Get ‘er Done!
Posted by Gail | Filed under Life Lessons
Are you a little busy? I am. I always have way more to do than can be reasonably done in a day. I set it up that way, I think, since I thrive on the challenge. But sometimes my little game gets the better of me and I find myself with waaaay too much to do.
Most of us have a dozen or twenty things we need to get done, and only enough time to do six. It’s the nature of the beast these days. And while taking time to breathe is very important – as is taking time to listen to the birds twitter, the children laugh, and the universe speak – getting that load of laundry done while putting the finishing touches on the proposal are also important.
So how do you decide what will get done and what can wait?
Sometimes it’s a matter of the level of panic in someone else’s voice, right? Like the morning Alex was late for rehearsal and needed something for lunch (she’d be there for 6 hours with no break). I heard the panic in her voice, dropped what I was doing and made her life easier. Or when Delia called me in a panic because she was feeling like the world was coming to an end and needed to get focused. I heard the panic in her voice, dropped what I was doing, and helped her find her breath. When I was done fixing what was broken, I was late! Clearly I wasn’t going to get it ALL done. So where to start? Where to focus?
It helps to know what your MUST DOs are each day. You already know that I’m the List Queen, so if it looks like one of those days when the Time Monster is going to eat me, I’ll grab a highlighter pen and run it through the three things that I just have to get done if the world is to continue spinning smoothly. Once I’ve got those three things done, I have room to manouver because the biggies are out of the way.
While I’m pretty good at ignoring distractions – I can write a story with the world chattering around me without any sense of distraction – not everyone has my blocking mechanisms. So turn off the radio, the TV, your email, your cell phone… whatever it is that keeps grabbing your attention from the Big Three you’re working on, and Get ‘Er Done!
Be honest about what you do and don’t want to do. Don’t create a mess in your own life so you have a good excuse for not doing a “chore” you wish you didn’t have to do. Judy and I were talking the other day, when she said that it really picks her butt that her sisters-in-law “don’t have time” for their mom. “There are six of them,” she said. “And I have my own mom to take care of.” Judy’s sisters-in-law are using “time” as their excuse for not doing something they don’t want to do. But it isn’t really an issue of time, it’s an issue of desire. If you don’t want to do something, you’re way better off just saying so – damn what people think – and living a real life, rather than creating a bottle-neck in your own life so you have a good excuse for not doing mom’s grocery shopping!
Make an appointment with yourself at least once a week to look at your list of things to do and prioritize, create space in your life for yourself, and make choices. This is the hardest thing I had to learn to do. It’s so much easier just being reactive. Well, maybe “easier” isn’t the right word… after all, by being reactive you’re letting yourself be tossed from hither to yon by whatever calamitous breeze is blowing. If you want to be in control, make time – even if it’s just twenty minutes – and go be by yourself so you can plan your next week’s goals. Update your To Do list, prioritize what should happen so the world doesn’t end, and build into some “Me Time” while you’re at it.
Time management is an industry full of planners, workshops and experts. But the message most people need to hear is a simple one, summed up in a song I heard years ago… I have no idea who sang it or what the name of the song is… I just remember these words…
Take your time, or time takes you, and drains your soul away.
June 15, 2009 at 7:31 am
I’m like you, Gail (I suppose many of us are)- I plan too many things in a day, and wind up short. Or my job hijacks my day or week and I wind up pushing grocery shopping back until I get off work at 11 pm [nature of the beast].
I’ve gotten better at saying “no”, and at enlisting my hubby to help me out- just last Thursday, he bailed me out of another potential pitfall-laden weekend by reminding me “hey, we already have three things scheduled for this weekend. Let’s consider ourselves booked, k?”
Unfortunately, I haven’t yet figured on a system for spreading those “no”s around- the same people or activities seem to get the short shift. It’s not necessarily on purpose, or because I don’t like spending time with those people, but you say “no” enough times, suddenly you realize it’s six months later and you feel too guilty to actually set things up again.
Suggestions for wrangling this particular beast are welcome!
June 15, 2009 at 7:43 am
My alone time is on Sunday. After coming home from church, I sit my self down and go through my list of things to do for the day, and for the week.
I figure my goals will not get achieved if I don’t plan the steps. So while I do some cooking and laundry, I try figuring out other things I need to do to get to my goals. I see what I did the week before and assess if everything has been done…if not they move forward to this week’s “to do”s.
Everyone knows not to call, come over or ask me out on Sundays. It has become a habit for me and it’s working great.
June 15, 2009 at 9:15 am
Great post Gail! Thanks for reminded us that figuring out priorities doesn’t just have to be about money – it’s about life too.
June 15, 2009 at 9:34 am
Lovely post Gail. There’s a couple great quotes below of Mark Twain’s about ‘eating your frog’ – i.e. doing the tough thing you don’t want to do – first thing in your day. I’ve found it a helpful concept.
- “If you eat a frog first thing in the morning, the rest of your day will be wonderful.”
- “If you have to eat a frog, don’t look at it for too long.”
June 15, 2009 at 10:47 am
Very good points Gail. Years ago, after my second child was born, I realized my body looked like a wet dish rag. So I started a fitness program – which I’m pleased to say I continue to this day (15 yrs later). BUT – the only way I sustain my exercise routine is to get up half an hour earlier than I used to, roll out the matt, strap on the weights and do my routine first thing in the morning (Mondays to Friday). I get that endorphine high and flat abs through this discipine. Plus I feel like I’ve already accomplished something important to me each week day.
June 15, 2009 at 10:53 am
Great post, Gail. I too make a list (weekly) and then strike out as I go along. Some weeks I don’t get thru all the chores/jobs and they r the first ones on the next week under the heading “Urgent” coz even if there is something u don’t enjoy doing &/or want to, it just sticks in yr throat every time u look at the list. So get the unpleasant job done n over with – just like eating the frog, so the rest of the day/week is productive.
June 15, 2009 at 11:23 am
Another good post, Gail.
I have been a list maker for years. I’ve often been teased about it, but hey, nothing gets missed. Like Geeta, I just move it to the next week.
I only have my ‘off’ days to get things done. My job’s hours fluctuate from day to day, and since I never know when I’ll be done, and since it’s late when I’m done, my weekends are busy.
I know what I can reasonably get done, the rest just has to wait. Most often, it is the cleaning that has to wait. My mom used to clean every saturday. I only do it about every 3 weeks. Sorry Mom.
I can see where your friend Judy gets frustrated. Older ‘kids’ not making time for their even older parents. I see it a lot. So many people say they don’t have time. You need to make the time. And that is not just between parents and children. It is between family members, and friends, too.
June 15, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Nice post Gail!! We need to be reminded that how we use our time is one of the most important things and is the foundation of our future. I’m an admin assistant and I found that although work was organized, my life wasn’t because I felt like I was at work all the time if I continued to organize at home too. Alas, I got over that, (my life is much happier for it) and I also found a website called http://www.flylady.net. The list of “Things to Do” will never go away, but there’s always another way to approach it, get things done and make your life look like you want it to.
June 15, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Thank you, Gail. This is EXACTLY what I need to hear today! : )
June 15, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Type A OCD’er here.
There is a quote, the author unknown to me, but it goes something like…
Those who say it can’t be done, are usually standing in the way of somebody doing it.
And my favorite,
If you want something done, give it to a busy person.
I get highly frustrated with people who cannot just do it! ( Nike my cheque can be mailed to….)
Stop whining. Stop making excuses. Stop planning and execute.
Deciding to do something is always harder than actually doing it!
Your show proves that in spades.
June 15, 2009 at 9:25 pm
I like my lists and I tend to take on way to much all the time, but I thrive on being busy. I hate sitting still.
Making time for me is such a challenge. I just recently switched to full time, and now work days, where I did work until 10pm. It’s been an adjustment to get use to my new hours and figure out a household routine. When I get home from work my 3 yr old wants my undevided attention, which is only fair.
Now I’m trying to find a balance for exercise. I need to workout and I want to workout. I’m trying really hard to learn to be a morning exerciser! Wish me luck! It needs to become a ‘MUST DO’ on my list.
~Speaking of must do – I better get to bed so I can exercise in the morning! lol!
June 16, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Gail, this is great advice. I did it today and got so much accomplished. I am forever creating lists, but sometimes they do get overwhelming and I can’t focus. This is an easy visual way to prioritize my tasks for the day. Thank you!
June 16, 2009 at 11:03 pm
[...] reading a great post by Gail Vaz Oxlade, I took her advice. Of my long list of things to do, I grabbed my pink [...]