The Good Stuff that comes from Focus & a Plan
I've been feeling a bit scattered … just like the quote pictured above.
I bought this little quote box a few years ago, and it sits on a shelf in my kitchen. It makes me laugh every time I read it … because it feels to be true … so often.
As an example, the other day I went down to the basement to get some meat out of the freezer for dinner, coming across a large white bag on the floor along the way. I stopped to remind myself what was in that bag, and discovering that it was outgrown clothes, it reminded me that I needed to call Goodwill. A few steps more, and I came to a stand still.
Why in the world did I come down to the basement? It takes a few seconds for the realization to check back into my brain. Oh, yes … the meat.
Face it. It’s easy to feel scattered. And I’m going to stick with the positive mindset that it’s not the advancing years that are addling my brain.
It’s just a seemingly never ending long to-do list, with a little lack of focus sprinkled on top. That lack of focus typically comes from not finding the time to be proactive with daily planning.
My “to dos” are typically an unrelated set of items. To address them, sometimes it feels like one big game of Whac-a-Mole, hitting back the thing that pops up the highest in front of me at the moment. And when this happens, I know I’m operating in a reaction mode, and not controlling my day.
This premise is not too dissimilar from the impact our phones can have on us. It’s easy to react with a tap into a new Instagram post when we hear the notification sound, or respond to an email request that doesn’t require our immediate attention. These are the distractions that easily rob us of valuable minutes, and dare I say hours, in our day.
When this happens, we get to the end of our day way too quickly, and climb into bed thinking of all those things that we didn’t do, instead of what we actually accomplished.
So I think about ways to better organize my days frequently, and of course am mindful to the many voices of wisdom that are out there sharing their approaches for organizing and productivity.
The important thing is to commit to experimenting to decide what works best for you … and then just follow a routine and see how it works.
I thought I would tee up some things for you to think about as it relates to this premise of daily time management, because it’s important to figure out how to get to the end of our day, feeling good about what we accomplished and feeling good that we accomplished things that are important and meaningful to us.
One powerful benefit? It helps us sleep better. It's kind of like dusting the brain. By capturing all those thoughts that are constantly flowing through our head and getting them down on paper, we can forget about them for now, until we're ready to address them.
Before you start diving into the details of your day, I also want to address one very important area of focus that might not be hitting your To-Do List at all.
And that is, making sure you take the time to think beyond the transactional items - in other words, thinking beyond the minutia.
Ask yourself - What is most important for you to accomplish right now?
And I mean YOU - not things that you need to do for your kids, your spouse, your co-workers, or your household.
There are three primary areas to be mindful of …
1. Your “Me” Goal. Your purpose. What’s going to make you feel invigorated and accomplished?
It could be anything from the weighty task of looking for a new job or writing a book all the way to planning a get together with friends, or maybe learning a new skill or reconnecting to an old passion of yours.
Working on this goal will likely make you feel most fulfilled. So finding the time to focus on this routinely is important. Some days you may have 2 hours to do this; other days it might only be 5 minutes.
Whatever the time is, just do it consistently. And whatever you land on, having this defined purpose is good for your health (a REALLY nice side benefit).
2. And on the topic of health …
Be mindful of goals you want to accomplish as it relates to feeling at your best. Remember the four platforms of healthy living: food/nutrition, exercise, stress management and sleep. What 1, 2 or 3 things can you do on this front?
3. Next up: the Family Hub
Most of us think of our family as what we value most highly. Whether we’re a Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Sister or Brother, there is always something to do as it relates to our family. It can even be the simplest thing - like a call or a text to check-in with someone who doesn't live close by.
As a parent, I know this cup is always overflowing. A huge part of our day is parenting in action. A lot of it (probably most of it) is the routine tasks.
But when there is the bandwidth, also be thoughtful and identify the good stuff that is meaningful for our children, that typically can remain stuck in our brain as wishes.
The stuff that creates new experiences and memories, perhaps teaches new skills.
So moving forward, it's these three buckets of thoughts and actions that represent the powerful, good stuff.
It's the stuff that takes a longer time to think about. This stuff might not show up on your to-do list every day, but you should be mindful of what does show up on a daily basis. And maybe you can find a couple of chunks of time a week to focus on those dreams which are most important.
And now for the last bucket: the unimportant important stuff:
4. Household Minutia
The stuff that often can hijack our time… scheduling appointments, household maintenance, reading and responding to emails, etc., etc., etc.!
These are the items that can make me feel scatterbrained, because they make me go back to a whac-a-mole mentality. But if I group these tasks together, figure out how much time I have on my calendar the next day and schedule it in, knocking through these tasks in a defined time frame tends to be much more effective and efficient.
So to summarize, if you so choose, you can organize your day (in those discretionary hours) around these four platforms:
1. My Purpose
2. Healthy Lifestyle
3. The Family Hub
4. Household Minutia
To begin, consider these Rules of the Road:
Create that master list of To Dos.
Organize it in a way that is meaningful to you, grouping similar tasks together.
Create your “To Do” plan for tomorrow at the end of your day or before you go to bed.
Highlight the 1, 2 or 3 things that are most important to accomplish tomorrow, even if nothing else gets done.
Find the right time to get it done, and put it on your calendar.
At the end of your day, review what you accomplished, and be grateful for that.
Think about tomorrow, and plan out your day, with clearly defined action steps. Highlight the non-negotiable must-dos.
Go to bed with a clear head, because everything you need to accomplish is written down, organized and prioritized. And even if you were only to accomplish one thing, that’s one thing off your list, and you’re moving forward.
What’s really in the power of doing this?
It’s that feeling of positivity that washes through us, when we know we’ve accomplished what we set out to do. It’s acknowledging that because life can be complicated, sometimes we’re going to have to adjust and be content with where we ended up at the end of the day, and be OK that we can tackle those things tomorrow.
And maybe the best? Ensuring we’re finding the time to tackle the big stuff, the good stuff, the important stuff. The stuff that requires us to get into the right headspace, and remove ourselves from distractions.
Because that’s the stuff that is the most rewarding and fulfilling. That's the stuff that makes you proud and feeling accomplished. That's the stuff that creates memories.
So start thinking about some of the big stuff, and creating that daily plan to move forward.