Schedule IT

Schedule IT

When you think about your life, do you think things happen the way they happen or do you plan the way things happen? If you don’t plan your days do they happen the way you hoped? Did you even hope your day would go in any particular way? Do you wake up and say this is my intention for the day? Add a little gratefulness that you have a day to contemplate and make the way you want and then start the day with some intention and momentum!

TimerSAVINGS

Make your plan to be wise in your purchases. Schedule your payments so they are automatically paid timely. Avoiding unnecessary late fees or NSF is a great savings that is nothing more than scheduling your finances. Schedule your expenses and know what you really need to actually survive and what you have as discretionary income. Most of us have some money at the end of the week, however we make decisions during the week that leave us without much to show for it. So each time you spend money, ask yourself, “Will I be happy 3 months from now that I made this purchase or will I even remember it?” Not all purchases need to be memorable, however, too many of them are just made without even thinking.

TimerDIET

Knowing what you are going to eat and when is the best scheduling activity you can do for yourself. Make sure that you eat often, about every 3 hours, but the most important thing is to schedule it. Put a reminder in your phone to ask yourself if you are hungry. Figure out your menu’s and plan for a well-balanced meal each and every time you eat. Of course don’t forget to schedule your exercise daily. Everyday plan to get 30 minutes of exercise. Put a reminder in your calendar and just plan on making it part of your daily routine. You will feel so much better! Do it for stress relief, to make you feel better, whatever you do—don’t do it because you think you need to lose weight!

TimerORGANIZER

You’ve heard it before—if you schedule your time you will get more done, but have you thought about the confidence that you get from being scheduled and sticking to your schedule. It is as if you have a dozen mini goals every day and you achieve them and suddenly your self-confidence improves. Scheduling your time allows you to decide each day—What is important?

 

If you have never been on a schedule try it for a day, then a week, and if you like it and find you get more out of each day keep it up. Break up your day into no more than 2 hour blocks of time and remind yourself to take short 5 minute breaks once an hour. Ironically this will not break your momentum, it will actually give you a boost of making a goal and succeeding!!

Sherri Sue Fisher, author of TimerDIET, TimerORGANIZER, and Coming Soon TimerSAVINGS

Sidetracked

So it is February 1, 2015 and many of you made resolutions or set goals for the New Year and probably many of you got a little sidetracked on those goals and resolutions…why? Isn’t it easier to deal with the critical, the immediate, the in your face issues than it is to work on those issues that would be “nice” to work on but don’t appear to be so critical. But maybe your goals are more critical than you think—they were important enough to make them, weren’t they? Here are some ideas to get you back on track...

TimerDIET

Make Your Menus

Weight loss, whether through diet or exercise changes are number one for New Year’s resolutions and goals, and they are the easiest to get side tracked on. Why? Partly because we don’t manage our time wisely, but probably because we don’t plan for a realistic day. Somehow we think we will have 30 minutes several times a day to make a healthy nutritious meals, an hour and half to run and weight lift and we will never ever be tempted to stray from our plan!? Not true—any of it! Sometimes you will have 1 minute to find something to eat, and you need to be prepared with easy to eat 1 minute meals, and 5 minutes, 15 minutes and if you are really lucky and have an entire 30 minutes then great make something more extravagant. The same with working out—if you can find 20 minute pockets of time to work out you will be further ahead than those who wait until they have an entire hour to hour and a half that they can devote to working out! You can work out several times a day and incorporate other activities into your work out like watching something you normally would do sitting down.

TimerSAVINGS

Get Your Finances Under Control

Getting a handle on your finances in the New Year (especially after the holidays have just ended) can seem futile. But remember it is not where you are that matters as much as where you are headed. You can make changes right now as to where you are going with your finances. Have you gone through all of your monthly expenses to make sure you are in the right product? Unused data, channels you never watch, deductibles you never use, warranties that don’t make sense, magazines you never read…question everything see if you can get a refund or reduce your future monthly spending! Then look at your discretionary spending and see if you feel you are making wise decisions. You should be able to save money and have some for discretionary spending, if not you need to think of ways to increase your ability to make money. There are amazing ideas coming out daily—you probably have one inside you right now!

TimerORGANIZER

Keep Your Plans Sacred!

The master of sidetracking is time management. Keep a piece of paper next to you (computer/app if you must) but every time you realize you have gotten sidetracked—write it down! Right as soon as you notice and then the approximate time spent. At the end of the day, look at your list of things to do that you did not get done and look at your sidetracked list and ask yourself—was this the best use of my time today?

Sherri Sue Fisher author of TimerDIET, TimerORGANIZER, and TimerSAVINGS

®

Free Time

Free Time

How does free time work into your daily life and make you a well-balanced person and affect your weight, daily organization, and monthly savings?

TimerSAVINGS

Sometimes savings does not get enough attention. We think our free time should be spent in front of the TV or spent with friends on a daily basis from sun-down to sun-up. But, maybe if our Free Time was more sacred and thought of more highly we would find ways to make more money and save more money. So think of ways to make money in your Free Time and spend your Free Time doing something that actually brings something of value to you!!

TimerORGANIZER

We have more Free Time than we really think we do. So many times we say “I am so busy” but if you really look at the time you spend you will find that much of our Free Time is spent on things that do not create relaxation, rejuvenate you, or provide you with any of the things you feel you value. What are your values? Is what you are planning on spending your time on what you truly value? Or have you allowed yourself to get sucked into time wasters that have nothing to do with what you value?

TimerDIET

Free Time is important to your ability to lose weight, hands down! If you are constantly stressed then you are going to find it hard to lose weight and keep the weight off.  Life has many facets to it and to omit some free time into your schedule is a recipe for disaster in your weight loss goals! Be sure to include daily exercise into your schedule. Not for weight loss but for stress reduction!! If you feel you are doing something only to lose weight you are more than likely not to do it or you will think you can eat less of something instead. But the benefits of exercise cannot be substituted by eating or drinking less of anything. A 30 minute daily walk is the most ideal way to get your daily exercise.

Sherri Sue Fisher Author of TimerDIET, TimerORGANIZER, and TimerSAVINGS

Sleep

Sleep

So it is still the New Year and many experts are saying “WAKE UP EARLIER” as a way to meet all your goals. But…

TimerDIET®

When it comes to losing weight making sure that you get a good night’s sleep (anywhere from 7-9 hours) is so important to making sure you are ready for the day. Making good food choices, finding the energy to work-out every day, and allowing your body to get the much needed rest for premium weight loss starts with a good night’s sleep. So waking up earlier without going to sleep earlier is going to backfire and not help you in reaching any of your goals! If you are able to go to sleep at 10:00pm and wake up at 6:00am great! But if you can’t get to sleep early enough to get 8 hours of sleep by 6:00am you will need to reassess what time you get up in the morning or when you can get to sleep. Remember that insomnia is not sleeping so if insomnia is a problem you deal with you will want to figure out what the cause is as soon as possible.   Get a good night’s sleep each and every night—it is the number one secret to losing weight!!

TimerORGANIZER™

You may wonder how sleep can affect Organization, but it is crucial. When you have a good night’s sleep you make wiser decisions about your time and you don’t waste time on things that do not matter. When it is time to put away the groceries in a manner that makes it easy to cook or find snacks, or when you are deciding which errands to do today and which to do next week, or what projects to work on and for how long—how much sleep you have had the night before makes all the difference.

Some people use lack of sleep as a way to say they are busy and have so much going on, but getting a good night’s sleep helps you not be so busy; instead you will be productive and make wiser decisions and be able to accomplish so much more!

TimerSAVINGS™

So you may really be wondering how sleep can affect Savings, but you will understand soon!! Infomercials count on you being a little less than awake to want to buy whatever is being sold after midnight! But what about all the decisions that you make daily…whether to work, not work, take on business opportunities, to do what it takes to make more money…there are so many ways that lack of sleep can adversely affect your ability to make money, keep money, and be responsible with your money!

So whether it comes to your weight loss goals, time management, or financial goals your ability to get a good night’s sleep and make wise decisions is paramount! So wake up earlier if you think it will help, but get to bed earlier too!

 Sherri Sue Fisher, author of TimerDIET, TimerORGANIZER, and TimerSAVINGS

Getting Around To It

Getting Around To It

So it is the first week of January 2015 and you are probably already wondering how you are going to get everything done that you thought you wanted to in 2015…does that sound about right? January 1^st came and there was a resounding “I’ll get around to that—soon/tomorrow/next week” Let’s see how Timer® Tips can help.

TimerDIET®

Losing weight can seem daunting if you don’t have a plan and you have no idea how you are going to lose weight or how much weight you should lose. There are a lot of things you need to do before you start losing weight, in fact Chapter 4 of TimerDIET is dedicated just to what you need to do before you start to lose weight. Sometimes we procrastinate because we are just not sure where to start. Fear of failure can set in since we are truly positive we have no idea what we are doing or should do!

