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!
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