Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - June 29th

No one stumbles upon significance.  We have to be intentional about making our lives matter.  That calls for action-and not excuses.  Most people don’t know this, but it's easier to go from failure to success than from excuses to success. – John C. Maxwell in Intentional Living - Choosing a Life that Matters (p. 8)

 Every minute you spend in planning saves 10 minutes in execution; this gives you a 1,000 percent Return on Energy! - Brian Tracy

Time has been set aside each Sunday to plan the week. As life comes along, it is inevitable that there will be competing priorities and decisions will have to be made to determine what is significant and important to complete.  

 

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34^th President of the United States. Before that, he was a general in the United States Army and was the Allied Forces Supreme Commander during World War II.  Additionally, he served as the first supreme commander of NATO.  In these various roles, he had to make many decisions and had many tasks that seemed urgent.  To help him determine what was significant and a priority, he created the Eisenhower Matrix(illustration from: The Eisenhower Matrix: Introduction & 3-Minute Video Tutorial) .  Through this matrix, he was able to determine what he needed to do immediately, what he needed to schedule, what someone else could complete and what did not need to be done at all. 

 

What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important. ― Dwight D. Eisenhower

As the reader continues on the journey to accomplishing their dreams, difficult decisions will have to be made in regards to priorities.  The Eisenhower Matrix is a great resource to use when creating the weekly plan and when other tasks come up to help stay focused and determine what to complete.

The world’s greatest achievers have been those who have always stayed focused on their goals and have been consistent in their efforts. ― Dr. Roopleen

 

ACTION:  How can you incorporate the Eisenhower Matrix into your life?

 

 

Resources

·       Maxwell, John. (2015).  Intentional Living – Choosing a Life that Matters.  Center Street.   

·       https://ericgeiger.com/2015/04/eisenhower-matrix-three-thoughts-leaders/

·       https://www.planplusonline.com/minute-spend-planning-saves-ten-minutes-execution/

·       http://crossbridgediscipleshipschool.weebly.com/uploads/7/8/2/3/78234118/tyranny_of_the_urgent.pdf

·       https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=roy+vaden+ted+talk&docid=608023298824688536&mid=B513A02D71FBE0D817B3B513A02D71FBE0D817B3&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

·       https://www.eisenhower.me/eisenhower-matrix/

·       https://toggl.com/blog/tyranny-of-the-urgent#:~:text=The%20term%20%E2%80%9Ctyranny%20of%20the%20urgent%E2%80%9D%20was%20first,life%20take%20a%20backseat%20to%20the%20urgent%20ones.

·       https://productivephysician.com/procrastinate-on-purpose/#Significance

·       Vaden, Rory. (2015).  Procrastinate on Purpose. 5 Permissions to Multiply Your Time.  Penguin Random House.

·       https://johnmaxwellteam.com/2021-winning/?c=jmax-em-np-bo&jmtc=mwm-word&jmta=mwm-word-cta/

·       http://www.jerryachadwick.com/article_18.pdf

·       https://www.teamnationalusa.com/Who-we-are/Blog/post/can-you-jig-it

·       https://littlechoicesmatter.com/sunday-planner-printable-and-fillable-pdf/

·       https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-uber-successfuls-guide-to-faster-better-easier/id1449270369?i=1000524935400 

·       https://impossiblehq.com/pomodoro-technique/

·       https://www.askdifference.com/process-vs-routine/

·       https://www.success.com/the-success-line-episode-02-putting-process-before-results-with-stacie/

·       https://quickbooost.com/parkinsons-law/

·       https://impossiblehq.com/parkinsons-law/

·       https://www.lifehack.org/articles/featured/how-to-use-parkinsons-law-to-your-advantage.html#:~:text=How%20to%20Use%20Parkinson%E2%80%99s%20Law%20to%20Get%20More,...%204%20More%20Tips%20on%20Being%20Productive.%20

·       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson's_law

  

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - June 22nd

Your greatest danger is letting the urgent things crowd out the important. - Charles E. Hummel, Tyranny of the Urgent

 There is an insidious tendency to neglect important tasks that do not have to be done today—or even this week. -  Charles E. Hummel, Tyranny of the Urgent

 

As summer officially started on June 20, 2021, fun is in full swing and we need to take every opportunity to get our “toes in the sand”.  At least that is what the author plans to do!  During this time when we all have competing priorities, it is important that we do as Rory Vaden stated in Procrastinate on Purpose (p. 31):

…being effective by focusing first on what matters most.

