Tag Archives: My Diary

Oct 4 2012
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15 Time Management Tips to Get It Done!

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Good Morning Everyone. Last Tuesday I shared a post with my top time management tips and the response by My Diary Entry readers has been both amazing and encouraging.  I am not going to lie, sometimes I get so discouraged by everything that I have to do in one day because I just don’t feel like there are enough hours in one day to get everything done.  However, I am trying to do my best.  I can’t be too discouraged because a lot of my workload is self inflicted, sometimes I take on too many tasks.  I am trying to finish my first book while still trying to produce great content for my freelance employers and still be a somewhat productive employee at my 9 to 5 job.

The response on Twitter and Facebook by My Diary Entry readers has been wonderful. It’s comforting to know that other young professionals who have aspirations to get more out of life are experiencing the same struggles.  It’s comforting to know that I am not crazy and that being extremely busy is just a part of working towards my personal goals.

One of the readers who reached out to me is Jones Loflin.  Jones Loflin is a speaker, trainer and author who helps others get the right things done at work and in life.  You can follow him on Twitter @jonesloflin.

Here are 15 Proven Time Management Strategies from Jones Loflin

1. Identify The Pain (i.e. the source of the problem).

2. Change Your Daily Routine.

3. Live In A State of Perpetual Prioritization.

4. Develop Periods of Focused Intensity.

5. Single Task When Possible.

6. Get The Tasks and Stress Off Your Mind.

7. Make Quick Decisions About How to Best Use A Short Period Of Time.

8. Use The Four D’s to Handle Any Incoming Possibility (delete, delegate, delay, and do).

9. Map It Out in Your Mind.

10. Be Clear About What Constitutes “Done”.

11. Minimize Procrastination.

12. Survive the E-Mail Tsunami (i.e. Manage Your Emails).

13. Stop With the “Victim Mentality”.

14. Insulate Your Schedule (i.e. Give Yourself Some Extra Time).

15. Plan For All 3 Areas of Your Life (Work, Relationships, Yourself).

Love Always.

Photo by kim carpenter

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Sep 13 2012
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Waking Up From a Bad Dream

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Me with my younger sister Tara Marie

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night in a panicked sweat. I had a very bad dream about my younger sister Tara Marie and afterwards I couldn’t fall back asleep.  My sister Tara Marie and I haven’t been close since my family’s breakup almost two years ago. Actually that is not even true, Tara Marie and I have never really been very close, but over the last two years we have definitely drifted even further apart.

There are probably a number of reasons why my sister Tara Marie and I are not close which include my jealously towards her, the fact that I was a really awful older sister when we were growing up (I’m actually still not a great older sister) as well as the fact that we lived in separate households when my parents got divorced.  However just because we aren’t close doesn’t mean that I don’t care about her, it also doesn’t mean that I want anything bad to happen to her; it just means that sometimes it’s easier for two people to be apart than it is for them to be together.

When I woke up from my bad dream I immediately wanted to call my sister and then I realized that I don’t even have her phone number. I am sure that this is not normal, but unfortunately this is just how it is. Since I don’t have Tara Marie’s phone number I decided to write her an email to check in with her, make sure that everything was ok, and be assured that my bad dream was really just a dream.

I wanted to send Tara Marie an email and write all of the things that I cannot say, I wanted to tell my sister that I miss her every single day, I wanted to tell her that I wish we had a different childhood, I also wanted to tell her that I wish that we had a different relationship now that we are both adults, but I didn’t.  Too much time has gone by and so many things have not been said over the years that I am not even sure if our relationship can be repaired.

I don’t want to live with regrets, but how can I fix a relationship with my sister that has practically taken a lifetime to ruin?

Love Always,

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Apr 3 2012
2 replies

I am So Over It.

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Dear Diary,

This is a rant. I am sorry to ruin your happy day, but I have a lot of angry emotions boiling up inside of me.  I can’t think of another way to release my tension other than ranting about it.

Do you ever have one of those days when it seems like nothing, absolutely nothing, is going right? Do you ever spend hours planning something and then it doesn’t go exactly as you wanted it to? Well I am having one of those days, weeks, and maybe even months. I am so over not being able to communicate with people, I am so over feeling sad, I am so over having regrets, and I am definitely so over being constrained.

I live in a province where the primary language is not my mother tongue. I have lived here for over 10 years and although I do consider myself to be bilingual my second language will never become my mother tongue.  I want to live somewhere where I can understand everything that everyone is saying all the time, I want to live somewhere where I don’t have to translate everything, and I don’t want to be somewhere where I am forced to speak a language that I absolutely do not want to.

I am so over fighting with my Dad.  I will never forgive him for the mistake he made a year and a half ago when his Girlfriend violently attacked me, and I will never forgive him for not trying to correct the situation and bring our family back together over the last 18 months. I don’t want to live a life where every conversation that I have with my Dad ends up in a fight, but unfortunately that is currently the life I am stuck in.

