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Welcome to Day 2 of 7 Days To Better Productivity & Time Management.
Today’s task will take about 1 hour.
Today we’ll learn a secret that will help you escape one of – if not the – biggest time-management traps there is.
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I find it challenging to know what is important and what is not important at times.
Of course I knew that it was was never going to all get done, and yet . . . thinking about it, I’m bummed! I don’t want to die while scrubbing a smear off the toilet, but what am I gonna do, leave it there?!!! Sigh.
My priorities are:
The well-being of my son (6 yrs.)
Health/fitness (or attempts thereof)
Spirituality
Financial stability/career
Social life (or, again, attempts at such)
Thank you. All I can really say is thank you. I have had such poor time management skills in the past and just simply by reading day 2 I feel as though a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. I am so excited to start this new year with your program. Thank you for what you do!
I am a bit of a perfectionist, and realizing I won’t ever have everything done is hard – both at work, and at home… Got focus on what matters though!
I share Rachel Dougherty’s sentiments! My priority-setting ability has been hampered with minutae leftover from residual perfectionistic ways. I really had thought I had said sayonara to that part of me.
I am in a major life transition and this exercise (Day 2) is just what I needed at this time. I am excited to recalibrate things! Thank you for this virtual mentoring! I am so grateful for the way you steward your gifts as they bring an unquantifiable catalyst for change to so many!!!
Everyday there seems to be 100’s of tasks that need to be done that pull me in all sorts of directions. It seemed like when I got to the end of my day very little has been accomplished. So today when I made my big list, some of the ‘should do’ made it on but definitely didn’t get picked when it came to my top 5. I can see the necessity of redoing this particular exercise every couple of months because life changes. And in some instances, because I prioritize, one or two of the areas will have progressed enough that they don’t have to be a priority anymore. Or at least that’s the plan!
So my top 5 for right now (in no particular order)
1. My weight/fitness – lose a little weight but mainly concentrate on getting stronger and more fit
2. Money Managing for the family owned Business and my own personal family – finish setting up systems and/or continuing to keep up to date the systems already in place.
3. My 3 children (all young adults) – helping them get to the next stage in their lives – they are all at that point of graduating this coming year from high school, university and grad school.
4. My house – keeping it tidy and relatively clean – so I can find what I want and am not super embarrassed when people stop by
5. Organizing for my upcoming trip to visit my husband end of next month who works overseas.
My top 5 priorities have a stronger focus on me! Trying to come to grips with the reality that I can’t change others, only myself…
I redid my priority list from Simplify Your Life. I realized that some of the things on the first list were more like tasks than priorities. And only 5? You are a tough taskmaster *sigh* But… but… *sigh again* I only get 5 in my Goals and Priorities Diary as well and it took me a long time to accept it there too. So now I have a much better list, and I will update it in a few months. It closely reflects November in my Diary, so I must be making progress in my efforts to focus 🙂
My daughters and grandsons
My husband
My house repairs and organization
Prayer and walk with God
Exercising
The following are my group decisions: [You will never, ever get all those minor things out of the way.]
Reading articles of interest broadens the subject for better understanding.
Respond to pertinent voicemails, test message when you can and only answer the e-mail that is pertinent to you.
Keep organization simple and don’t procrastinate.
If we lose interest in a craft project because it’s too challenging, too hard or run out material and you can’t match the material that is stressful and you will likely never complete it. You must be in a creative mood to do craft projects.
Do the best you can do to be as near to 100% tidy.
Keep your daily chores up-to-date.
Concentrate on a room a month for 30 minutes a day.
Clean up your home once a week for one to two hours.
Personal presentation
Running errands as necessary keeping to a 3 hour time limit.
Nutritional grocery shopping once a month on a full stomach so you are less apt to buy junk food.
There’ll never be a time when you can sit back and say, my house is permanently perfect, my inbox is permanently empty, everything is done and will stay done. Now I can turn to the really important stuff…Perfectionists fall into this category. Perfectionists can go overboard – I know of one person that uses a toothbrush to clean every crack and crevice. The opposite of clutter people!
Instead, we need to learn to get to those important things – first, fast, and even with a sense of fun.
Spend more of your time for things that matter more to you: living arrangements, nutritional food and quality time with your children/family/extended family, playing computer games, keeping your home clean and organized.
Our lists with our 5 top priorities are as follows: 1. my health: follow licensed doctor’s orders; 2. Losing weight: for a healthier body; 3. My happiness: Positive affirmations posted where you can see them; 4. my fitness: walking—use RC Exercise for Wellness; 5. me time: one to two hours a day to relax and do: read, meditate, listen to music, etc.
Place your list where you’ll see it every day. The following are suggestions: post-it on the fridge; inside your wallet or purse; saved as a note in your cell phone; Taped to the outside of the shower: this idea could easily get wet or smeared from steam = not a good idea.
How to spend your time:
Morning: Home morning routine and attend your groups.
Afternoon: Lunch, attend your groups/meetings, Shopping and local library.
Evening: Dinner, Relax/me time, put away items used, prepare for next morning and sleep schedule by 9 or 10 PM.
Weekends: Laundry, Cleaning, Yard Work, Church, Watching movies, Email reduction, Catching up on rest, Relax/me time and Exercise by walking.
What to say yes to activities you will promote.
