Did You Love Your Trapper Keeper Like I Did?

Hello!

I thought I would post an edition of my newsletter from about a year ago…

Enjoy!

I certainly hope that the beautiful fall weather is inspiring you and motivating you to start on some of those “someday maybe” projects and or thinking through some of the cool ideas that you’ve been having lately…

Autumn always seems to take me back to those “Back to School” days. Even though the holidays are just a few months away, autumn has a way of feeling like a whole new year has just begun. It must be the ingrained school year schedules all through our childhoods and into our adult years that does it. I just loved going out to buy all the various items that I would need for the school year. As much as I loved to shop for clothes and shoes (and still do!), nothing really got me as excited as the prospect of brand new school supplies.

Thankfully, my love of new school supplies is not something that I have outgrown, nor will I ever let myself even consider outgrowing it! There is something about a brand new pen…a new notebook opening up for the first time, just for me. The Care Bear folders and Madonna notebooks have only been replaced with a new pattern or color that I like but with the same effect: the lovely feeling of organization (did you too have a separate color for every class?) and new beginnings (I just knew that a Melrose Place organizer would help me get an A in Statistics).

The lovely part of growing up is that as you get older, “school supplies” just keep getting better and better! Pencil holders (which incidentally, I still use and love) are replaced with a PDA, and who needs glitter pens or colored pencils when nothing says “I’m organized,” like an electronic label maker?

So, indulge your inner child and embrace the “New Year!” Go shopping for your new school supplies! Slowly peruse the “office” and “school supplies” aisle at Target. Bookstores and dollar stores are the goldmines of shiny, new school supplies for all ages.

Just be sure to never skimp on two things – a calendar that works like your brain does (You may notice that you tend to think in “weeks,” like me…Or are you more of a “daily” thinker?) and smaller notepads to leave in various locations to write down thoughts, quotes you like, a grocery list, or a book you want. Buy separate notebooks for separate subjects, just like in high school – one for your ideas on redoing the kitchen, one for ideas on holiday gifts (Real Simple, my all time favorite brand of school supplies, makes a lovely gift ledger), one for your dreams, one for the family to write their vacation ideas, one for the brilliant ideas that you have at work…whatever you’re pondering…whatever subject you are currently studying.

So take on a few new, shiny palettes to inspire some new, shiny thoughts and ideas. Projects and tasks take on a new meaning when they have space and room to breathe…perhaps, some organizing trays or accordion files will help to blossom more ideas if they have a place to be…the fun tasks of getting your new supplies together will probably then motivate you to reorganize or straighten up your work area. In the wise words of my Sociology professor in college, “If your space is messy, your mind is messy.”

On a side note, when relishing in the newness of an unused notebook or journal, go ahead and skip the first couple of pages…you may shy away from writing anything at all without a teacher over your shoulder. The first page can come with an inhibiting pressure to write something profound. When you’re feeling creative you just want it perfect, don’t you?

That’s why you’re such a cool person.

Welcome back! It’s a whole new school year…Give it a try and hit me back with what you get!

I now have a video blog too! Check out my new “vlog,” about how to stop procrastinating at http://www.youtube.com/user/thestresstherapist.

I would love to hear about what’s holding you back or any ideas you would like addressed in my newsletter. Feedback and comments are always welcome. Just shoot me an email at cheri@thestresstherapist.com.

I’ll be in touch, until then:

Let it go, stay pumped, get it done, be you and go get it!

Happy Thoughts,
Cheri