Here are the subsections in Chapter 4—Before You Start

• ·         Wardrobe Makeover
• ·         Refrigerator, Freezer, Pantry, and Spice Cabinet Makeover
• ·         Kitchen Makeover
• ·         Cooking
• ·         Nutrients
• ·         Grocery Shopping and Menu Creating
• ·         Journals
• ·         Bad Habits and Vices
• ·         How Did I Get Here?
• ·         Loving Life, Stress, and Giving
• ·         Giving Up One Food
• ·         Goal Setting

Preparation is the most important step (next to action) to get you to where you want to be!

TimerSAVINGS™

Lack of savings affects more than our spending decisions. It can affect our weight, our health, and our joy of life. Savings is not just for a rainy day. Savings allows you to live life without being in constant fear that you may lose a job, a client may leave, or an illness will bankrupt you tomorrow. Sometimes our desire to save money can be so great that we forget to give and that too, can create its own set of problems. We were really meant to spend, save (invest), and give. It helps our psyche! The way we see the world. The way we interact with the world. The amounts are irrelevant, the percentage of our out flow is really what makes a difference. While I think the percentage decision is a very personal one and you will feel it in your gut when you are right and when you are NOT! The most common starting points are 10% of income to giving and savings should be one year’s salary in the bank. Please don’t stress out if you don’t have this in savings, but do what you can to make that your goal this year. You will be surprised when you make savings a goal, along with a giving plan, miracles begin to happen. So do it now, make your plan and work your plan!

TimerORGANIZER™

Are you not so organized or perhaps organized in some areas of your life and not so much in others? Organizing your things so you are not constantly looking for them is just as important as organizing your time so that you can get the most out of each day! Think each day how long will a task really take, try setting your timer and give yourself that exact amount of time to finish the task. You will be surprised that giving yourself only so much time to get something done will actually force you to get it done in a shorter amount of time. Be sure to set aside time at the end of the day to organize your stuff for the following day. Do your best to put in your ‘to-do’ list only what you plan on doing each day. Otherwise you are training yourself to not finish what you put on your ‘to-do’ list. As you go through the day and you realize that your time is not as available as you originally thought, start moving or deleting things from your to-do list. This allows your to-do list to be only those items you currently believe you will finish that day!  

I hope these Timer®Tips help you in Getting Around To It, when it comes to your diet, organization, and savings!

Sherri Sue Fisher author of TimerDIET, TimerORGANIZER, and TimerSAVINGS

New Years Resolutions

New Years Resolutions

So here is comes again, those New Year’s Resolutions that you are so excited to make and even more hopeful to keep, and in the end you find that some of them were just too hard to do every day. It is the Pass/Fail mentality that makes New Year’s Resolutions so doomed that some of us never even make them. Let’s look at changes that can be made throughout the year using Timer®Tips!

TimerORGANIZER™

Wouldn’t it be nice if this was the year that you had everything organized; your time, your projects, your belongings, and most importantly your life! It is possible, if you know what is important to you! What are your values? What do want to accomplish: today, tomorrow, this week, this month, this year, in the next few years, in your lifetime? Is what you are spending your time on right now consistent with what you want to accomplish? If it is then relax and realize that sometimes steps in the right direction are better than lots of action in the wrong direction. If it is not, STOP, step back and decide what is truly important and make adjustments. Remember it is a journey, one that is meant to be looked back on and remembered with joy, even though not every moment may be joyful.

TimerSAVINGS™

The New Year is a good time to define what financial goals you want to achieve during the New Year. Again, this is not a pass/fail situation. It is a life style thing. How do you want your life to look? Is where you are currently working or the business you run bringing in the amount of money that you envisioned during this time in your journey? If not, decide what you can do to get your vision and your reality on the same track. While I don’t think that adhering to a strict budget is the best way to live life, I do believe that you need to know what your basic expenses are that you have to expend each month no matter what and then decide how much you have left over and then divide it up between discretionary spending, savings, and giving. Most people have the goal of spending what they get, and just as the universe would be expected to behave, they spend what they get. You must change your plan or you will have the same as you have in the past and for some that may mean financial struggles.

