Thought of the Day 9/20

Prioritizing Your Priorities

“Time is one of the most precious things in life. It can’t be replaced, and you can’t get it back. To give someone your time is to say you are important to me, and I am giving part of myself to you.” - Rodney Williams

I had lunch with Scott, my nephew in law, the other day. It’s a little funny that he works pretty close to my house, but this was the first time in six years that we’ve had lunch. We talked about a great number of things, but one in particular that I honed in on was the ole getting your hands around everything. Just how do you prioritize your priorities?

Assigning priorities is crucial to keeping the clouds and chatter in the ole brain to a manageable level. Since I’m an engineer type, I use a task list to keep me focused. Sometimes it is a physical “to do” list and other times just a mental check list. Personally, I’ve found the list keeps me on task and limits the amount of tangents going on. I apply the list to all aspects of my life not just physical things I do like grocery shopping, the cleaners, etc. If I have something personal/emotional that I’m working through, I still keep it on a mental list. Why? It is still something I need to address and complete. Sometimes they are not always pleasant but still things I need to do. If I don’t clear them off the list, they build up and boil over. It’s back to what Sue said in the TOD yesterday. We tend to avoid things we think will cause conflict. Avoiding the conflict does not make it go away. If anything, it magnifies the issue. Sure, there are the unexpected things that I have to address, but I still go back to my task list when the unexpected things get handled.

A second part to “the list” is checking off the tasks as they get completed. This is the closure part of completing tasks. You are marking it off the list. On the personal/emotional side, marking things off the list increases your level of peace and calm, and you gain a little more happiness in your life. Remember, you have to be happy with you before you can be happy with anyone else. That’s a priority!

Action Item – Do you feel you operate in crisis management mode all the time? Take a minute to make that priority list then start marking through the tasks as you get them completed.

POSITIVE NEWS

Even More
David is now part of the Premium Seating Committee too. He moved from the Rodeo Express Committee to the new one for a new challenge. Congrats David.

Techy Stuff
I ran across this sight the other day after hearing about it on the radio. It’s called www.tinyurl.com. The site compresses web site links that you embed in emails or docs. Check it out.