There’s always so much to do. And my personality is such that I am always trying to figure out how to get it ALL done. Then I’ll ask myself, if I just found out that someone I care about is in the hospital, what REALLY needs to get done. Isn’t it amazing how many things drop off the list? Thinking in this way helps to put things in perspective.
I’ll bet I’ve tried almost every method of organizing & prioritizing there is.
The 4-Quadrant (Urgent/Important) system is one I’ve tried many times, and then quit very quickly most of the time, but recently has served me well for nearly a year. Then, my list starts to overwhelm me. (Digress for a moment - I was once challenged with “What’s a whelm?” And when does it become an over whelm?” I sincerely do not know how to answer that, so let’s move on.) As it has become a challenge again, I’ve returned to another of my favorites, this one by John Maxwell - it’s simply called the 3 R’s. What is Required of me? What gives me the greatest Return (ie. ROI)? And then, what is Rewarding (brings me some kind of pleasure or joy)?
Then as I started revising my prioritization method, I started to realize that the quadrant method fits well WITHIN the 3 R system. I may be something that I’ll have to investigate further.
Anyway, hopefully it is obvious that if something is required, it should be at the top of the list. However, I know from personal experience as a father, that homework that does not get finished today, even though it is due tomorrow, does not necessarily get the proper attention if there are more “rewarding” ways to spend the next day before the homework is due. Besides, isn’t that why we spend so much time on Facebook, or surfing the internet. It seems so fun, at first, then we look at our watch and wonder ‘What happened to the time?”
I truly believe that we all want to get ahead.
We all want life “tomorrow” to be and get better than it is today. We function on either a hope or a dream that “life,” however we picture it, to get better. Many times it does, because we are doing some of the right things that will get us ahead.
However, how many of us realize that if we got more intentional, there would be an even greater chance to “get ahead.” The problem is that in order to be more intentional, we have to sacrifice. Facebook is great to stay connected with others, but honestly, if we are not careful or more aware, it can take over the hour that may have been better invested doing something else?
It’s really not a big deal to sacrifice those things that are trivial or that we know do not really add value to our lives. The difficult thing is determining what is “good” in our lives, that we are willing to sacrifice in order to accomplish something “great.” We can look at this as trading, but trading really means a swap - this swap easily works when we give up the unproductive activity and switch to productive activity. But it is so much more challenging and even complicated to trade the good activity for a great activity. This becomes something more like giving up two good activities in order to have the energy and capacity to perform an activity that achieves greatness.
Here’s a few of my favorite quotes to add value to your thinking process to become more intentional and productive:
Understanding changes minds, but only action changes lives. John C. Maxwell
You will never CHANGE your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your SUCCESS is found in your DAILY ROUTINE. John C Maxwell
"The instant you accept responsibility for everything in your life is the moment you acquire the power to change it.” Ed Mylett
To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life. Robert Louis Stevenson
Trying is connected to emotions. Training is intentional. John C Maxwell
The next question is when and where will that transformational training process take place?
Best to you! Let me know how I can add value to your search!
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