Discardian

Efficiency isn't the first priority

Do not believe that it is very much of an advance to do the unnecessary three times as fast.

         --Peter Drucker

Upgrade, wherever possible.

"To progress in life you must give up the things you do not like. Give up doing the things that you do not like to do. You must find the things that you do like. The things that are acceptable to your mind."

-- Agnes Martin

Find your baseline

Ze Frank's got a good idea for you - acknowledge that you're made up of many selves with different moods.

Accept that you are who you are, in the mood you're in today. Recalibrate to the current baseline and try to do the things that today's me is best at.

Tie Off Loose Ends

Two things today:

- Do the mundane things that must be done before December 31st.

For me that's figuring out submitting receipts from health expenses for the past year for my Flexible Spending Plan fund. Always odd how this, with it's great potential for a reimbursement check, gets pushed to the end of my list. Tackle your bureaucracies and take whatever rewards that brings you - even if it's just the relief of being done with the chore.

- Think about an emotional loose end that you could complete.

Perhaps it's having watched the brilliant film Hiroshima Mon Amour this past week that has me musing on the past and that amazing balancing act between the fear of forgetting (and repeating) our horrors & mistakes and the necessity of forgetting in order to live life unparalyzed.

Look ahead & avoid headaches

I suppose there are folks for whom December and January are not busy months, but I'm not sure I know any.

Since the chaos is descending and won't lift for a bit, take a little time today to smooth your path.

- Renew prescriptions - and check out online or renewals by mail if your pharmacy offers the service.

- Pay bills early or set up automatic payment.

- Look over your calendar for anything else requires special action (e.g. reserving rental cars, buying tickets, finding those tickets you bought a while back, etc.)

3 Hours Of What You Most Need

Maybe you need to knock an important errand off your list so you quit fretting about it.

Maybe you need to catch up on sleep.

Maybe there's a movie you really really really want to see in the theater.

Maybe you need some time alone to just take care of yourself & relax.

Maybe you want nothing more than to go out to play with your friends.

Whatever it is, give it to yourself. Make your well-being a priority today.

Back on Track

Have you been slacking on something? Maybe even failing to do once a week what you'd planned to do every day?

Pick one good habit you'd been meaning to have and start doing it again. Today. And tomorrow. And the next day.

Two Priorities: Day 2

1. Work

Today go back to the project(s) you identified as "that which your boss cares most about you having completed".

First, figure out the status and next step for it/them.

Second, if the next step can be completed in less than 30 minutes, do it or identify what needs to happen before you can move it forward.

Third, email a status report to your boss. "Hi, I thought you'd be interested in an update on what's happening with these projects..." Make sure it covers current status, next step, any actions required by others to move it forward, and when you're expecting to be able to do that step or meet with the others to get it rolling. Be concise; bosses really like having a clear picture from a brief message.

2. Home

Find all the open projects that are taking up more than a shoebox or a binder's space. Jot them down on paper. Mull them over a little.

Circle the ones that still matter to you.

Put a star by the ones that you'd also enjoy working on if you suddenly magically had a completely free day tomorrow.

Draw a dotted line through the ones that don't matter to you anymore.

Two Priorities: Day 1

1. Work (or, for the retired & students, Projects You Do For Others)

Carve 20 minutes out of your day somewhere (or stay late or come in early tomorrow if you have to) to think hard about a few things & take a few notes:
- that which your boss cares most about you having completed;
- that which nags at you most and which it will relieve you greatly to have completed;
- that which your boss cares about and which has been waiting for a while and which can be completed in less than an hour;
- that which will most help you be more efficient in the future;
- that which is a demonstration of the skills which are required for the position you'd like to be promoted to.

We're going to come back to these each day for the rest of the week, so keep these high-level categories in mind as you work through the days.

2. Home

Find that uncompleted project which is taking up the most space. Put in 45 minutes on it OR pack it up with a note to remind yourself of the next steps to do OR officially abandon it & get it out of the way.

Project Progress

There's a project you have that's in a partially-completed state. You know, that one you keep looking at all the time and thinking "oh jeez, I really need to get rolling on that".

Today is the day to work on it for 90 minutes straight. A good solid chunk of effort, that's what it needs.

You can go longer if you get inspired. ;)