My NOT to do list

Does your To Do List haunt you? Are there single items on your list that never go away? Maybe you don't even write it down anymore, you know it is there, sticking its tongue out at you.

My home office is a complete disaster area. It also serves as my closet, junk room and bio-hazard waste collection facility. I am not proud of this. I keep the door shut. I redeem myself by saying that it is on the top of my To Do List. The actual task on the list reads something like "Redo office". In my mind's eye I convert it into the perfect multi-functioning work space for me and my stuff, decorated by a professional designer with built in closets, a fabulous and spartan desk, the breeze making it's way through the sheer curtains billowing behind me as I prep for work or pay my bills. Is that lavender in the air?

I'm taking this off my To Do List. I beat myself up everyday about this complete and utter failure of mine. Instead, I am writing "Clean My Room" on my To Do List and "Renovate/redecorate/transform home office" now moves to the tippy top of my Not To Do List. I just can't take the pressure. We need to be realistic.

Would you feel relieved by taking one or two items off your To Do List? Are you really going to get to them anytime before the paper the list is on begins decomposing? Maybe you have a project at work that you want to get to when things slow down. Ha! Take it off the Good Girl To Do List and plant it where it belongs: the Not To Do List. Maybe you would be more comfortable with my Not To Do NOW List or perhaps my To Do Later List?

I'm looking at it this way, I have eliminated a distraction from getting my more important things done. We will all be more productive if we stay free of the quicksand of unrealistic chore lists.

Please feel free to use some of my Not To Do List items:

1. Organize an end of year class party for my daughter
2. Write a book this year
3. Organize all family photos and mementos into beautiful scrapbooks
4. Create a mission statement
5. Handwrite and send at least 10 thank you notes each week
6. Call distant relatives just to check in
7. Become a vegetarian
8. Become an athletic woman
9. Face up to the junk under my bed.
10. Run for political office
11. There's more, of course, but I have things that I DO have to do.
    

Chick in Charge of Time

Time is money.
Time is money!
Time is money?

However you approach the phrase, it may help you to think of the value of your time as, well... actual cash. I'm not thinking of billable hours or the income you can produce in an hour, but the satisfaction of being alive for that day, hour or minute.

We all have the same time budget, 24 hours each day, 7 days each week, and so on. How do you spend your time? Does your spending align with your values and priorities? Like anything else, our priorities shift with. Have you adjusted your time spending as well?

Routines are hard to change and can become written in stone simply because we are creatures of habit.

Here are two examples:

On the professional side: Sarah has always done the bookkeeping for her pottery supply business. She was told early on that this was a simple task with QuickBooks and that it was extremely important to have a complete understanding and awareness of the business finances. As much as Sarah hates bookkeeping, she accepted that it simply must be done. Over the years, the business has grown and now she finds that 40% of her time goes to managing the books, payroll, accounts receivables.

At home: Sarah has always felt that girlfriend time is sacred. Her work is very draining and she has been committed to keeping up with her monthly book club. She always comes prepared, having read the book selection if she wanted to or not. With the business growing, her girlfriend time is more limited, and the reading time is keeping her up nights, furiously trying to finish each book. Sarah considers dropping out, but she adores the time with her friends.

What to do: If time gobblers are causing you stress, give the situation some perspective. Why are you doing things this way? What do I gain from this? How could I change things and still get what I want? Sometimes, just explaining the situation to a friend, thinking out loud, can bring clarity you were missing.

Poor Sarah! Clearly she needs to either hire a bookkeeper or outsource the work. Every business owner goes through this growing pain and the bookkeeping is the first thing to unload from the owner's list of responsibilities. For many in her shoes, NOT hiring a bookkeeper has stunted the growth of the business because the owner was too busy sweating the drudgery.

As for the book club, she may be surprised to find that her friends feel the same way she does. She needs to try converting the book club into something that works for her. Maybe the restaurant of the month dining club? A wine tasting group? Her club isn't the problem, the BOOK is.

Finding time. Take a moment to consider your weekly or monthly obligations. Are they truly a good use of your time or fruitless routines? Is the annual vacation with your old college roommates really where you want to be each year, or is it one of those, "But we ALWAYS go to Vegas the 3rd week of whatever!"?

What about the morning sales meeting? Could it be 3 times a week? Does it really need to be EVERY day. Are you missing out on your kid's bedtime because of a silly TV show that you USED to like. Old habits die hard. Clean up your calendar!