TimerDIET®

What would New Year’s Resolutions be without looking at our overall health and how we feel about our bodies? It is so important to feel good about how you look and feel and it is even more important to take care of your body so you have the best chance for good health. How do you want your body to look like (really…not society)? Do you have any goals that you can look forward to that can help you get to the weight that you want to get to? It may seem like a good idea to have a buddy or accountability partner but it is not. The reason and motivation to lose weight needs to be yours and not someone else pushing you. If you aren’t sure about my philosophy on Why Diets Do NOT Work, go to my website and request Chapter 2 and have it sent to you free to understand all the problems that “dieting” can create when you really thought you were doing everything right.  

Sherri Sue Fisher author of TimerDIET, TimerORGANIZER, and to be released in Spring 2015 TimerSAVINGS

 

Holidays

Timer® Tips

The Holidays

The holidays can be a fun, magical, eventful, happy time of year…they can also be stressful, guilt ridden, and a financially difficult time of year as well. So here are some great idea’s to get you through the holidays this year.

TimerDIET

Know ahead of time which foods are “not in your best interest” decide ahead of time whether you are going to have one of this or none of this, or maybe two. Just decide ahead of time so you are not caught having to make a decision on the spot. Remember to always eat well-balanced meals throughout the day. So when you do decide to have something that is a little sugary it does not send you off into a tailspin of the Sugar High, which will eventually become the sugar crash.

Remember your drinks during this time of year can also be a source of unnecessary calories and sugar.  Treat sugary drinks just like you would dessert. Make sure you have eaten a well-balanced meal before, during, or right after having a sugary drink. And if you don’t know my stance on sugar substitutes, they are a NO-NO-NO! If you want something that is sweet, regular sugar is the best.

Don’t forget daily exercise and if you are doing a lot of shopping, then you are in luck, all the walking and carrying bags counts!! Just remember to get 30 minutes in everyday!!

TimerORGANIZER

The holidays are a great time to organize your past and get ready for your future. The Christmas decorations are the perfect place to sort through what to keep and what to throw out (or keep in a special place for sentimental reasons). Making room for the upcoming presents by giving away what you and your family no longer use, is also a great holiday tradition to get started with this year. We have many things that we do not use or need, there are others who would make better use of what we do not. So take this time during the holidays to see what you really need and give away what you do not.

Organizing your time is crucial during the holidays. Along with your daily life now you need to add in parties, shopping, and so much more. Take your calendar right now and make sure that everything you can possibly think of is properly written down in your calendar with the exact times and addresses. If the addresses are new to you get directions and save them so that you can easily retrieve them when it is time to go. (I like to email them to myself) Don’t forget to schedule time for you, and/or the family and friends. The holidays are so chaotic that taking in something like a movie or dinner with friends can be just what is needed to get some balance back. Schedule your days the way you want and understand they might not turn out exactly how you had planned, but they have a better chance if you are really specific with your intentions.

TimerSAVINGS

Budget, budget, budget. I cannot stress this enough. Know how much you really want and need to spend on the holidays and don’t forget the little things like the extra tipping, office holiday gifts, additional meals out, a pretty dress for that special party, cooking dinner, decorations. There are a lot of costs that go into the holidays. Having a budget will help you in deciding what is really necessary and what is not. Some families pick names and then buy that one person a really nice set of gifts. Others put a limit on the adult’s gifts and then others try for a more personal touch and make their gifts. (A coupon book of things you will do for another is a great idea for a free gift idea—some have gotten pretty creative with this, like “Giving in on an argument”, “saying I’m sorry when I don’t feel like it”, drawing a bubble bath, and then of course the traditional, “back rub” is always nice. Whatever the gift the thought and sentiment should be what is given and received.

Happy Holidays!!

Sherri Sue Fisher, author of:

TimerDIET 2^nd Edition #7 on Amazon E-books in Health, Fitness & Dieting/Personal Health/Women’s Health—November 10^th 2014

TimerORGANIZER #5 on Amazon E-books in Business & Money/Business Life/Time Management—October 25^th 2014

TimerSAVINGS due out Spring of 2015

Dreams

Timer® Tips Dreams

Today we are talking about dreams, those that we think we should have, those that we want, and those we don’t dare to dream.

TimerDIET

If you have ever dreamt of being a little smaller, a little more fit, or get to the point where food is no longer an issue: I know what it is like to feel like those kind of dreams are just not possible, until one day almost six years ago, I said enough is enough and made a plan to “make it happen” I wasn’t going to take NO for an answer. I knew I could make lasting changes that in the end would get me to my weight loss goals. Now my goals are more of fitness and body muscle. I am in my 50’s and I want to make sure I take care of my body as best I can. I exercise daily and strive to include weight bearing exercises into my routine. I could say that I am too old, it’s not possible, or I could say…every day is another day to make a goal and keep it!! You will feel so much better once you are at your comfort weight!!

TimerORGANIZER

Time is something we all value. Time is money, you have more than likely heard that saying before. In some ways it is more valuable than money. You can always earn more money, but you cannot earn more time. You must be vigilant with your time and be sure not to squander it. Your dreams depend on you accounting for your time in a way that moves you toward your dreams. Do we go through the days dealing with crisis and not tending to the things that could make our dreams come true and minimize the occurrence of crisis? Even if you promised yourself to spend 15 minutes a day working on your dream, do you realize that would be over 90 hours in a year? Try it—schedule 15 minutes each day this week to work on your dream. Figure out what it will take to make it happen!

TimerSAVINGS

This section is dedicated to my step-father who passed away this last week. My mom and he met and married after me and my sisters had all grown up and we had moved out of the house. But, even though he entered our lives much later in life he was very much a part of our family vacations and holidays over the last 30 years. I remember this one vacation/holiday during Christmas in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida when my step-father told my oldest grandson: “Dream big and believe, focus on the yacht and someday it will be yours” My grandson had just mentioned how he would love a yacht someday. It would have been easy to say, ‘oh that will never happen’ or ‘you don’t want a yacht do you?’ But, instead my step-father made my grandson feel his dream had validity and if he really wanted it, it could happen.

When it comes to money be sure to: 1) Spend it on what you need and sometimes on what you want, 2) Save some for peace of mind and the dreams of your future, and 3) Give some to those less fortunate. All of these things need to be done with your money—today! Not tomorrow, not when things get better, not….whatever you are thinking. Do them now and you will feel so much better.

So dream big, make a plan, and make it happen!!

Sherri Sue Fisher, author of:

TimerDIET 2^nd Edition #7 on Amazon E-books in Health, Fitness & Dieting/Personal Health/Women’s Health—November 10^th 2014

TimerORGANIZER #5 on Amazon E-books in Business & Money/Business Life/Time Management—October 25^th 2014

TimerSAVINGS due out Spring of 2015

Stress

Stress

Stress affects most of us to some extent at one time or another in our lives. But, what is STRESS really?

TimerOrganizer

Stress is when your expectations are not Inlign with your reality. It may seem easy to just change your expectations, but that could lead down a path that is not in your best interest. What are your expectations? Are they realistic? If they truly are not realistic then write down what would be a more realistic expectation and see how close to your reality the new expectation is. However, if your expectation is realistic then you need to create a plan on how to make it a reality so that your expectations and your reality are in sync.

Many times we decide it is just easier to reduce our expectations, this can have the effect of not living our full potential and doing what is necessary to live a life that we truly intended to lead. Before you decide that your hopes and dreams are not possible, see what you can do to make them possible with a solid plan with benchmarks along the way.

TimerDiet

When you are working to get down to your ideal weight, stress can wreak havoc with those plans! Daily exercise is a great way to deal with day to day stress that most everyone feels. Make your weight loss goals weekly so you know how you are doing and write down what it is that you eat everyday including what time you ate and how you felt. If you are experiencing a significant amount of stress be sure to write it down and see if you are eating a well-balanced diet each and every time that you eat. Eating a well-balanced diet of dietary fat, protein, and carbohydrates will help reduce stress. Breathe deeply, eat well-balanced meals, daily exercise and you will be doing your best to keep stress from your weight loss goals.

TimerSavings

When it comes to money problems, lack of money is probably the number one stressor in our lives. Relationship problems are only a second because many relationship issues are money related. When finances are in check and the amount of money you have is the amount of money you need, there is rarely cause for stress related to finances. There are various ways to make sure you have enough money to keep the money stressors at bay.  It may seem like spending less money is the primary way of saving money, but so is making more money. Your standard of living is probably the easiest way to keep the money stressors at bay. Most people will find that their ability to increase their ability to make more money comes with an increase in desires to spend more money. If you can balance your desire to spend money with the need to save money you will help stave off the money stressors that affect so many. If you find that you are already too far into the money stressors, do not despair, there are a lot of options and you need to address all of them. 1) Drastically reducing unnecessary spending for everything. 2) Debt restructuring and lastly 3) Insolvency options (various degrees of bankruptcy)

Getting your finances under control is the best way to take control of your life again!

Sherri Sue Fisher, author of TimerDiet and TimerOrganizer and to be released TimerSavings