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Today, I found myself outside, indulging in one of my absolute favorite activities — picking blueberries. It’s a time when I can truly escape and become immersed in deep thoughts, self-reflection, and the invigorating sensation of breathing in fresh air. However, I must admit, there are moments when I can get carried away and lose track of time, neglecting other important tasks. As a result, I often find myself grappling with a sense of guilt afterwards.

One of the things I hear from so many people is they want to improve their ability to focus. If they just had a distraction free environment, they could get the right things done. Well, I’m writing this from one of those distraction free environments, from one of the booths they have at the airport where you can use it to make video calls and have privacy.

I’m currently reading the book, Die With Zero, by Bill Perkins. This book is a revolutionary game changer that upend our traditional ideas of retirement, later years in life, and even the choices we make right now. He argues that it isn’t necessary to accumulate wealth or save for retirement; instead, we should focus on creating a life of meaning and purpose. The big idea in the book is that we need to die with as close to zero monies as possible at the end of our life.

Have you ever been to a restaurant that has a really big menu? You have lots of choices and options to pick from. As you begin to look through the menu, you’re thinking, “Wow, so many things look good. There’s too many things to choose from.” And then all of a sudden you realize the waiter is standing over you waiting for you to make a decision?

Instagram is the social media platform I use for fun. It’s a chance to connect with people on a more personal level. I do post some thoughts related to my work, but it’s not the primary reason I spend time there. I enjoy seeing what’s going on in the lives of others and celebrating those moments by liking or commenting on their posts or stories.

One of my favorite lead questions when starting a training program or talking with a potential coaching client is, “In your struggle to get it all done, what’s NOT getting done?” While the answers vary greatly, among leaders the responses center around three key areas:

Are you comparing your successes to other peoples and then feeling pressure because you haven’t achieved what someone else has achieved?

Well, you’re not alone.

If I were to ask you about your best technique to wisely manage your time, you would probably share a routine you follow at work or home. You might start listing tactics like “Do the hardest task early in the day,” or “Only check emails three times a day.” I’d be willing to wager you wouldn’t say, “I manage my emotions well.”

If you want to have a more meaningful holiday season, consider creating a “NO” list. Yes, a NO list. It’s a list of things that we Won’t do that will help ensure that you have a more meaningful holiday season.

Here are 3 examples from my NO list that you can feel free to help you start yours.

Unless you leap frog directly from Halloween to Christmas (as most retailers do), you know the next significant event after Veterans Day is Thanksgiving. While I should have an “attitude of gratitude” all year, I find myself feeling much more thankful as I look ahead to these events.

"My life is a lump!" The person on the call was a colleague who was lamenting how their work-life satisfaction had shifted so much in the past few months. She even had the audacity to challenge the three rings model I share in my book, Juggling Elephants (No offense taken). "Being confined to home while I was already working remotely with a global team requiring extended work hours has reduced my life to one ring-WORK!" To be fair, she did also mention that she was grateful to have a job in these uncertain times.

I’ve written in the past about my disdain for the term, “work life balance.” I think there are way better lenses to use to assess the overall health and success of our lives. They include asking questions like:

• What is my purpose and how are my daily choices aligning/not aligning with that purpose?

• What fulfills me? How can I be more intentional in including (or acknowledging) those kinds of activities in my day or week?

• Where am I allowing myself to feel like a victim of my circumstances? What's one small step I could take to exert greater control over my current situation?

• How could I improve my efficiency or effectiveness in one of my roles to create more time for what's most important?

Which scenario sounds more like you?

The Always On. You come home from work (or leave your remote work area), looking forward to some time away, but you continue to check messages throughout the evening. You start the next day feeling like you never really left work at all.

While cleaning off one of my desks I found an insightful article on beating stress from Reader’s Digest. It's a good prescription for beginning the healing process after an elephant you were attempting to juggle has fallen on you. The list also gets you started on preventing them from falling on you again. They include: