Your most important items "to-do"

When you are triaging- remember to plan for the two most important things:

THE MOST IMPORTANT things that are not urgent

AND

BREAKS

The Eisenhower Matrix (or 4 Ds) is great for this planning (ask me if you are not familiar):

This tool helps you to separate the important from the urgent, and then, when the urgent is not important, maybe someone else can do it.  But something that is both important and urgent gets done immediately.  I did this for a committee I am on just this morning.

This means I am working RIGHT NOW is getting ready for the semester’s “correction week” and clearing my desk.

It also means today I am planning for writing and doing my fall semester syllabus, which are very important but not urgent yet.

Personally, I must write things down…

I plan and visualize with lots of writing to get things “down” and “out of my head”.

Every week I look at my week and write a master plan, plus blocks of “creative down time” if at all possible.

Then, every morning before my day starts, I re-consider my day and consider how it will go, who I will speak with, and I make a positive plan. I may write more things down, depending.

What about you?

What are the MOST IMPORTANT things that are not urgent for you? 

Maybe it is about finishing a book you need to read for work or study.

How do you plan for you MOST IMPORTANT items on your list? Do you block out certain times in the day/week/month that are sacred for these projects?

What about breaks – whether half-days, days, a mini-vacation, or a real one, they should also be scheduled and sacred.

Where can you go and what do you do to find rest and restoration? 

You need to keep taking care of yourself this summer! Don’t just trudge on!

I have a few places to retreat to and will be going to one (or both) sooner than later, but my real vacation this summer is about two weeks in Tenerife, plus a week later in August at “home” in Minnesota. 

But perhaps you can’t take a longer vacation this summer.

Maybe you can plan a long weekend of real rest but whatever it is, do it and take care of yourself.

Or you can make breaks in the day that are “sacred”, too. Tomorrow, for example, I will be on the train correcting and heading for one of my happy places and good food. 

Finally, during your daily work life, how can you calm down and refocus when you get overwhelmed? 

What are your personal go-to activities, and what can you add to change things up once in a while? 

Maybe a short walk or a 10-minute snooze are your preferred activities. 

Perhaps you can try adding a breathing exercise (like the four-square), or a quiet relaxing body scan, or listen to one (or two) encouraging short pieces of music. 

I recently read a new activity from the book, The How of Happiness by S. Lyubomirsky called a Savor Photo Album.  Take a few photos from your library (for example of your pets or your kids or holidays) and put them in that album and look at the album for a five-minute break and enjoy your wonderful memories. 

I hope that these short ideas and questions can help you to keep focused AND to have plans for the important items on your to-do list PLUS the most important item: taking care of yourself.

After all, if you are not able to do anything or only can do things poorly, then it’s time to talk to me about burnout coaching! Seriously.

Have a great week regenerative and focused and a very successful month in July!

I will be “in-and out”, so my blog may not be so regular until September (I am trying to take my own advice).

Patricia Jehle                patricia@jehle-coaching.com