should do something. But I have to confess, I am such a sucker for the New Year’s Resolution thing. I set goals throughout the year and make changes along the way. But there’s something so appealing about a new year and getting things back in line--a fresh start after the chaos of the holidays. So even though I know I’m giving in to the hype, I do it anyway. :-)

Here are my resolutions for this year: 

1. Back to real food – During the year, I *generally* eat healthy as long as I’m cooking at home. But when deadlines get crunched (as they do) and life gets chaotic (as it does), I often fall back to what’s quick and easy for the family (fast food and convenient processed stuff.) And once that starts, it’s easy to fall into that pattern again. So I want to get back to focusing on real food and have it not be about dieting or weight. (And if I lose inspiration, I need to read In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan again, lol.)
2. Realistic minimalism – So I love reading blogs about minimalism (living with only the things you need and the things that enrich your life.) However, I have no aspirations to go bare bones minimalist. I have a 7 year-old and a husband and I love my office full of books. I want my home to look like people live here. However, I do like the idea of not holding onto anything that isn’t useful, beautiful, or that makes me happy in some way (books!). Over the last year, we’ve redecorated our house to be a lot more calm/modern (no knick knacks, simpler furniture, etc.) and I’ve ditched probably half the things/clothes/stuff/junk we used to have. It’s a work in progress though, so I’ve been doing my New Year’s purge of closets over the last few days. And I want to continue paring down/buying less in 2015 as well.
3. Finding Zen – I have my dream job. I’m a writer and wouldn’t want to be anything else. But even dream jobs have stress. I write a lot, have a lot of deadlines, and I have a 7-yr old with some special needs. And I’m not exactly a Type B personality; so many times in the year I get to the hair-pulling, teeth-gnashing stage. But because of that, this past year, I got sick A LOT—colds, shingles, viruses, strep, etc. All that stress was taking its toll. So I’m vowing to be more Zen this year. Being stressed won’t help me get anything done any faster. This will probably be my hardest one to keep.

So that’s what I’m aiming for. How about you? Are you a resolution setter or do you resist the hype? What are some of your resolutions?

And don’t forget, Colby is going to be here in less than a week! NOTHING BETWEEN US is out Jan. 6^th in the U.S. (UK Readers, it’s out today!) Go pre-order your copy and I’ll <3 you forever. ;)

Pre-order: 

PRE-ORDER THE BOOK (available in ebook and print - print has a bonus short story)

Nook

Kindle | Kindle UK | Kindle Canada

Kobo

Apple/iTunes

Google Play

Happily Drowning in Words

Sculpture: Overflow by Jaime Plensa -- Photo by Roni Loren

This is a sculpture I saw at the New Orleans Museum of Art's Sculpture Garden. And it totally represents how I feel right now while I'm writing Pike's book and working on edits for THREE other books. Oh, and getting ready for RWA Nationals next week. Words, words, everywhere. 

How is your week looking?

Hubs and Kermit - Why I Shouldn't Leave Them Alone Together

  

 

This weekend I had a book signing and a conference. Friday night at the signing, hubs and kidlet brought me over and were going to go see the Muppets movie while I did my thing. Kidlet brought along his Kermit doll. And that may have been a mistake because my husband plus a muppet plus a camera phone are a bad combination. This is what I got texted to me throughout the signing.

Here's me being, yanno, professional and stuff (well, mostly):

Thanks to author Angi Morgan for the pic!

Here's what is popping up on my phone:

  

Hitchiking on the escalator

Well, okay, he does date a pig.

So yeah. Poor Kermie.

What's the funniest photo on your phone?