An Irrelevant In Box! (Gasp!)

The Irrelevant In Box

So how did my In Box get in this state?  Lots of business, plus a little piling.  And the pile completely repelled me because of the busyness.   It did serve it's purpose in the beginning.  I put all my mind dump for a 60+ luncheon, and opera costumes in it on little pieces of paper.  But then I transferred them to my gmail task list.  But I didn't remove them from my In Box.  Silly Me. 

The In Box, exploded view. 

Here it is in all it's "repelling" glory

So let's start again, shall we?  Let's use the review process to take a step forward.  I have 30 minutes before I have to go to bed, and this will really move forward my life and clarity!  

 Anything you can do in 2 minutes, just Do It.  In this case it was a lot of move it too.  Why was it in there?  The book goes in the book shelf.  The magazine goes in my read and review pile.  The elastic goes in my newly organized sewing tote.  The chapstick goes in the drawer an arms length a way.  The little bottle of stuff goes upstairs my bathroom.  YAY!  It doesn't have to repel me anymore!

 Sadly enough, it is nothing I can delegate.  (Although I did delegate a lot of things that stressed me out, like programs for the luncheon, and the dreaded Centerpieces for the luncheon.)  It was an awesome feeling to find someone who is better at it than me and was willing to help out!  I just had to ask. 

 Defer It.  It goes on my Next Action List (mine is on the computer.)  Done. 

 Ooo Wee, Baby!  So much could be recycle.   Like how on earth did a piece of clean tin foil get in my In Box.  It just further repelled me with all it's reflective glory!  So much of this is paper stuff that I had already taken care of, or stuff I didn't care about anymore.  It was important.  It wasn't relevant.  It goes in the "trash"!

 Save for Reference.  I filed it.  I put coupons in my monthly tickler file.  I put the journal entry for last year's Disneyland trip in my file.  I put my expired passport on a file.  I put my Relief Society notes in their file.  I put my 3rd Grade Health Lesson plan in another place (long story, it GOES in the Health Book, but some helpful person who is away on business right now as moved the Health Book, so I don't have a place for two papers.  Scary!)

Someday, Maybe List.  I happened to not have something for this.  But I could have!  I should have just made something up so it wouldn't look so lonesome.  Aren't you glad I'm not perfect!

What To Do with Your Amazing Idea

So I have been reading another book from David Allen and came across these little gems, that summarize things so well.

Regarding these great ideas you have that you know you are going to do, until you think of the next great idea and the first one got lost (because we didn't write it down.)

So CAPTURE it so you can act on your amazing idea.

And I quote:

" #1 Make decisions about what we are going to do with our stuff and the next actions required to do it.  Things on list and in stacks and email generally repel instead of attract us to get involved, until we know exactly what our intention is about them and whether the next step is to make a call, draft a responses, buy nails, talk to and so on.

 #2 Write down outcomes and actions, if we don't do them in the moment we think of them.  Even if we decide what we need to do about something and file it in psychic RAM, we run serious risk of losing sight of the action and creating  instant failure and unnecessary stress.  That part of us (the psychic RAM) thinks we could be doing everything in there all at once. 

#3.  Look at reminders (when we could effectively move in them.).  . . When you're in a certain context, to be the most efficient, you need to see all the things, that could done in that context. "A little bit of thinking (What's my intention? What's my next action?) creates relaxed focus and control."   

"Because most people resist thinking at all about many things.  Why?  Because their minds are so quick and sophisticated that they glance at a situation and freak themselves out with all the intricate details of what they're afraid they have to think about -- if they thought about it.  So it has a piece of them, psychologically.  Decide the outcome and the action step, put reminders of those somewhere where our brains trust you'll see them at the right time and listen to your brain breathe easier: "Ah, done . . For now."

Good reminders!  I hope to start some blog posts taking these one step at a time.  It's like a complete opposite of the evening where it was all given in 2 hours.  Now we will have time to process and implement.

Who's with me?!

Falling Off and Getting Back On

No one is perfect.  Especially me.  I fell off my own organization wagon.   I was so energized for 2 or 3 months.  Usually my grand ideas only last a week or so.  But this changes was lasting and I loved it.

 But then life happened. 

Unexpected changes (Insert your Own, new diagnoses, job change, moving, etc.) that I was not ready to accept.  So I lived in the land of denial for a few weeks.  That is never good.  I tried to ignore my unwanted change but that was not helping at all.  

I still functioned.  But I wasn't on top of things like the good old glory months.  Then the craziest weeks of the school year was upon me*. 

How do I get back to being in relaxed control.  I wanted to have that peace like a river.  Always in motion but peaceful and calm not harried. 

So I read this by David Allen:  "Circumstances that seem the most out of our control and grief producing . . . can catch us off guard."

"To get a grip, what must you do?  First accept what the game is." See the target.  "But even if you know where you are headed, you will still feel paralyzed and at the mercy of forces larger than yourself, until you do one thing: determine the next move."

You are no longer the victim of your circumstances.  You have chosen to act.  You believe you can do something. 

"When the world has shifted on you in whatever way, what would success NOW mean for you, and what activity will move you NOW in that direction?  It's very easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the game shouldn't have changed and that the old rules still should apply."

OK.  So I'm in a new game now.  I will have to learn some new rules, but I can do it.  I will get back from self-doubt thinking, "I can't do it all" and say to myself "I can do something."  (hopefully it only takes 2 minutes.)

*A family camping trip, a seniors luncheon, sewing easter dresses, big sewing projects for one class and two different school operas a week apart.