What to say no to double booking doesn’t interest you – courteously say no.
What to let go of junk mail, dust collectors, etc.
Who to give emotional energy to: yourself, family or extended family, positive friends/relationships.
Who do not give emotional energy to? Get rid of toxic/negative people. You must have positive people in your life.
How does it feel to realize that you’ll never get everything done? This is the current goal and I will attain it. [If your goal is not obtained then change your goal.]
Does this make you more determined to focus on the things that matter? Keep it simple to ascertain your goal.
What are your priorities as of August 9, 2013?
Lose weight to ascertain a healthier body.
Have your licensed medical doctor check to make sure you’re taking your meds correctly and you are stable.
Continue organizing your home.
Be ready for change and take the necessary steps to adjust [home, medical, relationship[s]].
I’m late in getting to this program, I was on vacation and then life happened. I’m on it this week though. I’m a total procrastinator, I spend more time figuring out what to do and how to do it then actually getting around to doing it. I did figure out what I need to focus on first and did find that what I listed as most important covered most of the list in general. It was pretty eye opening.
Health-eat clean/no sugars/alcohol/grains/dairy.
Organization/Clean = house and meals.
Concentrate on family and personal business plans.
Exercise = start Chalean Extreme.
Relationships with family, new friends and old friends.
I’m running a bit behind on this as I lost my father last week and haven’t been able to focus on this or anything else.
I enjoyed this activity. To know that I won’t get everything done is such a relief! As is having a list with a few important things on as I recognise myself as a person who rushes through my list only to find that I’ve run out of motivation/inclination to do the important stuff. It suits me so much better to focus on 5 things. Will I need to change these weekly?
This week my priorities are getting on with my Master’s degree, my father’s funeral, keeping my home clean and tidy, getting to the gym and my husband’s health (he has a brain tumour). It was interesting to write my priorities down. They seem more tangible when they are in black and white and easier to focus on.
“Don’t give in to the short-term satisfaction of busywork. You could die having done nothing that actually matters to you!” OUCH! I needed to hear that (or read it I guess). 🙂
I always complain about how everything else comes first before starting or working on my own business. I’m doing it to myself! Mostly out of fear. What if I spend time & energy on it and it fails? But I’m more miserable NOT trying. I already started 2 of my own businesses that weren’t super successful, but I still don’t consider them to be failures. Big deal!
My priorities list may be a little too general, but it’s a start. The main thing is that I need to stop with the busywork!
Wow I found this challenging. I have 6 children so even the minor things become major when it’s just me keeping things together. And because I’m in a state of limbo with my ex and he likes to think threats keep me motivated, I often feel like my priorities are not my own. I choose: My kids, My health, My home, Personal Growth and Time Management. But really I should add My finances in there and would like to add My writing and working on my business start up as well as studies. Maybe I should have a different list for the days he has the children at his place lol.
Again, another eye opener! I guess I’ve always known that I waste so much time on the little things, including “checking Facebook” and maybe a game of sudoku before I get down to the serious work so I won’t get distracted later… But writing down what is really important to me helped me to see that I have been wasting so much time, for so long and that I haven’t really been making any inroads to what I want. I now have my priorities on my office board, on my phone and on the mirror in my bathroom. Hopefully this will pull my focus to where it will do the most good!
It’s a nice thing to know that I won’t get everything done! A little stress off. Yeah!
I went for truly RIGHT NOW priorities. These are things that have been weighing heavily on me in the last few weeks. This is where I WILL start.
– Better My Health: Eating better, moving more, losing weight (several details one goal).
– Clean Up Clutter in the house: Okay, yes, this seems a huge feat; however, right now it curtails just the office/craft room —and all it’s spillage throughout other areas of the house. This will help eliminate feeling overwhelmed, and feeling guilty that I put on myself, and the projected guilt I imagine my husband is putting on me (although he never say anything).
– Get the house clean: top to bottom the good spring cleaning that didn’t come this year.
– Become more active with my husband: we keep talking about doing things (going to concerts, going to the park, having picnics, trying new restaurants).
– Increasing the quality of my work at work: mainly this is completing tasks more timely.
After I have accomplished these individually, I will modify them to the next RIGHT NOW priorities, specifically the Clean Up Clutter in the House – there are other areas that need to be dealt with, but their priority is not the current right now.
I definitely try to get the small (easy) tasks done ‘first’. Guess what, the big tasks are still on my list months later. I pretend I’m getting stuff done by focussing on these little things.
I’m keeping my priorities really simple: 1) family 2) my health 3) friends 4) my job & other resources. I believe everything falls under these categories, including things like better organizing, as I think a better environment will help my health, my paid work and my unpaid work, and also my relationships.
I’m behind and trying to play catch up here!! Thank you for making me rely think about my priorities more. I try to do it all ANC can’t and then I procrastinate, feel overwhelmed and get depressed about it :(. This program really helps :). I will focus on my health, family and new home and slowly let go of many of the other things that are bogging me down. Thanks Michele!
I’m behind and trying to play catch up here!! Thank you for making me rely think about my priorities more. I try to do it all ANC can’t and then I procrastinate, feel overwhelmed and get depressed about it :(. This program really helps :). I will focus on my health, family and new home and slowly let go of many of the other things that are bogging me down. Thanks Michele!