Driven by Self Organization
Think about a young fellow, wanting to get into shape. Here are 2 scenarios of how one can tackle that wish:
1. Create a plan and “manage yourself” to keep it.
20:00 – set the clock to 06:00
06:00 – wake up, make sure you’re not falling back to sleep! get dressed etc
06:15 – make sure to eat something small and drink some water
06:35 – run 5km
08:00 – make sure your bag is ready for school
08:15 – go to school
…
20:00 – set the clock to 06:00
2. Organize things to drive your day:
20:00 – put your shoes next to your bed, set your clock to 06:00 and set it FAR from the bed, prepare a little something to eat for tomorrow morning, prepare your bag for (tomorrow’s) school.
06:00 – wake up – go close the damn clock (you need to stand in order to do it), get dressed etc.
06:15 – eat something small and drink some water
06:35 – run 5km
08:00 – relax for a few minutes and then go to school
…
20:00 – put your shoes next to your bed, set your clock to 06:00 and set it FAR from the bed, prepare a little something to eat for tomorrow morning, prepare your bag for (tomorrow’s) school.
Where most of us fail?
I might be wrong, but it seems that a lot of us (myself included) simply can’t manage our time wisely during the day, for long period of time. It’s too easy to forget something to do TODAY when you had to force yourself to plan it TODAY. It’s too easy to fail. It’s too easy to stop the rhythm.
This is why most of us can’t lose weight, can’t get into shape, can’t read 5 books every month etc.
Driven by Self-organization
To me, it means that I want to set my environment to drive me into success. If I’ll take the time to prepare my tomorrow, little chance I’ll fail due to laziness: (1) I’m planning for TOMORROW, so what do I care to invest the time? I only plan things and set the environment / mood. I don’t need to run the 5km now, I only want to make sure it will be easier to achieve tomorrow and (2) tomorrow morning, surprise surprise, everything is ready for me! I don’t need to wake up and find out that I forgot a stupid thing like the fact that my shoes are in the washing machine. The rules are pretty easy: de-couple planning from performing and make sure everything you need for those actions are visible and available for the time you’ll need them.
Although it seems like planning is more tedious than actually doing the task, planning for the future is quite relaxing. Try it: plan your tomorrow at the end of today, think about what should be set so your tomorrow will go smoothly. It will make it easier for you to come in the morning and simply perform, without the burden of planning fast to perform now:
“hhmmm… alright, it’s Wednesday, what should I do today… gosh, so many things to complete! Maybe I’ll start with sending those emails… naaa.. don’t have power for that now.. maybe I’ll finish that task I promised yesterday! naa.. she don’t need it for today anyway… crap! I don’t have the energy to deal with it! alright, first thing is to grab a cup of coffee”.
This leads to “do what I like best first” syndrome.
At the end of the day, before going home, go over the things you’ve accomplished and try to see what is left for tomorrow. Relax, you don’t need to do those chores now. Write everything you should accomplish for tomorrow down (with time estimations) and go home smiling, knowing that your tomorrow is best planned for achievements rather than for your personal whims.