Each of us will have different priorities and it is important to reflect on what is important such as faith, family, future, finances, etc.  Then, we focus on what is significant for the week.  Last week’s topic discussed creating a process for scheduling the week, which is the reader’s guide to accomplishing the significant and important tasks.  As the week begins, the reader knows what needs to be accomplished, but it is very easy to be distracted by the “urgent”.  When the employee completed the assignment in 24 hours versus 2 weeks (June 8, 2021 – Terri’s Tuesday Tip of the Week), the individual did not allow anything to distract them from accomplishing the assignment.  Daily, we all have tasks/activities that may seem urgent to us or may seem urgent to someone else when they ask us to complete it.  At these times, we must take time to filter out the urgent matters and focus on those tasks/activities that will have lasting impact on our lives in the short term, long term and help us as we continue on the journey to accomplish our dreams.  Rory Vaden believes:

If Urgency is “how soon does this matter?”

And Importance is “how much does this matter?”

Then Significance is “how long is this going to matter?”

ACTION: What activities did you enter on your schedule this week that will be “significant”?  What additional activities can you add to make a difference this week?

 

 

Resources

·       https://www.planplusonline.com/minute-spend-planning-saves-ten-minutes-execution/

·       http://crossbridgediscipleshipschool.weebly.com/uploads/7/8/2/3/78234118/tyranny_of_the_urgent.pdf

·       https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=roy+vaden+ted+talk&docid=608023298824688536&mid=B513A02D71FBE0D817B3B513A02D71FBE0D817B3&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

·       https://www.eisenhower.me/eisenhower-matrix/

·       https://toggl.com/blog/tyranny-of-the-urgent#:~:text=The%20term%20%E2%80%9Ctyranny%20of%20the%20urgent%E2%80%9D%20was%20first,life%20take%20a%20backseat%20to%20the%20urgent%20ones.

·       https://productivephysician.com/procrastinate-on-purpose/#Significance

·       Vaden, Rory. (2015).  Procrastinate on Purpose. 5 Permissions to Multiply Your Time.  Penguin Random House.

·       https://johnmaxwellteam.com/2021-winning/?c=jmax-em-np-bo&jmtc=mwm-word&jmta=mwm-word-cta/

·       http://www.jerryachadwick.com/article_18.pdf

·       https://www.teamnationalusa.com/Who-we-are/Blog/post/can-you-jig-it

·       https://littlechoicesmatter.com/sunday-planner-printable-and-fillable-pdf/

·       https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-uber-successfuls-guide-to-faster-better-easier/id1449270369?i=1000524935400 

·       https://impossiblehq.com/pomodoro-technique/

·       https://www.askdifference.com/process-vs-routine/

·       https://www.success.com/the-success-line-episode-02-putting-process-before-results-with-stacie/

·       https://quickbooost.com/parkinsons-law/

·       https://impossiblehq.com/parkinsons-law/

·       https://www.lifehack.org/articles/featured/how-to-use-parkinsons-law-to-your-advantage.html#:~:text=How%20to%20Use%20Parkinson%E2%80%99s%20Law%20to%20Get%20More,...%204%20More%20Tips%20on%20Being%20Productive.%20

·       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson's_law 

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - June 15th

 

If you quit on the process, you are quitting on the result. - Idowu Koyenikan, Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability

 Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential. - Winston Churchill

 

To ensure that Parkinson’s law does not rule the lives of dreamers, it is important to implement processes.  According to Rory Vaden in Procrastinate on Purpose (p. 14):

 Anything you create a process for today saves you time tomorrow.

As the author was scrutinizing the above quote, she contemplated the difference between a process and routine.  Process is a set of steps or actions that produce a result; whereas, a routine is a course of action to be followed on a consistent basis. 

Darren Hardy calls his weekly planning process the “jig”.  On Sunday, he spends 30 minutes planning his week to help stay focused on only the essential priorities for that week so that he can “execute with excellence” and not stray from his planned course of action.  By planning the week, his “jig” guides him on executing the priority actions, which helps reduce the effort and energy he must expound.

For the author, she has learned that spending an hour or two on Sunday planning her week at work reduces her stress for the coming week.  Additionally, there is a ripple down effect.  When the author spends time on Sunday cleaning up email and creating a to-do list for the week at work, her days are shorter allowing her to spend more time during the week reading and working on her personal goals. 

The author is not a fan of working on Sundays as she needs down time; however, the process ends up saving her time in the long run. 

 

I miss the process of doing the things we need to do to get to where we need to go. – John Maxwell on behalf of Coach Wooden

 

ACTION: What process do you follow to plan your week to help reduce stress and ensure you execute on all necessary tasks?  If you do not have one, create one this week to help plan your life to move closer to accomplishing your goals for 2021.

 

 

Resources

·       Vaden, Rory. (2015).  Procrastinate on Purpose. 5 Permissions to Multiply Your Time.  Penguin Random House.

