Time To THINK
My kids have heard me say it a million times. I was born lazy. I made a promise to myself at age 18. After college, I was never going to wash another dish, mow another lawn, work on or wash another car, or shine another pair of shoes. I have come pretty close to observing those promises.
In order to be as lazy as I wanted to be, I had to attend seven years of college and work 60 hour weeks for 5 years after law school. It took a bunch of work to even approach my goal, but each year I'm closer to it.
One of the most important ways to cut down on hard work is to be sure you are doing the right kind of work. I have to admit that I'd forgotten this principle that I used to use so well. But once again, these old success books are coming in handy.
Almost all of us, including this author, come in each morning with an agenda that we "need" to accomplish. Much of that agenda is busy work. Some may be creative. Let me guess. You do the busy work first, allowing for many interruptions from phone calls, e-mails, and co-workers. If there is any time left over, you make cold or semi-cold calls. Of course, you go on appointments. Creative work and projects are left for any time that hasn't been consumed by the above. (I forgot to mention, wasted time, personal phone calls, etc.)
Nowhere in that schedule is time to reflect, contemplate, think, plan, analyze, or just let the creative juices take over.
The really successful folks do the contemplative things first thing in the morning. Maybe even at home. It can be prayer, meditation, or personal brainstorming. You set a little mini agenda for yourself, and relax. If its prayer time, ask God for His help in making decisions or setting priorities. If it meditation or personal brainstorming, try to get into an alpha state. Clear your mind of all distractions, and don't TRY to think of a solution. Let the solutions come from deep within the grey matter.
Not everyone who does the above does it first thing in the morning. It can be 15 minutes in the middle of the day. It can be while laying in bed before you fall asleep. (That was my time for many years.)
The most amazing part about this approach is that the hour you put in will save you many hours later. Even more amazing is how quickly we forget some of these lessons, even when they have been extremely effective.
In order to be as lazy as I wanted to be, I had to attend seven years of college and work 60 hour weeks for 5 years after law school. It took a bunch of work to even approach my goal, but each year I'm closer to it.
One of the most important ways to cut down on hard work is to be sure you are doing the right kind of work. I have to admit that I'd forgotten this principle that I used to use so well. But once again, these old success books are coming in handy.
Almost all of us, including this author, come in each morning with an agenda that we "need" to accomplish. Much of that agenda is busy work. Some may be creative. Let me guess. You do the busy work first, allowing for many interruptions from phone calls, e-mails, and co-workers. If there is any time left over, you make cold or semi-cold calls. Of course, you go on appointments. Creative work and projects are left for any time that hasn't been consumed by the above. (I forgot to mention, wasted time, personal phone calls, etc.)
Nowhere in that schedule is time to reflect, contemplate, think, plan, analyze, or just let the creative juices take over.
The really successful folks do the contemplative things first thing in the morning. Maybe even at home. It can be prayer, meditation, or personal brainstorming. You set a little mini agenda for yourself, and relax. If its prayer time, ask God for His help in making decisions or setting priorities. If it meditation or personal brainstorming, try to get into an alpha state. Clear your mind of all distractions, and don't TRY to think of a solution. Let the solutions come from deep within the grey matter.
Not everyone who does the above does it first thing in the morning. It can be 15 minutes in the middle of the day. It can be while laying in bed before you fall asleep. (That was my time for many years.)
The most amazing part about this approach is that the hour you put in will save you many hours later. Even more amazing is how quickly we forget some of these lessons, even when they have been extremely effective.
posted by Randy W. Kirk at 4:25 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home