Tidbits to remember during life’s trials. Focus on the end goal.
A bit of martial arts wisdom this evening
Tag: personal effectiveness
I need to remember to “Sharpen My Saw”
I tweeted this earlier today:
I’m often challenged by the simple act of remembering to recharge, to care for myself. Then I’m puzzled by my exhaustion. #ThoughtForTheDay
— Carl Setzer (@CarlSetzer) August 7, 2018
So, here’s a bit more insight. I’ve known for years the importance of taking care of yourself. What’s called, in Franklin Covey parlanence, Sharpening Your Saw. This analogy states that the lumberjack who never sharpens his saw, doesn’t take care of his tools, slowly loses his effectiveness and, eventually, the tools, the saw in this case, fails.
It’s easy to get caught up in all the busyness of the world, of my modern life. My office is running pretty short-staffed right now. (If you’re interested in working with us, all our open positions have been posted on our Facebook page.) There’s so much to do, it seems indulgent to take some time for one’s self.
Yet, we…well, “I”…need to remember that not taking care of myself means decreasing effectiveness and eventual collapse. I’m not some strange superbeing who is exempt from all the rules that others are bound by.
I spent my morning journaling time considering this. Most of my refresh time has been reflexive. I want to shift to a more deliberate approach. The main reason is to avoid hitting the proverbial wall and THEN trying to figure out how I get more energy. No, I’m going to spend time daily doing things that feed my soul, that rejuvenate me and make me better. Substituting coffee (or worse) only creates a bigger problem down the road.
So, what do you do to recharge your soul? That gives you zip in the morning? I’d love to hear what works for you. I delight in hearing what inspires folks. So, drop me a note below.
The Life Affirming Steven Covey’s “Big Rocks” Video
This concept had a powerful impact upon how I see the world. With that, this video was life-changing.
A very basic notion: take a moment and figure out what’s most important. Then act on that. Schedule those things FIRST, then work everything else in.
Nothing more dreadful to imagine than, at the end of my life, realizing I never did what’s truly important to me.
That said, watch this. Then act on it.
https://youtu.be/ciBRcrOgFJU
Monday Thought
Here’s a positive way to look at Mondays.
And, if you have no mistakes from last week to clean up, then it’s a great day to set a productive rhythm.
Some thoughts on this quote: The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.
The second best time is now.”
– Chinese or African Proverb
I’ve heard the quote above attributed to both the Chinese and Africans. At some point, I should spend a little time with Google and answer that definitively. But, really, today the origination of the quote isn’t my concern.
At times I get stuck fretting about the fact I “didn’t start this sooner”. I frustrate myself with that mindset, but it became reflexive. And I lose time and energy with this. >0 time or energy on this mindset: too much.
Lamenting the past is a foolish exercise. Living live with no regrets is not about not making mistakes. Rather accepting that mistakes and poor choices are part of the package. Make the best choices you can, learn from the negatives, then move forward. I need to remind myself constantly, though.
If it’s valuable, do it. Start. There is not better time than now. Really!
An Element Of Efficiency: Slowing Down To Speed Up
With all the work I’ve done studying organization and productivity systems, a common element: taking time to thoughtfully consider actions. In today’s day-and-age, it’s easy to get caught up in stimulus:response, on reactive reactions. Or, as the adage goes, “running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off”.
Taking time to:
- Determine the scope of the problem
- It’s nature
- What really is the causality
- Reviewing our priorities
These are all critical to developing the correct solution for a particular challenge. There are always multiple responses and actions one can take. Knowing which one corrects the situation without creating a worse one requires considering all these elements.
It’s so easy, especially in today’s hyper-sped world, to lose sight of the time necessary. The urge to “do something NOW” is so powerful, and it often creates more damage than solution.
Our progress moves faster when we aren’t spending time repairing damage our inattention to details creates.
The importance of my calendar, and other tools
Oh, trying to stay on top if the mania of my life. It’s not easy right now, nor has it been so in ages. Trying to get everything I want to do done is hard.
My friends and family know that I need to enter anything asked if me into my calendar. If that doesn’t happen, it’s likely to get lost in the blizzard that is my life. Generally I grab my phone and plug “whatever” into my calendar. And those tools have evolved.
Up until a few years ago, I was a hard core Franklin-Covey devote. My lovely leather planner went pretty much everywhere with me. Now, I’m pretty fully electronic, for good and for ill. I believe there’s value in interacting with paper. Stuff seems to get into my brain better that way. But the convenience of tech, using multiple devices to access and manage stuff, and the ability to have reminders pop up have become crucial.
A few years ago, I stumbled upon a took called IQTell. This was a solid blend, integrating my different streams of information, email, calendar, notes (including Evernote, one of my key organization tools), and tasks into a cohesive and thoughtful system. Sadly, they’ve announced that they’re discontinuing this guy. And so I’m, yet again, seeking a new system. Right know, everything is getting dumped into Evernote, which isn’t feeling too effective.
I’ll be writing about that over the next few days.