OK, before you judge me as heartless, read on. (Yes, this is my Heart blog rotation of topics – awesome.)
It is still an amazement to me how “busy” I am at this season of my life. So I walk through the “Getting Things Done” (by David Allen) process trying to somehow get down to the promised easy-peasy workflow. There is a step where you pour all your projects, to-do’s, tasks on your mind onto a list or other trusted space – the goal is to get a clear head so you can concentrate on just the top 2-3 things. That is all we have space for if we want to be productive.
I can do that. I can isolate the top 3 items calling, no, it’s more like howling, my name. Way behind – but I know these have to be done. Meanwhile, I have to walk through the living room to the kitchen to fill my water bottle – can’t start a task dehydrated, you know.
And what do I see along the way? Yes, the Christmas cactus my sister gave me 4-5 years ago. It bloomed beautifully for years and all I had to do was pour a little water here and there. And then, while I was out of town, the caretaker didn’t quite follow instructions. Don’t know what happened, but it quickly went downhill –drooping sadly, turning dark, looking diseased.
For months now, I have walked by, often muttering to myself one of these — “I need to research how to revive it”, “I probably need to re-pot it”, “guess I need to buy some potting soil” and with a sigh, the thought “I don’t have time to deal with this type of thing – that’s what eats up my time”! Result? Frustration and no action.
Back to my efforts to whittle down the clutter in my office and the pile of tasks waiting for attention. What do most of the “helpful” time management teachings say? Start with your goals and let those guide your prioritizing. OK, my daily devotional time has helped me define my focus, my goal: bringing myself and others into Christian maturity. How broad can you get, anyway?
Then you are to take that goal down to what next step is necessary to move you toward it. Then prioritize those – again, only 2-3 top ones each day. Easy for them to say. That sad-sack drooping black-leaved cactus is staring at me every time I walk by.
I have shared that I am teaching a course called “Create Your Life-Story in 3 Easy Steps Without the Overwhelm”. We are in the last week of delivering the 6 weeks of content. I realize that I am not the only one whose time is being robbed by what my clients are calling “life”. That is the overwhelm that stops them being productive in their Life-Story work.
Certainly, some events are huge and call for full-out attention – no question. But most of the time, I hear from my clients about other interventions pulling them away from getting the planned photobook work done. You can set priorities but then there are a ton of disruptive things that come along – not to mention emails piling up, texts dinging phones regularly, other more enticingly fun events waving at us. And for others, I am sure they had their share of “sickly Christmas cactus” situations around their house, too.
And “reviving the Christmas cactus” is never going to rise to the top of my priority list. Then it hit me – it is the multitude of “Christmas cactus” situations that I need to decide whether or not they should take 30 min to an hour of my time. It IS a choice.
As J. D. Roth said “It’s not what we say is a priority, but what we actually DO that’s a priority.” I had to look back at where I spent my time – those were my priorities. If I need to adjust, I need to adjust it with those actions in mind. And finishing my friend’s Life-Story book balanced against the multiple “Christmas cactus” tasks in my life? No question.
It took all of 30 seconds to dispose of the cactus, move another thriving plant into the pot, and walk away. Done! Ready to jump into the high priority list that included my friend’s Life-Story photobook. I wasted enough time and energy on that sad cactus.
When you think of creating your Life-Story (either in stories or photos along with those stories), in your own way, or even following my system – what happens? How big is that priority?
Or even deciding what happens to your photos – are they still buried in boxes in your basement? Or lost in the digital cloud of wherever they ended up when you dumped your camera card or your phone photos?
How big is that priority?
It made some of my decisions as to where to spend my time easier when I weighed the item on my priority list – weighing a priority against the “Christmas cactus” task that had robbed my decision-making energy and thinking/stressing brain time. Good – that will help me make quick disposal of several things on my list.
But then there was the next step I took – reading the quote about my priority being demonstrated by what I actually DID made me sit down and make a list of where I spent my time that day. Wow – were those really my priorities? What am I going to do about that?
I beg of you to add one more question as you revise your working priorities list –
What meanings behind the photos and what stories will die inside me if I don’t preserve them for future generations?
As my years on this earth narrow down in number, it is helpful for me to narrow down to my truly important priorities. May He guide us all to choose wisely and act accordingly.
My challenge? Pick one story or one photo and place them on a page or in a folder along with your memories of them, your insight to them, your knowledge of what was important in them and how they impacted you. Put it in a drawer where it is certain to be found by your loved ones who survive you. GOOD WORK! One step at a time.
