Annies Goat Hill Handcrafted Soaps

Have you ever lost your go-juice?

The scenario:  you are going full speed ahead, grinding through the long to-do list for the day.  All at once you slide into the break down lane.  You find yourself saying, “I cannot do any more.  I am here for repairs!” The go-juice has leaked from your engine.

Last week I wrote two posts, When 24 Hours Is Not Enough (here) and Bringing The Balance Back Into A Busy Life (here).  Unanimously, the comments circled around keeping lists, learning to say no, getting off of the merry-go-round, doing what is most important, and letting the rest go. 

I said I would share my organization “system.”  Warning, it is VERY dry reading!

I keep a Franklin Covey planner.  Daily activities are broken down into 3 sections – a short daily task list, an appointment schedule, and a new list of notes throughout the day.

The planner also contains what I refer to as the “long list.”  It contains tasks that I may not be able to complete that day.  The tasks are color coded:  pink-must do as soon as possible, yellow-very important but not top priority, blue-important but can be done at a later date.  I also keep a shopping list (for the business), an inventory list (for the business), and a wish-list.  What is a wish-list? Websites that I want to visit, books I want to read, places I want to visit, things I want to look at, things that are not important at all…except to my own well-being.

When the “short” daily to-do list is too long, when I feel overwhelmed, I select 3 items that has to be done that day, only 3.  I mark them with a hi-liter to ensure I stay focused.  When the 3 tasks are done I feel tremendous! It works. I accomplish what I set out to do!

The most important thing to do is not procrastinate.  I cannot put off the “worst of tasks.”  When something important is put on the back burner it comes back and bites me in the rear.  Putting off a task of low importance, I often find to be helpful.  I end up glad that I didn’t do it to begin with.  It is like an idea that you tuck away.  You do not forget it, but something better eventually comes along!

Last week, I was in the middle of a busy task filled day when I ground to a halt in the emergency lane.  The go-juice was gone.  The brain went to mush. 

The break-down repair ticket contained orders such as dropping what was not necessary, taking a long walk, calling someone I love, and deliberately scheduling time for enjoyment. 

The biggest thing I did was to become very aware of what I was doing that was not necessary.  I scheduled email time, scheduled blog time, scheduled soap shop time, and deliberately stepped away from everything that was not going to make or break my day.  When busy, a person has to be deliberate…it makes for a much healthier being!

I plan/hope to stay out of the emergency lane for a while!