This event is completely free and even if you can’t attend, make sure you sign up for the free audio files and our downloadable 2008 TeleSummit Workbook.

The NAWW 2008 Telesummit features:

(1)  Sandy Grayson on Secrets to Getting Celebrity Endorsements–How To Get Fabulous Celebrity Endorsements for Your Business, Your Book and Your Products

(2)  Sheila Bender on Hire Your Very Own Journal Keeper for Expanding Your Creative Voice

(3)  Larina Kase on Standing Ovation–How to Own the Platform

(4)  Renée L. Duff, Esq. on Copyright And Your Creativity

(5)  Linda Joy Myers on Creating Your Memoir

(6)  Marcia Yudkin on Creativity on Call–Become a More Productive Writer

To register for this event, please visit www.nawwtelesummit.com.  Once you register, you’ll also receive their free workbook that features
great handouts and information from the speakers.

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Do you know what I mean?  I’m talking about looking critically at your space, possessions, and commitments to see what’s working, what no longer fits, what you’re holding onto that sucks your time and energy and – I’ll be blunt - needs to be cut out of your life.

I’d done the requisite purging prior to moving, but the new place is a lot lighter on storage than my other home.  While I’m impatient to get everything out of the boxes and away, I made myself do an assessment first.  I could add more storage, which was tempting.  But that’s like putting a BandAid on a festering wound.  You might slow the bleeding temporarily, but eventually it has to be treated.

This is the beginning of a new phase in my life, and organizing my space to reflect my new lifestyle felt even more important than it had during my prior 6 moves in 8 years!  Grown kids, a lower maintenance home, the desire to travel more and work virtually means a lot of things I’d held onto just didn’t fit.  Saying goodbye to some of them was hard, but I reminded myself what I tell my clients:  Anticipate the fun that’s ahead, because you’re clearing the way for your highest intentions to manifest!

The point is this:  A life transition is a sure fire way to motivate you to triage.  But you can – and should – do it more often.  First, make a list of what’s really important to you, like family & friends, community, work, hobbies, a dream of starting a business or changing careers.   Then evaluate all the stuff you’ve been holding onto in terms of your list.  Are you draining energy away from what you say is important because you’re still burdened with things and commitments that no longer serve you?  What’s that costing you?

Painful as it might be, organizational triage will guarantee you a super speedy recovery from chaos and help you feel more confident in every area of your life.

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Paper accounts for more than half of all trash. REDUCE paper waste by sending only exactly what you need to the printer. An easy way to accomplish this is to highlight what you need, then check the box called “print selection.” You can also specify a page number or range. Microsoft Word allows you to easily print two (or more) reduced-size pages on a single sheet.

Printing only the key information will also help you simplify clutter, and avoid searching through reams of repeated email signatures and other useless text. If you’re printing directly from the Internet, don’t copy ads, unnecessary photos and banners you don’t need.

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It’s a tough time to sell a house. Some analysts are calling today’s real estate market the most troubling they’ve seen since the Great Depression.

Experts have predicted that early 2008 sales will be down more than 40% from their peak of a few years ago. Moody’s Economy.com says many metro areas will see home prices plummet by 20 percent or more during this painful downturn, while the national median price for single-family homes will lose 13% in the period until early 2009.

But what if you really need to sell your home … right now? Whether because of the need to relocate for a new job, or to fit a growing family, what if you can’t afford to wait until the market improves?

The good news is you can gain a leg up on the other houses for sale in your price range by making smart and quick eco-renovations. These green remodeling ideas can help you slash your monthly energy bills, reduce your water usage, clean up your indoor air quality, and leave the planet a better place. And make your home stand out from all of the rest.

“Home buyers are looking for added value in every purchase they are making. They either want an awesome price or extras — such as those extras found in a more energy-efficient house.”
Anderson Homes, a builder in North Carolina’s Triangle, has found that sales have been brisker than average for its models designed to be 30% more energy efficient than standard homes.

Here are ways to make your house stand out from the rest by going green:

Wow Buyers with Energy Efficiency

Home utility bills have seen double-digit growth in the past few years, spurred by record-high oil and gas prices and water shortages. “That means if you can show lowered utility bills to potential buyers, it makes a big difference in today’s market,” explains Kerry Mitchell, the president and founder of Green Real Estate Education, and a real estate broker with more than 14 years of experience in Maryland and Florida.
The key is to make improvements to your home’s energy efficiency, and document how the monthly bills change over time. Highlight the savings to your broker and any potential buyers, and provide comparisons to typical bills for similar-sized houses in your region (call your utility for details or visit the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration at eia.doe.gov).

