Simply Me 3,2,1 go
6:09 PM Posted In simply me , time management Edit This
Time is on my side... Perhaps it's on Mick Jagger's side but not anyone else's. Time waits for no man.
True. I am not getting any younger. I can't just hope my health will return to a state of wellness and I will be well. I can pray, I do have faith and I do trust God to answer my prayers. He has been a faithful God and always answers my prayers. Maybe not the way that I hoped but always the way that I needed because I trust Him. Yes, He can do miracles. But, really, do I even want to pray for Him to just give me something in the form of divine intervention that he has given me the resources to get or achieve myself? He's not just handing it to me on a platter as some people may believe God works. The bodies He blessed us with have healthy limits for what we do on the outside with them and what we put on the inside of them. If we go beyond those boundaries we must pay the consequences. Ill health will surely follow, then attention must be paid in order to not become unwell to the point of disease that we may not be able to help ourselves with. He has given me the tools to make those positive changes and attain that which I'm praying for and that which I need. He's given me three things to make it happen. The place to start is here~ the place to begin is now~ and I'm the one that can make these changes happen when I trust God and make best use of the gifts He has given me. I have faith... so, 3, 2, 1...here I GO!
Since time is the one thing that waits for no one, I have to MAKE it be on my side. The only way to do that is time management. I need to organize my plan for wellness and break it down into manageable parts. Otherwise known as identifying values, writing a mission statement and creating a plan of action with an attainable completion date.
There's a book I've been reading called "Learn to Manage Your Time" by Lucy MacDonald. She suggests that the starting place for managing our time is to learn to set limits for ourselves and learn to say no to ourselves and others. If you add something to your schedule you need to remove something that consumes the same time and energy. This is also a great stress management technique.
She also says that if you don't know where you are going how will you know when you arrive. Thus the need for a mission statement and goal setting. We need to get beyond the 'first generation' time management approach where there is no specific time allotted for specific tasks and no priorities indicated on 'to-do lists' and reminders. So, if things don't get done today, you put it on tomorrow's list. The second generation of time management plans and prepares. Meetings, appointments are the only things that are scheduled in their calendars and agendas. The third generation adds controlling and prioritizing and misses spending time on what is most important. Steven Covey, author of "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" added a fourth generation of management. It includes managing your time and your life. It helps us not only in doing what matters most, but that we are doing it well. This is value based time management. Our time use choices are based on our personal and professional priorities. I learned about the four categories of time use. (taken directly from the book) They are;
1. Important and Not Urgent Priority Principle: *managing your time as an extension of your values and priorities *being able to focus on what you are doing without the fear that you should be doing something else *including time for relationships ie: balancing work and personal time; scheduling time for relaxation, physical fitness, personal growth and development
2. Important and Urgent: *giving your immediate attention and dropping everything else ie: medical emergencies, deadlines, family or relationship crises
3. Not Important and Urgent-Distractions as Denial: *responding immediately to all distractions and emergencies, attending all meetings ie: answering all emails and phone calls as they come in, regardless of who they are from, going out to dinner 3-4 times a week with friends/colleagues
4. Not Important and Not Urgent- Busy with the "Trivial Many": * spending time on things that make little or no contribution to your quality of life ie: playing games on your computer, doing activities that don't help you attain your goals
The category one principles are what we should use to create our life. We need to be an effective category two crisis manager and avoid useless distractions. This will help us to create order and balance between different areas of our lives and will help us accomplish our life goals. We will be managing our time effectively and be more in control of our lives with the benefit of fewer crises to deal with.
Next, it's time to determine my values so I can live with my priorities in mind. My values are the beliefs that reflect my definition of a meaningful life and drive my behaviour. Once I have done that allocating my time will become easier. I will also experience physiological discomfort when I spend time on unimportant tasks. I will become sensitized to the good feelings that emerge as a result.
A mission statement is my life purpose that is my passion and its benefit to others. Once I have determined this I will be inspired and reminded of what's important in my life.
After making my list of values and my mission statement I can work on my 'plan'. For me, my plan for wellness. This seems like a daunting task but I have given myself until my Wellness Wednesday to put it together so I can be like Finegan and begin again.
