Sometimes You Need a Coach, Part 1 of 3

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One of my dear friends (and co-author of Organizing From the Heart) is also a certified master Christian life coach. Earlier this year I asked if I could schedule a time with her to work through the idea of keeping projects--and a busy life--in more order.

Yes, I've written a book about time management as well as written on other topics related to being organized. But this is a journey for me. Seasons change and so does life. I find myself in a season of cultivating a life that is like a tree--one life, with several different, yet complimentary limbs and branches. Sometimes though, the branches run into each other and get tangled up in my mind and I needed some help untangling.

My husband often acts as a helpful coach to me, too, so I am blessed to have people close to me to whom I can turn to "think out loud" with.

My time with Stephanie turned into about a three-hour discussion, where she asked a lot of the right questions. A good coach actually helps YOU discover the answers and needed action points to move forward on the challenges that face you.

We had fun together. Yes, fun. It was need to feel the "light bulb" going on and getting clarification about expectations, schedule, etc.

I thought it might be fun to share with our readers three main takeaways I got from the experience that are very practical in nature. These takeaways uniquely fit MY life. You may not get the exact same conclusions if you talk with a coach.

Takeaway 1: Understand the difference between the types of writing I do

As a writer, I have a LOT of material in my files that can be enhanced and repurposed into blog posts, articles and books. Sometimes it's overwhelming to know what to reach for in that (yes) clutter. This session helped me define my writing as "Compilation" or "Creative."

Compilation writing is effort spent on "compiling" or gathering work from material already written, and molding it into blog posts or a book. In general, compiling work happens best when I am sitting at a desktop because it involves cutting and pasting or moving things from one place to another. That's hard to do on a smaller piece of equipment such as my iPad, plus my files are not all on the cloud.

Creative writing, refers to new or being edited, posts sand projects. This type of work is best done in an environment outside my home. So I decided I needed to have a  "Writers' Block" appointment with myself at a favorite coffee shop (I have about three of them so far) at least twice a month for at least an hour, preferably two. That's when I gather my iPad, keyboard, and inspirational, artistic bag (see photo) and hammer out the new stuff with minimum distraction.

Next week, I'll share another takeaway from this coaching session!

In the meantime, if you'd like to explore what it means to be coached by someone to help you reach a goal, determine direction, or make some needed changes, I recommend you visit Stephanie via her site, www.lifeinabundance.com. She's not limited to in-person or in-state coaching!

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