An important topic for all of us as we get older is figuring out how to organize our stuff, organize our schedules, or just organizing our day. I am a firm believer in lists (if I don’t put it on the list it doesn’t get done I fear). For myself I find that I can be much more productive if I plan and organize than if I just let the days, weeks or projects happen as they may.
The reason I bring this topic up this week is that my interest was piqued this week by an article that talked about an organizing technique that sounded like a good one to remember. It is called the ABCDE method. This is from a business email I received this week and the article was written by Brian Tracy.
Use the example of making a list of all the things you have on your to-do list. Then designate the items by the following method:
A: “A’s” are must do items – very important. Serious consequences if you don’t do it. If you have more than one of these you should assign a priorty to these as well. (For example: A-1, A-2, A-3)
B: “B” items are ones you should do but have only minor consequences if not done. This might be returning an unimportant phone message or email. You should not be doing a B item if you have A’s left to do!
C: These “C” tasks have no consequences if not completed. Nice to do but not necessary. As with the B tasks, you shouldn’t be working on C items if there are A’s or B’s left to do.
D: A “D” activity is something you could delegate to someone else. For many of us asking someone else to do something is not in our nature but many parts of our life this is an important skill to learn as we get older. Whether you are paying someone or asking a friend to help (Such as cleaning or repairing something) is important to do as in normal aging we become less able to “do everything ourselves”.
E: “E” is for Eliminate. What can you stop doing that is no longer necessary. An example in Stillwaters might be the need to stop doing extra gardening (vegetable or flower), if your time and energy don’t allow.
I am going to give it a try and see if this helps me accomplish more without working harder! As the author of this idea says “if you react and respond to your day based on demands on your time (phones ringing, doorbells chiming or just plain trying to decide where to start on your projects) you will quickly lose control of your day.” Translated for me means “the day will go by with no sense of accomplishment.”
Quote of the Week:
“The first law of success is concentration – to bend all energies to one point, and to go directly to that point, looking neither to the right or the the left.” – William Mathews
Enjoy the week ahead! We are to have sunny weather starting on Sunday and well into the week. Warm weather Monday and Tuesday! At last!
