It’s January!
But only for a few more hours.
Per tradition I began this month with ideas, thoughts, and intentions for being more organized, focused, and productive.
I’ll state right up front: I love new beginnings, first days of school, fresh notebooks, and blank sheets of paper.
The potential!
I’ll confess here and now: I can quickly become overwhelmed with lots of new ideas, projects, and plans… and notes.
Pages and pages of notes.
Computer notes.
Sticky notes.
Emails to myself with things to note.
It’s true:
There is so much to do!
There are so many things needing my attention.
There are so many ideas and thoughts to jot down.
Also true:
There are just 24 hours in a day.
As these last hours of January 2021 tick past I’m thinking back over the month, the flurry of meetings, the deadlines, the projects underway…and I am feeling a bit scattered.
For the past week or two, though, I’ve been trying a new approach to each day.
It’s one I was familiar with but had not practiced; one my parents mentioned recently and reminded me of; one that is already helping me focus. (Thanks, Dad and Mom!)
Boulder – Rocks – Sand
It goes something like this.
You have a container and you have a boulder (or two), some smaller rocks, and some sand you need to fit into that container.
If you put the smaller rocks or the sand in first, the boulder may not fit.
But if you put the boulder in first, you can then add some of the smaller rocks and sand around the edges.
Translation:
Let’s say the “container” is your day.
Each day has lots of work to do, some of it more of a priority than others.
If you fritter it away on the less important, the important will remain unfinished.
That priority (let’s call it a boulder) may be based on long-term impact or simply on an actual hard deadline.
The idea is to build your day around the “boulder(s)” that MUST be done when the clock strikes 5 (or 10 or midnight.)
When it’s time for “pencils down.”
If you fit the boulder in first, then you can probably also squeeze a few smaller rocks (important tasks to keep moving) down into the spaces around the boulder.
And there may even be some grains of sand (non-urgent tasks) you can pour in.
This has helped me focus and prioritize my days.
The beauty for me is to start each day with that boulder identified, permission throughout the day to stay focused, and the grace at the end of the day to acknowledge major progress even when smaller “to-do” items remain on the list.
There are lots of ways to do things.
For me this is helping.
For me, this is the boulder plan.
Home Among the Hills 