This is a great picture of Transfagarassan Road in Romania taken by photographer Tom Robinson. It reminds me of the curvy road in San Francisco. If you've ever visited San Francisco and driven down Lombard Street you know that the actual distance from top to bottom is really very short.

I've been down the road twice, once in a VW bug with five other girls = three of us in the front seat. We were in town for a business meeting and decided to go down Lombard Street. It was quite an adventure. The second time was with my husband and son. Ben was 13 months old and in a stroller and we walked down. It seemed to take forever as the road turned and twisted left and right. But "as the bird flies" the distance was relatively short.

Today I sit in my office with a list of to dos several tasks long and yet I am approaching it as if it were Lombard Street. Have you ever had one of those days? I don't know if it is the humidity and my stubborn refusal to turn on the air conditioning, or the fact that I will be leaving the office for two weeks at the end of this week and so I have vacationitis or if my brain is just scattered but I seem to be having a difficult time getting from point A to point B.

I found this article on self motivation in which the author offers a few tips for those of us who are having a difficult time staying focused:

What if you lack self motivation?

How can you become motivated again? Good question!

Here are some suggestions:

Focus on what you really enjoy doing, maybe on something you want to take up or on a hobby you've always wanted to devote more time to. What's stopping you? Think about giving it priority to start doing what you love doing.

Make a list of things you'd like to improve on and how you're going to do it

Review all the successes you've enjoyed in every area of your life, totally forget any negatives, just positive successes here!

Start an exercise program - force yourself to do it, it'll make you feel much more positive.

Contact a positive friend and have a chat.

Read inspiring books that will help heal your mind and improve your attitude. I have put together a list of highly recommended self help books I know will help you so take a look and order one or two - you're going to find inspiration on every page!

My favorite comment is "review all the successes you've enjoyed."

I had a boss once who decided he wanted to conduct a mid-year review. He was a challenging boss as bosses go, and seemed to enjoy assigning busy work. In preparation for this review meeting he asked me to pull together proof of what I had done over the prior six months.

It took several days - I would spend a few minutes gathering and copying in between other projects - and when I was done I had a 3" 3-ring binder filled with copies of tasks, projects, memos, newsletters, meeting recaps, business successes that I had developed, participated in, delegated, wrote, etc.

My boss never remembered that he had given me the task and never scheduled a review and within another four months he was no longer my boss. But the task of pulling together all that I had accomplished was something I kept for several years. It was proof positive that I added value. It was more for me than anyone else because it gave me tangible proof that I made a difference.

So today I will take a moment to reflect on the successes I have had over the last month. Celebrate with a little Dove chocolate and then get back to the task at hand = completing my to-do list.

What do you do to self motivate? In particular those of you who office alone and don't have a boss breathing down your neck. Share your suggestions here.

Deborah Chaddock Brown
Writer