I miss my friend Kevin every day and I have so many regrets about our friendship.  Kevin was always there for me and he was the first real friend that I made when I moved to Montreal. I regret the wrong choices I have made, I regret not supporting him more during his illness, and I absolutely regret not calling him on the day that I was supposed to.  If I had not been so absorbed in my own little world I would have remembered to call Kevin when I was supposed to, and I would have had a chance to speak with him one last time before he passed away.  Living in a hospital must be lonely and I should have visited him more often than I did.  I let my own fears overcome Kevin’s need for companionship; and I regret that I was not a better friend to him.

There are so many things that I want to do and so many places that I want to go but I don’t do them or go there because I feel constricted by my life.  I always have to be the responsible person and this makes me feel like I am living in a bubble. I know that being responsible is a part of being an adult, but seriously I am so over paying bills, paying rent, and living in a routine.

I want to move to New York City but I am constrained by my financial obligations in Canada as well as the US immigration laws.  I want to finish writing my books, find an agent, and have the trilogy published because writing is my real passion; but I just don’t have enough free time to work on them.  I work a lot because I have financial and debt obligations.  Any free time that I do have is spent catching up on all of my missed sleep.

The more I write down all of the things that I want to achieve and the reasons why I am not working towards them I am wondering if we are only constrained by our own excuses?

Love Always.

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Feb 1 2012
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Restaurant Review: Cheeburger in Montreal

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I first learned about Cheeburger on Twitter.  The entire online world was buzzing about a new restaurant opening up in Les Cours de Montreal that gave customers the option to create their own burgers…literally!  The first time I went to Cheeburger it was during my lunch hour and after waiting for 10 minutes for someone to say hello and greet me, the waitress told me that they were too busy to take my take out order.  I was disappointed, but I still returned the next day for dinner because I was determined to eat a Cheeburger.

Cheeburger is a diner style restaurant that serves made to order burgers and milkshakes, among other things.  Each Burger and Milkshake is created by the client. Cheeburger allows clients to build our own burger by choosing everything from the type of cheese, the burger patty size, and up to a maximum of 25 toppings…that’s right, up to 25 toppings total.  We have the option to add anything and everything onto our burger from Peanut Butter to Coleslaw.

Cheeburger gives clients the option to create our own Milkshake by mixing and matching from a list of over 50 different flavours. However, it is advised that we only add a maximum of 5 different flavours because after that it starts to get too sweet. The service at Cheeburger is not overly friendly, but it is very quick, efficient, and extremely helpful (especially if you are a first time visitor).

I am a vegetarian, so I was very glad to see that Cheeburger offers vegetarian menu options.  However, I found Cheeburger to be very over priced for a burger joint.  I ordered a burger with a Root Beer to drink and my total bill was just over $15. My friend ordered French Fries along with her burger and drink and her bill was over $22.  The food is great at Cheeburger, but the prices are way too high.

I am definitely going back to eat at Cheeburger because I absolutely love the create your own food concept.  I didn’t order a milkshake during my first visit to Cheeburger, so next time I am going to order a Marshmallow, Chocolate, and Banana Milkshake.

If you love burgers and you don’t mind paying for quality food then I definitely suggest that you check out Cheeburger in Montreal on Metcalf Street in Les Cours de Montreal.

Bon Appetite Everyone!

Here are some pics from my dinner at Cheeburger:

Photo by Cheeburger

Jan 9 2012
4 replies

Celebrating My 1 Year Anniversary!

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Good Morning Everyone and Happy One Year Anniversary to me and My Diary Entry.  One year ago today I decided to start loving life and start learning to love myself.  I definitely had a turbulent and emotional 2011, but I also had a lot of good things happen to me.  I have finally come to an understanding with my boyfriend, I am on my way to becoming debt free thanks to my new Freelance Gigs, and I also started a Great New Job last spring.

My New Year’s Resolutions

This year I have made two major New Year’s Resolutions that have a set goal and a fixed target date.  I have also made two minor (and ongoing) personal changes which I want to achieve (eventually).  The first of my two minor and ongoing personal changes is that I want to live a drama free life in 2012, but unfortunately I don’t think that this will be possible because of my hatred for my Dad’s new Wife aka The Evil Step Witch.  However, I have come to realize that the breakup of my family only appears to be affecting me.  It is not affecting my Dad and it is definitely not affecting The Evil Step Witch, so in 2012 I am going to try and let my family drama bother me a little bit less in hopes of finding some personal happiness.

My second minor and ongoing self improvement is to not be so negative when something bothers me.  I am usually a very outspoken person especially when I feel that something is not right and definitely when something bothers me.  However in 2012 I am going to try to smile through any tough situation instead of being negative towards it.

My major New Year’s Resolution is the #TwitterWorkoutPromise that I made with my Twitter Friends and fellow Personal Finance Bloggers.  I am going to be more active in 2012 and become more aware of everything that I eat by counting calories and working out every other day.

My second major New Year’s Resolution is to not spend any money on personal items for the next 6 months.  That’s right, until July 1st I am going to try to not spend money on any non essential personal items.  Non essential personal items include clothes, accessories, jewellery, perfume, bath products, beauty products, DVDs, movie rentals, and Wii Games.

Happy New Year’s Everyone and Happy One Year Anniversary to My Diary Entry!

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