My list of values, mission statement and attainable plan with a completion date are next on my list of 'to-do's' so, I'll be off to do that now and let you know next week how I made out. Until then.. Simply.Marie
True. I am not getting any younger. I can't just hope my health will return to a state of wellness and I will be well. I can pray, I do have faith and I do trust God to answer my prayers. He has been a faithful God and always answers my prayers. Maybe not the way that I hoped but always the way that I needed because I trust Him. Yes, He can do miracles. But, really, do I even want to pray for Him to just give me something in the form of divine intervention that he has given me the resources to get or achieve myself? He's not just handing it to me on a platter as some people may believe God works. The bodies He blessed us with have healthy limits for what we do on the outside with them and what we put on the inside of them. If we go beyond those boundaries we must pay the consequences. Ill health will surely follow, then attention must be paid in order to not become unwell to the point of disease that we may not be able to help ourselves with. He has given me the tools to make those positive changes and attain that which I'm praying for and that which I need. He's given me three things to make it happen. The place to start is here~ the place to begin is now~ and I'm the one that can make these changes happen when I trust God and make best use of the gifts He has given me. I have faith... so, 3, 2, 1...here I GO!
Since time is the one thing that waits for no one, I have to MAKE it be on my side. The only way to do that is time management. I need to organize my plan for wellness and break it down into manageable parts. Otherwise known as identifying values, writing a mission statement and creating a plan of action with an attainable completion date.
There's a book I've been reading called "Learn to Manage Your Time" by Lucy MacDonald. She suggests that the starting place for managing our time is to learn to set limits for ourselves and learn to say no to ourselves and others. If you add something to your schedule you need to remove something that consumes the same time and energy. This is also a great stress management technique.
She also says that if you don't know where you are going how will you know when you arrive. Thus the need for a mission statement and goal setting. We need to get beyond the 'first generation' time management approach where there is no specific time allotted for specific tasks and no priorities indicated on 'to-do lists' and reminders. So, if things don't get done today, you put it on tomorrow's list. The second generation of time management plans and prepares. Meetings, appointments are the only things that are scheduled in their calendars and agendas. The third generation adds controlling and prioritizing and misses spending time on what is most important. Steven Covey, author of "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" added a fourth generation of management. It includes managing your time and your life. It helps us not only in doing what matters most, but that we are doing it well. This is value based time management. Our time use choices are based on our personal and professional priorities. I learned about the four categories of time use. (taken directly from the book) They are;
1. Important and Not Urgent Priority Principle: *managing your time as an extension of your values and priorities *being able to focus on what you are doing without the fear that you should be doing something else *including time for relationships ie: balancing work and personal time; scheduling time for relaxation, physical fitness, personal growth and development
2. Important and Urgent: *giving your immediate attention and dropping everything else ie: medical emergencies, deadlines, family or relationship crises
3. Not Important and Urgent-Distractions as Denial: *responding immediately to all distractions and emergencies, attending all meetings ie: answering all emails and phone calls as they come in, regardless of who they are from, going out to dinner 3-4 times a week with friends/colleagues
4. Not Important and Not Urgent- Busy with the "Trivial Many": * spending time on things that make little or no contribution to your quality of life ie: playing games on your computer, doing activities that don't help you attain your goals
The category one principles are what we should use to create our life. We need to be an effective category two crisis manager and avoid useless distractions. This will help us to create order and balance between different areas of our lives and will help us accomplish our life goals. We will be managing our time effectively and be more in control of our lives with the benefit of fewer crises to deal with.
Next, it's time to determine my values so I can live with my priorities in mind. My values are the beliefs that reflect my definition of a meaningful life and drive my behaviour. Once I have done that allocating my time will become easier. I will also experience physiological discomfort when I spend time on unimportant tasks. I will become sensitized to the good feelings that emerge as a result.
A mission statement is my life purpose that is my passion and its benefit to others. Once I have determined this I will be inspired and reminded of what's important in my life.
After making my list of values and my mission statement I can work on my 'plan'. For me, my plan for wellness. This seems like a daunting task but I have given myself until my Wellness Wednesday to put it together so I can be like Finegan and begin again.
My list of values, mission statement and attainable plan with a completion date are next on my list of 'to-do's' so, I'll be off to do that now and let you know next week how I made out. Until then.. Simply.Marie
