What’s On Your Plate?
Have you found yourself ‘shoulding’’ all over yourself?
One of the most common ‘shoulds’ that we notice in our clients who own businesses is around ‘I should spend more time with family.’ Some of our clients have even heard the rumor that when it comes to relationships, both Quantity and Quality count.
So, we thought you might appreciate this story:
Once upon a time…
There lived two guys - Kenny and Joey in a town called Saturday.
Kenny went golfing and couldn’t get his family off his mind.
Joey stayed home with his family and couldn’t get golf off his mind.
They could just as easily have been Barby and Jane.
We think you might know these characters (Just saying, perhaps they might even be you!).
It’s crystal clear to us, and by the time we are done crystal clear to our clients, that what counts above both Quantity and Quality…
is PRESENCE…
And it is so much easier to be present when you are choosing what to do or with whom.
While we started this article with a story about a ‘family should’, it could easily be anything else unique to you. The real underlying hunger for so many of our clients is around freedom- the freedom of options and the freedom to make conscious choices. We ran a course for physicians called ‘The Magic Hour Formula’ where we taught them how to free up one hour per day to do whatever they chose. And yes, for many of them it was to ‘work less’ and they had an unspoken worry that that meant they would ‘earn less’. Once we helped them break the link in their minds between value transferred and time spent, they got to work.
This formula works like old fashioned math: you plug your unique variables into the equation and you get your customized solution. We call this proprietary process ‘The Chintan Focus Process™’- let’s dive into an example of the first portion of that process here.
As we started explaining the concept, we realized that these highly intelligent people had challenges with the first step – not because it was hard, but because it required following very specific instructions. To help illustrate all of this, let’s develop this further and stick with the Doctor example so that you might see how this can work for you.
Step 1:
Step 1 is to acknowledge what’s on your plate. What are the jobs, tasks and to-do’s taking up space in your mind? What is the content of the noise in your head?
The aim here is to end up with a customized list of everything you do in a day, everything you think you should do in a day and everything you would love to do in a day. These are all the activities, all the actions you take or think you should take rather than the name of the activity.
Activity
The categories below are not required but help ensure that you 'empty' your head on to the page
Primary "Job"
Non-Primary "Job"
Should-Do Activities
Love-to-Do Activities
Let’s use the Doctor example so that you can see how to build out your own list.
For eg. Rather than listing “See patient”, write down all of the steps you do in order to have the activity checked-off as ‘done’.. So, you might write for instance:
Booking the patient appointment (note there is an entire series of activities to get the patient to the office that we are not even considering here)
Check in patient
Get patient from waiting room
Get them undressed and robed if necessary
Take and document vital signs
Take history
Do physical exam
Make a diagnosis / problem list
Come up with a treatment plan
Explain and engage patient in this plan
Document all of this
Write prescription if needed
Lab reqs
Write referrals
Prepare/record all consult notes
Correct final ‘communication’
Distribute consult letter
Book calls
Book Follow-up
Escort patient out
…or whatever this entails for you!
Think about all the administrative and business jobs that you do, then add them to this list too.
As you move through this exercise, you’ll see that what may look like one job, actually involves many parts. It’s these granular, individual activities that belong on this worksheet.
We are suggesting that you think of at least four categories of activities as shown in the table above.
For the Doctors, for instance, their four categories might be:
Doctor Activities
Non-Doctor Activities : This may include activities for your learning and mental growth, other non-medical business, finances, family, social, physical health and vitality, or spiritual growth.
Activities you think you should do or somebody else tells you you should do.
Activities you would love to do but didn’t make it on the list previously. This includes activities you aren’t doing now, and what you’d prefer to give your attention to.
Add as many lines / rows under each category as you need. Many of our clients have in excess of 30 in some of the categories. Enter each individual activity in a new row within each category, all in step 1.
Most of our clients report feeling ‘lighter’ and already have more clarity after just this one step.
Want to learn more? For our Members, we will be revealing our proprietary Chintan Focus Process™, providing them with the other steps that we use in this powerful process. Join us here. Even before that though, our Members will learn some of the risks of using the Eisenhower matrix for prioritizing your life.
Until the next perfect time…
With Gratitude
Amit and Kumar Ramlall
PS… In our Extended Member Teaching, we will teach the Eisenhower matrix that was later popularized by Steven Covey. This is the tool that General Dwight D. Eisenhower used to help the Allies prevail in World War II. Join us here.