·       https://johnmaxwellteam.com/2021-winning/?c=jmax-em-np-bo&jmtc=mwm-word&jmta=mwm-word-cta/

·       https://www.teamnationalusa.com/Who-we-are/Blog/post/can-you-jig-it

·       https://littlechoicesmatter.com/sunday-planner-printable-and-fillable-pdf/

·       Darren Hardy - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-uber-successfuls-guide-to-faster-better-easier/id1449270369?i=1000524935400 

·       https://impossiblehq.com/pomodoro-technique/

·       https://www.askdifference.com/process-vs-routine/

·       https://www.success.com/the-success-line-episode-02-putting-process-before-results-with-stacie/

·       https://quickbooost.com/parkinsons-law/

·       https://impossiblehq.com/parkinsons-law/

·       https://www.lifehack.org/articles/featured/how-to-use-parkinsons-law-to-your-advantage.html#:~:text=How%20to%20Use%20Parkinson%E2%80%99s%20Law%20to%20Get%20More,...%204%20More%20Tips%20on%20Being%20Productive.%20

·       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson's_law

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - June 8th

The more time you have to do things, the less you are able to get done. ― Joyce Rachelle

If you want to double your productively, shorten the timeline to by 50%. ― Richie Norton

Does this sound familiar?  A deadline was provided for an assignment to be due in a week and everything seems good.  The reader goes to lunch relaxed and when the reader returns their boss tells them the project needs to be completed by noon the next day.  The reader spends every waking moment to get the project done by the deadline.  For something that originally was expected to take a week to only take 24 hours to complete, how is it possible to accomplish the task in such a short amount of time? 

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. — Parkinson's law

This statement was made by Cyril Northcote Parkinson, a famous British historian and author, in The Economist in 1955.  Now known as Parkinson’s law, the original intent of the statement was his perspective on bureaucracy in an organization.  Parkinson had worked in British Civil Service for a long time and was very knowledgeable to make this statement.  He saw how the belief that working harder was more advantageous that it was to work smarter and more effectively.  If someone is given an easy task that has an extended deadline, the individual will end up making the task difficult and intimidating to take the full time given to complete it.   

Why is this important to understand?  For dreamers that are on the journey of chasing their dreams, it is important that they do not comply with Parkinson’s Law.  We need to set timeframes for completion of tasks so that we can work on other activities that allow us to accomplish our dreams and goals. 

As our country comes out of the pandemic and life is about to change, it is important that we set timeframes around our work schedules.  For the author, she expanded her time at work during the pandemic since she does not have to commute into the office.  She has become accustomed to working 10 and 11 hours, which will not allow for her dreams to come true.  Last week, she accomplished a big goal of not starting to work until 7am.  By spending 30 minutes less on work, she has been challenged to focus on the significant tasks that she needs to complete.  After incorporating this change, she actually felt different by spending less time on her work computer and she has more time to read and work on accomplishing her dreams. 

If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. The more things you do, the more you can do. - Lucille Ball

 

ACTION: How have you incorporated Parkinson’s law into your life and not realized it?  What changes can you make this week to reframe your time to focus more on accomplishing your dreams and goals?

Resources

·       https://quickbooost.com/parkinsons-law/

·       https://impossiblehq.com/parkinsons-law/

·       https://www.lifehack.org/articles/featured/how-to-use-parkinsons-law-to-your-advantage.html#:~:text=How%20to%20Use%20Parkinson%E2%80%99s%20Law%20to%20Get%20More,...%204%20More%20Tips%20on%20Being%20Productive.%20

·       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson's_law

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - June 1st

 No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it. -  H. E. Luccock, Professor

Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people. - Steve Jobs, Founder

 

In 1962 when President Kennedy was touring NASA for the first time, he stopped a janitor walking down the hallway with a mop.  The President inquired about his role at NASA.  The janitor responded saying, “I’m helping put a man on the moon”.  The man knew his purpose and understood that as part of the team he was making a difference.

 

The same is true for Navy SEALs.  Each SEAL has specific responsibilities on the mission and knows his purpose.  He trains for his purpose, but is also flexible and adaptable to help his teammates because of his training and mental toughness.    

 

Terri’s Tuesday Tip of the Week regularly talks about pursuing dreams and goals.  It is important to remember that most of our dreams cannot be accomplished alone.  We need to know our purpose so that we can accomplish our dreams and help others accomplish theirs also.

 

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. - Helen Keller, Activist & Teacher

 

ACTION: Take 1 action this week that will help someone else accomplish their goals and dreams.

Resource

·       https://fromthegreennotebook.com/2017/11/04/the-janitor-who-help-put-a-man-on-the-moon/