kate mats

There is a well known philosophy around time management that uses the analogy of filling up a beach bucket–it goes something like this:

Image by Susie Underwood via FlickrSecond, the smaller rocks and pebbles

First, put in the large big rocks
Second, the smaller rocks and pebbles
Then the sand
And finally, fill up the rest of the bucket with [...]

Most productivity blogs, books, seminars that I have encountered recommend getting up earlier as a means to getting more done each day.
In the past I have always been a bit of a night owl (I hate waking up and can hardly be described as a morning person) but I have discovered that working out and [...]

Everyone has a few areas where they need to improve.  Most people (the learners anyway) who continue to look for ways to improve will find that these areas change over time.  At times it will be things like communication, other times it may be knowledge or trade skills, and all the while you keep improving [...]

It is nearing the end of January (kind of scary really) and I haven’t had hardly any time this month to make much progress on anything.
While I was on vacation in Mexico I ate and drank constantly.  I think I honestly ate as much each day as I normally eat in two days.  The indulgence [...]

I love New Years resolutions.  Some people think they are silly useless things, but I love them. I think self improvement is so important, and everyone should always strive to better themselves and improve.  New Years is like a fresh start a chace to really wipe your slate clean and start all over.  Afterall, everyone [...]

Recently I started taking the bus to work. I did this for two reasons, one is that I lost my parking benefit at work, and the second was that I thought it would be a good way to help the environment (and save money).  When I lived downtown I used to ride the bus everywhere [...]

This weekend was really busy–on Friday we had an impromptu dinner party where we grilled burgers and had a great orzo salad.  It had olives, toasted pine nuts, broccoli spears, artichoke hearts, and feta cheese.  I am going to get the recipe and post it in the comments.  I also made a great blackberry crumble–it [...]

I decided next month I am going to start taking the bus to work.  Normally this hasn’t been an option in the past because my hours were too long.  However, as I am going on vacation next month (yay!) it just wouldn’t make sense to pay for a whole month of parking.  This gives me [...]

I was having lunch with a friend of mine today and he was really down. Admittedly he had good reason to be down as the chips hadn’t really fallen in his favor. He had been moody and grumpy and was just generally upset about the situation he had found himself. Of course [...]

If you write a to do list and you check things off, kudos that is a great habit! However, I recently discovered a way to make it better.
I have begun to see that I have too little time to do and accomplish everything I want to do. I feel like there is so much [...]