Last week, we examined a way to expand during the current economic contraction. The tip had to do with taking stock of all the "stuff" you have at home, and giving some of it away to someone who could make good use of it. Did any of you try this? If so, I'd love to hear how it went - what did you do, what did you notice?
Here's a different take on a similar concept. Do you have more to do than you can get done? If so, there's a certain amount of good news there - it means you have something to do! In the past, that was called a job - a job, by definition, is something that needs doing and is almost never finished. Cleaning the floor is obvious - as soon as you finish cleaning it, dust and dirt begin to accumulate again. Thus, the need for floor cleaning is ongoing and winds up producing jobs.
However, if you keep a to-do list, you may actually have a list of stuck energy, and the list helps the energy stay stuck. Normal to-do lists are easy to spot; others of us have a sea of sticky notes surrounding our work space, stuck to computer screens, hanging from the phone, and just about any surface that will accept the sticky note. Do you have dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of email messages stored in your in-box? How about voice mail messages stored in the system?
All of these are simply reminders of something that you committed to doing. In some instances, the commitment is straightforward and clear - you told your boss you would draft a new budget, you told your son you would take him to the doctor, etc. Sometimes, the commitment is a bit less clear: figure out a new sales strategy, find time to go to the gym, remember to read that new article, etc.
With stored email messages in the inbox, it gets even murkier. You may have read the message one or more times, and each time you closed the message, you told yourself you need to read it again and figure out what you are going to do with it.
Each one of these commitments, whether clear and written, kind of clear and stored somewhere, or pretty vague and perhaps lodged only in your memory, represents a bit of your energy that is locked up in the commitment you made. The energy could be mental, emotional, and sometimes even physical in nature.
Let's address the mental part first, because that's actually one of the most important parts of the puzzle. If you have ever sat down to do something, started working on it, and all of a sudden found yourself distracted by one of those sticky notes, an email message that suddenly jumped out at you, or perhaps even just a stray memory (Oooops - forgot to call Fred about getting the dentist appointment), then you know what it is like to become distracted by the myriad possibilities that you told yourself you would get done. It can be quite draining to go through a whole day of jumping from one thing to the next and still feel like you got nowhere.
If you want to look at this in your own life, here's a suggestion: back in the early 1980's, David Allen, Sally McGhee and I created what we called an incompletion trigger list. Get a copy of the trigger list and use it to create a separate list of all the outstanding commitments you have made and not yet completed.
For each item on your incompletion list, simply ask yourself, "What value will show up if I get that done?" If the answer is "little or none," then I'd suggest striking each of those items off the list. Simply tell yourself that you will not be completing that item, and that you are now releasing yourself from that commitment.
(You may also need to ask yourself if you will be letting anyone else down by not completing that item. If it will harm another, interfere with your job, or create a series of negative consequences, then you probably need to either go ahead and complete that item, or at least renegotiate with the other party).
If you go through your list, and strike off all those little or no value items, you may be surprised at how much energy you will find yourself experiencing. If you then turn your attention to what's left on the list, and start doing a couple of them, you may be even more surprised to learn how much energy you can create simply by getting things done.
The strangest paradox will probably occur: the more you get done, the more energy you will find to do even more. Logic says you will tire yourself out. Reality seems to be that the tiring thing is keeping all that energy locked up in things that aren't moving.
(PS: if you're really concerned about the stuff you are taking off the list, move them to a new list and call it something like "Not For Now, But Maybe Later." You can review that list once a week or so and see if anything jumps out at you as something you want to do. In the meantime, somewhere inside yourself you will have freed up considerable energy because you will actively know that you no longer have a commitment to getting those things done!)
So, try this out: make your list, strike off things you are no longer committed to doing, and move on what's left. Be a scientist about this - just try it and notice what happens. If you like the result, keep on doing it.
You are likely to find that your store of energy will grow and you will be able to use that reclaimed energy to further your own expansion in this time of apparent global contraction.
Let me know how it goes!
You can find out more about Russell Bishop at http://www.lessonsinthekeyoflife.com. Contact Russell at: russell@lessonsinthekeyoflife.com
The author of Lessons in the Key of Life, Russell is an Educational Psychologist, professional life coach and management consultant, based in Santa Barbara California.
Follow Russell Bishop on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Russell_Bishop
I take 3 or 4 folders that are open at the top and are the accordian-style that expand and label them. Could be bills, client records, may need later, important save, whatever main categories your paperwork tends to fall into. I also keep a trash can nearby. I quickly go through the papers and sort into the broad categories and throw away anything I know I really don't need. It's very quick, at least has made your pile a little more manageable so you can find things, your desk looks much better and now you can choose to go through each file at your leisure, breaking down into more specific categories. It does give one a little instant self-gratification at cutting through the chaos!
What I've found is that whenever I hunker down and start tackling my To Do I get a burst of energy and notice that things flow better. Much like going to the gym, the hard part is packing your bag and heading out the door. The end result to me is always positive.
This is the third reminder in the last few days that points me in that direction. Now on to tackle my unfinished business! Thank you Russell!
The gym analogy is super - exercise is an odd paradox - once you finish exercising, most people feel good, ar at least once they catch their breath. Most feel as though they have more energy than when they started, although logic says you just spent energy so how could you have more?
And yet, the act of expending energy with a clear outcome (start, do, finish) seems to wind up producing more energy as a consequence.
Good luck!
Therefore: Reduce the House of Representatives from the current 435
members to 218 members and Senate members from 100 to 50 (one per State).
Also reduce remaining staff by 25
$44,108,400 for elimination of base pay for congress. (267 members X
$165,200 pay / member / yr.)
$97,175,000 for elimination of the above people's staff. (estimate $1.3
Million in staff per each member of the House, and $3 Million in staff per
each member of the Senate every year)
$240,294 for the reduction in remaining staff by 25 It might even be in their best interests to work together for the good of our country
Congress did not hesitate to head home when it was a holiday, when the
nation needed a real fix to the economic problems. Summary of opportunity:
$ 44,108,400 reduction of congress members.
$282,100, 000 for elimination of the reduced house member staff.
$150,000,000 for elimination of reduced senate member staff.
$59,675,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining house members.
$37,500,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining senate members.
$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork added to bills by the reduction of
congress members.
$8,073,383,400 per year, estimated total savings. (that's 8-BILLION just
to start!) If Congresspersons were required to serve 20, 25 or 30 years (like
everyone else) in order to collect retirement benefits there is no telling
how much we would save. Now they get full retirement after serving only ONE
term.
I, for one, am always finding taking the time to do this type of sorting and organizing seems so unappealing at the moment, Yuck! Naturally, it always gets put off until something critical comes up, or a rainy day comes along and I force myself. Not the best pattern!
I agree it is so important to get things off the list that we are not committed to. Clears the mind.
I also have a file system with a slot for 1-31- each day of the month. There I place items that need to be done on a particular day, even sticky notes go in there! Each morning I check the file, knock off what I can, and then refile the other items to another day. Works great for holding theatre tickets, bills, errands and so on.
Thanks again!
Kari
(but make sure you DO things from your list, not just collect things onto it)