Sunday Night Success

It’s 2pm.   Only 2pm.  When I checked the clock a few minutes ago I expected it be closer to 5 or 6pm, because I’ve been buried in productivity today.  I love this feeling, where i’ve accomplished what my SNS group, The Fun Girls, calls “hard things”.  Several of them, I lost track of time, and I feel great.

These actions are what Jeremie calls “Energy Giving” tasks.  To  practice this requires some mindfulness, to connect emotions and motivation with the items on your action list.

Jeremie has taught me that generally there are two types of actions, or tasks:   Energy giving and Energy taking.

Energy giving tasks are those tasks that give you a real sense of accomplishment. Tasks which feel good…no, feel GREAT to complete and mark of the list.  When I complete an energy giving task, I feel a bit like a super hero – chest puffed out et all.

This morning I completed a long-standing job application (the position is in Edmonton, hence my procrastination). It required me to dig deep to begin the application.  I created a way to actually have fun with it, thereby creating a energy where it was once drained.
Examples from my fellow fun girls include Crystal breaking down her goal of selling some yarn into little, manageable tasks.  Caro has a mirror to hang, and Debbie has recently completed the God Father of all Procrastinated tasks:  She disposed of an old, broken oven that was too big to remove without breaking apart.  (GO DEBBIE!)

Planning energizing actions into my day is a tool I’ve used to manage procrastination and get things done.
the delicious sense of  productivity created by knocking those hard things off the list maximizes energy that can be channeled into completing more tasks.
Another example is a few months ago I had a long list of cold calls to make.  I know I’ll receive some empathy when I say I was not wanting to do them.

These cold calls are a textbook example of an energy taking task.  I was tired just thinking about making them – they’re the mental equivalent of shoveling snow.

Don’t want to do it but it needs to get done.

I sat down to work, made a list of all the calls to make that day.  Surfed the internet, answered some email, and took a nap.   The calls did not get done.

The next day, I sat down at my desk again, intending to start those calls.  I looked at the list and took a moment to mindfully recognize why I didn’t want to make them.  There was really no sense of accomplishment from looking at that list.  Instead, I spent the morning doing some much procrastinated housework.  I cleaned the floors, dusted bookshelves, de-cat haired every last inch of my space.

I felt great when it was completed and used that sense of accomplishment to sit down and make calls.  I worked for six hours that day, and when I finished the list I created a new one.

I hope you get a sense of how using your to-do list can create energy that will help you achieve your goals and get in touch of your inner Super hero of accomplishment.  Everybody has procrastinated items on their to-do list – those long forgotten about items that seem insurmountable.  What’s on your list and how can you use it to create more energy for your self??