You wake up in the morning with a PLAN and then the day starts. You do the first thing on the list, and before you are done with that you get an email that you feel you should respond to because it feels SO GOOD to open – read – respond – delete. After that email, you see other emails that you take care of because you want to be known as the person that is “so good at responding right away”. At some point, you look at your phone and it reminds you that you were going to schedule an oil change. You go online to look up the number and you stumble on a website that has a movie review (because you accidentally type the wrong word). You watch the trailer and when you are done scheduling the oil change, you check your calendar to see if you can go see that movie next Friday. YOU’RE OPEN! So, you text a friend to see if they can go with you.
Can you relate?
That scenario is NOT about getting distracted by bad things – those are all good things – many of them are even necessary things. What it does point out is that it can be hard to choose how we use our time.
I have struggled with this for years. I get lots of stuff done in a day or a week, but is it the most important stuff? I love to learn and so many things interest me that I can often start many different books or classes and then not finish them because I don’t have the time or energy to do it all.
I can’t believe I am the only one that gets bitten by the “whatever is in front of me and sounds interesting” bug. You do, too, right? How do you manage that? I seriously would love to know what you do to make sure you are choosing the most important thing – to say, to do, to buy, to ask! Please LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW because others also want to know how you manage that.
As many of you know, I am a huge fan of the #ONEWORD approach to resolutions. I began doing this many years ago and it has helped me be intentional, stretch, savor, set boundaries, practice transparency! This year I decided I would find a word that could help me with my tendency to tackle anything and everything.
PRIORITIZE is my word for 2020
It has been 30 days and it is always on my mind. I cannot tell you how many times I have jumped into whatever task is conveniently in front of me and this word has crossed my mind – in that moment, I have paused and asked myself what is most important. When the answer comes, I drop the less important thing and shift to the priority.
It feels SO GOOD! Of course, I hope that someday, I can think about my priorities before I start down a path, but for now I am grateful for how my #ONEWORD helps me course correct.
It’s meaning has expanded as I have lived with it for nearly a month. Webster says we prioritize when we “designate or treat something (or someone) as more important”. That is much more than simply writing a list and putting numbers in front of your tasks to provide you with an order for getting them done.
I have come to learn that prioritize can help stop words from coming out of my mouth. If I am in a conversation (or writing an email) and stop to think if my words will make the other person feel important, I change the words I use. If I consider how I want others to feel, I have begun to change what I do when I am with them. For example, if friends are here for the evening or our family is here for dinner and I jump up to load the dishwasher while they are all still sitting at the table, I clearly send the message that cleaning up my kitchen is more important than any time I might spend sitting in conversation with them. I might jump up these days, but then I set it aside and head on back to the table for some good time with people I care about.
If you are a student of the Bible, you might remember a story about Mary and Martha and how Mary “chose the better part” by sitting in conversation with Christ instead of cleaning the house. You might say she prioritized her attention well!
I can’t speak for you. You each can identify that something that you want to be different about how you show up in the world next year at this time. You know what causes that same feeling of frustration, and you would love to have that mastered by next January. For me, I am tired of feeling like I do a lot yet questioning whether I focused on the right stuff. I believe that having my #ONEWORD will keep the practice of PRIORITIZING top of mind for me and next January, I will feel as I made the best choices with my time, money, words, attention and energy.
I will be back to share example of my #ONEWORD throughout the year. Feel free to choose one word and share it in the comments below OR jump onto my Facebook Business page and share it . You know that telling someone about your goals greatly increases the chances of accomplishing it, right? We would love to help hold you accountable!