Small Steps Add Up

So, how do you get started? It may sound trite now, but Mitchell says the first thing you should do is to replace as many lightbulbs as you can with CFLs (compact fluorescents). CFLs use a quarter of the electricity as regular bulbs, and lighting accounts for 20% of home energy use.

Upgrade Your “Energy Hog” Appliances

The next step is to upgrade any old or questionable appliances with new Energy Star-certified models. “There is a definite payoff with Energy Star,” says Mitchell. The EPA’s blue and white label indicates models must be 10% to 50% more efficient than standard offerings. It’s also a good idea to install a programmable thermostat and motion detectors, suggests Mitchell.

Insulation Can Be a Selling Point

Make sure cracks are tightly caulked and leaks are sealed. Just doing that can drop your annual heating bill by $100, according to Department of Energy figures. Also consider if your insulation might need beefing up.

Going Healthy Sells

Another potentially untapped market is to capitalize on making your home as healthy a space as possible. There are many people with allergies, asthma, chemical sensitivities and so on who consider top indoor air quality a necessity. In addition, more and more people are interested in cutting down on their exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

So putting on a fresh coat of the new and now-widely available “low-VOC” paints can go a long way toward attracting buyers, says Mitchell. “It gives Realtors something to market,” she says.

You’ll also want to deal with what’s underfoot. Old carpets can be a real turnoff, and can emit allergens and toxins. Exposing any hardwood floors is a good way to bring out your home’s beauty and value, but if you don’t have that option consider new, eco-friendly carpeting.

Any opportunities you have to replace polyvinyl chloride (PVC) will also improve indoor air quality, since the plastic is known to off-gas fumes. It may be present in flooring, shower curtains, plastic board material and more.

If your home is older, you’ll want to assess the effects of possible lead paint and asbestos — issues much better left to qualified professionals.

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Once you’ve cleared your desk, choose the priority projects for the next day and position them right in the center of your desk before you leave. You’ll be ready to hit the ground running the next day with absolute focus.

Starting each day with a clear, uncluttered desk will not only clear your mind but give your energy and productivity a real boost.

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So many of us (myself included!) tend to rely on fast food from time to time – filled with preservatives, additives, fat, salt and high-fructose corn syrup. We scarf it down while on the run, or at our desks and in our cars.

Try the slow food movement by planning one slow food meal for you and your family this week. If cooking from scratch isn’t your thing, a slow food picnic or simple meal (think artisanal cheeses and meats, locally baked breads, and local produce).

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1. Never keep exercise equipment in the bedroom.
2. Don’t use the bedroom as an office. There should be no desk or work related papers, computers, phones, or electronics anywhere. Set up a special study area or room for your children rather than having a desk in their bedroom.
3. Keep your dirty clothes in a laundry hamper. Dirty clothes possess “yin” energy (stagnation, staleness, fatigue) and this will permeate your space very quickly.
4. Don’t store items under, over, or beside the bed. Keep the bed linens clean at all times.
5. Keep windows clear of clutter and open drapes or blinds periodically to let in the light. Morning sunlight in particular brings good energy flooding into a room.

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To quickly handle nitty gritties, set aside a block of time just for this purpose. Go through each paper and decide to decide! There are 4 things you can do with paper:

• Read it
• Act on it
• File it
• Toss it

I developed the RAFT paper system to help keep you right on top of the paper wave with ease.

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People always ask: How can I tell if a food is green? There’s a quick trick lots of folks are talking about today. Ask yourself, “Would my grandmother (or for some of us, great-grandmother) recognize this thing as actual food?”

This step is about giving your health a boost by avoiding products that your grandmother would not recognize as food. Sure Nana knew what the heck chicken was, but would she have recognized nuggets of poultry bits infused with chickeny flavor? She may have enjoyed a bit of farm-fresh cheese, but would she recognize a block of yellow dairylike stuff intended to be nuked into a second life of dip?

Would anything in a plastic tube be considered food by grandmère?

Also, If Granny wouldn’t be able to understand the majority of words on the ingredients list, you’re probably dealing with a processed, artificially sweetened, foodlike product. High in fat, calories and chemicals, these substances (they’re not really food, after all) are increasingly linked to our growing levels of disease and our nation’s obesity epidemic. Some processing actually depletes naturally nutritious fruits and vegetables of their farm-grown goodness.

So think non-processed foods that your grandmother would recognize and consider safe to eat. Focus on organic meats from humanely raised animals instead of factory-made fun shapes of meat parts. Top your locally baked bread with butter or olive oil, instead of a spoonful of whipped flavored chemicals from a tub. Opt for natural snack foods (nuts, fruit, real yogurt) instead of science projects. Nana would be proud.

Oh, and portions should be reasonable too. Grandma didn’t chug Big Gulps or measure her sandwiches by the foot.

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