Mondays are hard. Especially if you’ve worked all weekend. Sometimes I feel as though I am doing so much all the time yet nothing is getting done. It can be difficult to focus each day on all that has been accomplished when there is so much that did not get completed. I look around my house and there are beds to make, laundry to be done, doctor’s appointments to be scheduled and junk drawers in need of de-junking. My computer is jammed with emails that need action and my warehouse is piled with orders that need to be filled. I have dog-eared catalogs for things that I’d like to order just as soon as I get around to it. And each night I struggle to pull myself away from all my ‘tasks’ to find the time to sit, snuggle and read to my 5-year old or make her lunch and pack her backpack to save some time in the morning when things start all over again.
My husband forwarded me an article this morning written by Lisa Druxman for Entrepreneur.com that gave me what Oprah would call an “a-ha” moment. I felt like the author had written it just for me.
The article began with, “I'll tell you right now that you'll never get it all done. Your inbox will always have e-mails, you'll always have dirty clothes to wash and your nightstand will always contain unread books. I'm not trying to depress you: I say this only to make you realize an inevitable truth--a truth that's in direct conflict with my belief that having finished tasks in your life gives you peace and happiness”. Well, that’s my belief too…hence the “a-ha” part!
The author goes on to outline a game plan and new mindset to help cope with these insights. She advises that, “It's not enough to get things done. You need to get the right things done”. I’ve tried to do this. In fact, I even have a name for it. I like to call it ‘selective neglect’ – choosing what must get done at the expense of the other things that should be done.
She recommends booking “time for each category of your life. Set time for yourself (a workout, a walk on the beach, etc.). Set time for work (e-mails, phone calls, meetings and projects) and set time for your family (play dates, scrapbooks, etc.). Honor those times. When someone wants to set a meeting during your workout time, let them know that you're already booked. You don't have to tell them it's your workout time. The truth is that every part of your life deserves attention and planning. We need to spend the most time on the things that will make a difference and the least time on trivial tasks that won't matter a year from now.”
I intend to do my best from here forward to ‘honor’ ALL of my commitments and to keep in mind the author’s final tip…”to smile and laugh when the whole plan falls through--as it often will.” Ahh, the best laid plans…
My husband forwarded me an article this morning written by Lisa Druxman for Entrepreneur.com that gave me what Oprah would call an “a-ha” moment. I felt like the author had written it just for me.
The article began with, “I'll tell you right now that you'll never get it all done. Your inbox will always have e-mails, you'll always have dirty clothes to wash and your nightstand will always contain unread books. I'm not trying to depress you: I say this only to make you realize an inevitable truth--a truth that's in direct conflict with my belief that having finished tasks in your life gives you peace and happiness”. Well, that’s my belief too…hence the “a-ha” part!
The author goes on to outline a game plan and new mindset to help cope with these insights. She advises that, “It's not enough to get things done. You need to get the right things done”. I’ve tried to do this. In fact, I even have a name for it. I like to call it ‘selective neglect’ – choosing what must get done at the expense of the other things that should be done.
She recommends booking “time for each category of your life. Set time for yourself (a workout, a walk on the beach, etc.). Set time for work (e-mails, phone calls, meetings and projects) and set time for your family (play dates, scrapbooks, etc.). Honor those times. When someone wants to set a meeting during your workout time, let them know that you're already booked. You don't have to tell them it's your workout time. The truth is that every part of your life deserves attention and planning. We need to spend the most time on the things that will make a difference and the least time on trivial tasks that won't matter a year from now.”
I intend to do my best from here forward to ‘honor’ ALL of my commitments and to keep in mind the author’s final tip…”to smile and laugh when the whole plan falls through--as it often will.” Ahh, the best laid plans…
(I strongly recommend you read the full article. You can get it here.)
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