Salvador Dali gives time a well-deserved surreal look. Image via Wikipedia

Too much to do, too little time. Things get away from us. We forget errands, or even more important things. As for doing the things we really care about, well, when? Ever? In five years or maybe ten?

Actually I’m feeling much better about my own time management lately, as I have been starting to use a system called GTD.

It’s based on a book by David Allen called Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (Amazon link). I bought the book when it came out in 2002 but didn’t really start applying till a few weeks ago.Yup, 9 years later. I’d even read the book back then, but judging from my notes scribbled in the margins, I didn’t really get how revolutionary a system it could be. That’s probably not surprising, since I had taught time management at continuing ed classes and privately, even once for a big corporation. I was used to the methods I taught. Read the rest >>>

In January my husband Kelly flew to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, for a couple weeks. Vacation basking in the sun? Not hardly. He was there to consult and train on an earthbag demo home going in. His accommodations were conveniently located — he stayed in the motorhome you see just behind the project. You can see a lot of photos of the Puerto Vallarta earthbag project, and read Kelly’s comments at the link. Read the rest >>>

As we say goodbye to the old year, here is a guest article from someone who has really been walking the talk, as his list shows!  I too often make the point that simple living isn’t simple. –Zana

The Joy of Self-Reliant Living

By Herman Beck

I have been asked many times about how I came to live a plain and simple life, and I am often asked how one begins living a self-reliant lifestyle. How does one transition from living a “virtual life” to a “real” life rooted in the reality of simplicity. In this article I’ll share with you how my life was changed, and the basic steps one needs to take to begin this challenging journey.

But, before I go into this subject very far I want to make an important point: The “Simple life” is NOT simple. It is actually the “complex and highly involved life”. Everything you do takes more thought, more planning, more action and more knowledge. You do not decide to start living this life and just take the plunge.

You start out one step at a time. There are many steps and they can be taken in any order. If you want to live the “simple life” you can began anywhere. Here is an example of a typical scenario. Read the rest >>>

This guest article has some good ideas for gifts. I’ll take the cashmere socks! Maybe I should have run this article earlier, but a lot of these take little time so now is probably good. — Zana

Simple & Sustainable Holiday Gift Ideas

By Heidi Decoux

Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, Americans throw away about 25% more trash, on average, compared to any other time of the year. That’s about 25 million tons of trash over the Holidays above and beyond what we already throw away. Unfortunately most traditional gift-wrap is not recyclable due to the high metallic and dye content and most tissue paper is also not recyclable due to the short fibers.

During the holiday season, consider giving gifts, which are both environmentally friendly and creative. For example, consider the gift of an experience. An experience creates a memory, which lasts a lifetime and does not create more clutter in your home or create more trash.

Gifts of Experience

• Tickets to a play, concert or movie Read the rest >>>

We keep cloth bags hanging near the front door of our house, so we’ll remember them as we walk out the door.  I keep a few in the car too. This is one simple thing that anyone can do. You could give cloth bags to friends and relatives for holiday gifts, too. — Zana

Why Reusable Bags Are Better Than Plastic and Paper Bags

By Tom V Powell

Reusable bags are sensible alternative to paper and plastic bags. By using reusable bags, not only can you lug around your groceries, you can also play your part in preserving the environment. Over the course of the year, over 360 billion plastic bags are used in the United States alone. The sad news is that it takes over 1000 years for plastic bags to break down within a landfill. Read the rest >>>

Here’s a guest post by a fellow blogger, Kate Willson, who writes on the topics of top online colleges. I was looking around her site and found an article that is very pertinent to simple green living: it’s on 100 lessons you can learn from frugal people, and she links to a fascinating variety of articles. Happy surfing! — Zana

If you are fortunate enough to be employed by one of the top 10 green companies in the
nation then kudos to you. But if your boss is too stubborn to follow in pursuit and is against
transforming the workplace into a sustainable environment, there are a few things that you can
do as an individual to ensure an eco-friendly office.

1. The first thing you can do is change the way you get to work—meaning change your
means of transportation. Try to organize a carpool with your co-workers or challenge
yourself to take the bus or ride your bicycle to work. You don’t have to this everyday
but try making it your goal to do this at least once or twice a week to reduce your carbon
footprint. You’ll be surprised how much this little change can improve the air quality and
how much you’ll save on gas money.

2. Another simple way to go green at work is to make sure that you invest in reusable
containers, silverware, plate wear, mugs and water bottles for your lunches and
beverages. This will heavily reduce the amount of harmful plastic and Styrofoam that is
dumped into landfills every day. Read the rest >>>