Quick way to lift your spirits (or piss you off) in 1 minute.
Think of where you were in life 12 months ago. Now, compare to today. If you’ve grown and made progress, good for you! If you’ve reclined, get up and get going – you wasted a year.
Try this…
Turn on your tv.
Flip through 50 channels – 3 seconds per channel
Turn off your tv.
Walk away.
Difficult? Of course it is. We see something we like and we want to see more. (Precisely the reason I got rid of my TV.)
The Secret Recipe
I have fallen into this trap before – the idea that there’s an answer out there that’s hard to find but will unlock a happy life. What if…
a. the answer is not out there (it’s in here)
b. it’s not hard to find (just hard to accept)
c. it’s not designed to unlock happiness (because happiness is different for everyone)
I think the secret to the secret recipe is that it’s a secret – as soon as someone finds it, the value goes away.
Studying greatness vs. trying to copy greatness.
I love learning from successful people. The danger is when that learning morphs into wanting to copy their success like it’s some kind of secret recipe or holy grail to find. There’s a fine line – learn and appreciate but don’t copy.
I like the show Hoarders.
Fascinating how connected people can get to their stuff, even if it’s garbage. It’s painful in a way to see people torn between what’s best for them (get rid of the crap) and what that crap means to them.
I feel like in a way, I would be great for a show called Anti-Hoarder because I am so ruthless about throwing stuff out. I actually thought I would like to work with a Hoarder until I realized that after 5 minutes, I would get frustrated and want to leave.
How was your day? (or weekend, night, vacation, etc.)
I usually have very little to say. I just can’t think of anything. Did great stuff happen? Yes. So, how come I can’t remember? I think it’s that I think other people don’t really care. Or I can’t thing of anything memorable. Or I don’t really want to share. I’m not sure. It’s just clear to me that good stuff happened, I just can’t recall it.
Noticed what happens? Not being able to recall it kills the conversation.
To counteract this, I am trying a new habit: writing the stuff that happens down.
Studying yourself.
Wild thought: have you ever done a rigorous, comprehensive study on your sleeping pattern? I’m talking a deep look into the conditions, bed, length of time, atmosphere, environment, etc. that produces ideal, restful, rejuvenating sleep for you. I haven’t. I just think it’s a good idea.
Why the iPhone is so valuable for me.
It is a small device that allows me access to: books, blogs, e-mail, social media, maps, my running training logs, my documents, music, movies, tv shows.
Essentially, it is the ultimate in one stop shopping. And it fits in my pocket.
The lesson: if you can do anything that takes 2+ things and combines them neatly and nicely into one, there’s value.
The ‘Space’ of Effective Time Management
Organization / Travel Time / Accessibility – wondering what these concepts have to do with time management?
Organization: if I can’t find something (and have to spend minutes or hours looking for it), how much time is wasted? Instead, if I have a neat, tidy, and ‘everything in its place’ mentality to my office and home space, I know where everything is and won’t have to waste time searching.
Travel Time: if it takes me a long time to get to the gym, when I don’t feel like working out I will not make it. How many of your time management struggles are simply a factor of how long (or difficult) it is for you to actually travel from where you are to where you need to be to get started?
Accessibility: a cousin of ‘Travel Time.’ If a priority for me is hard to access, I make it difficult on myself right from the start to get going.
Imagine how much more effective you could be with your time if you were organized and it was extremely easy to get started doing what you need to do?
The Inner Game of Time Management – Part II
When urgent demands or requests are made of you from others, what is your strategy to protect your most important priorities?
If we are loosely committed to our priorities, other people’s urgency will win out. We won’t want to disappoint or upset people who appear to be relying on us.
The other twist is that often, in an attempt to amp up the urgency, other people will insist that their priority is a life or death scenario… either we meet their request or they will somehow die.
We both know that this is rarely the case. If it takes me a little bit longer to respond to your ‘urgent’ need, you will most surely live (and I will be happy, too.)
