No, you read it right. That title says "listing" practice, not "listening" practice.

Are you a lister? Do you keep lists? Grocery lists, menu lists, to-do lists, cleaning lists, shopping lists, prayer lists, assignment lists?
I'm not sure if it's a byproduct of age and memory or simply having more plates to spin and balls to juggle, but the older I get the more lists I seem to need. It's not just a matter of effectiveness, timeliness, or efficiency anymore; list-keeping has become a kind of anchor for my brain.

This is NOT a good list.

Yes, I know the Bible says "hope is an anchor to the soul," but isn't that what lists are? Scribbled out declarations of hope (expectations of good things to come)? Desires and goals and plans and purposes to be achieved and accomplished? Even the dreaded "to-do" list has an element of hope attached to it... we look forward to the moment the last to-do can be checked off and we will be FREE from obligations and appointments and tasks and assignments for a time. Free to attack those other lists, like the "I wish-list" and the "I want to-list" and the "If only-list."

This list will propel you forward in life.

I'm trying to figure out a new method/system for my lists. I used to use an appointment book, the old-fashioned paper kind. It worked well for me. But then I got an iPhone, and my list-keeping measures have been askew ever since. I just can't seem to make the transition to digital when it comes to listing... much like my prayer journals are still hand-written. Maybe, just maybe, there's a connection.

How about you? Are you a paper lister or a smart phone lister? Do you try to "sync" the two? Which do you prefer, and why?

For most of us, most of the time, procrastination is a bad habit, a self-defeating behavior triggered by laziness, insecurity, fear of failure, fear of success, stubbornness, pride, avoidance, denial, or a myriad possible triggers. But chronic procrastination can be as perilous, and as troublesome, as any other addiction, eventually harming not just oneself, but others.


What's the trouble, you ask? It's just putting off stupid chores and things you don't want to do or deal with until later, right?
Wrong.

The things we put off, defer, and delay are things that require our attention for a reason. In the absence of action, those things don't just wait for us like stuffed animals in the closet; the problem/task/chore actually becomes worse, harder to accomplish, more difficult to face, and will, in the long run, take more time and energy (and money, probably) than if we'd just DONE THEM when they came up.

• Bathrooms left uncleaned for another day gather another layer of grime and soap scum and whiskers in the sink, increasing the amount of time and scrubbing bubbles it will take to do the job. (Is anyone else still annoyed that "scrubbing bubbles" do not actually have little eyes and expressions like they did on the commercials of our youth? And yes, that is Tigger's voice.)
  

• Tiny water leaks left to themselves eventually turn into big leaks that demand things like mold abatement procedures and new drywall.
• Funky sounds in the car engine are harbingers of BIG funky sounds to come, the kind that ask you to shove lots and lots of dollars into your auto mechanic's pocket and require a tow truck.
• Paperwork left undone leads to bills that go unpaid, intrusive calls from collection agencies, and extra money spent on late fees and increased interest rates. In other words, you're gonna PAY for not paying. If that is not the epitome of stupidity, I don't know what is.
• Health care check-ups and symptoms of physical illness that go ignored... Well, those can lead to an early grave, or they can cause an illness that might have been easily treated to become something much more complicated.

I hate procrastination just as surely as I'm guilty of it myself.

Thus far, MY procrastination has only served to cost me, put off my productivity, and cause me to have my fair share of regrets about the way I've spent my time on this planet. I don't want to reach the point where what I procrastinate begins to wreak havoc in the lives of the people around me. Therefore, I'm taking up a personal anti-procrastination campaign (for myself, because if you live with procrastinators, you know that the best way to make their procrastinating WORSE is to try to get them to stop procrastinating) for the month of August.

I'm going to make a list of all the things I've been putting off, delaying, deferring, avoiding, and ignoring, and give them specific dates and times for completion on the calendar. Appointments for the kids for shots, for the dog for shots, for my annual physical exam, to go to the dentist, to change the oil, to fix that hole in the tile in the bathroom shower, to finish writing that novella, to establish a consistent schedule that includes all the things I keep procrastinating (writing, exercise, cleaning) and leaves out all the junk I fill that time with (mindless Internet surfing, random wasted time, staying up too late, getting up too late, etc. Heck, the amount of time I spend avoiding doing what I need to do at least equals or surpasses the amount of time it takes to DO those things.)

And when am I going to make that list?
Er.
Tomorrow?
WRONG ANSWER.
Today. As soon as I finish this post, in fact.

Who else is up for some anti-procrastination measures? Still not convinced? Check out the following quotes.

Too tired?
Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.  ~William James

Too much to do?
Every duty which is bidden to wait returns with seven fresh duties at its back.  ~Charles Kingsley
It's too hard?
Procrastination makes easy things hard, hard things harder. ~ Mason Cooley 

Not enough time?
Procrastination is the thief of time. ~ Edward Young 

Too busy? You may delay, but time will not.  ~Benjamin Franklin 

Need to "think about it" first? (This one is my personal weakness.)  To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing.  ~Eva Young

I love time management systems and methods and plans. But they have to be simple. Really simple.
If it involves color-coded tabs or little symbols or sorting tasks into boxes, I will fail. For me, time management has to be flexible, functional, and feasible.

In the past month I stumbled upon a new method that sounds promising. I've even gone so far as to download the desktop gadget for it... although I haven't found the time (how sad is that?) to test it out yet. It's called The Pomodoro Technique. You can find out more about it HERE.

I've been a multi-tasker for years.  Blame it on being a mom...
Cooking dinner – talking on the phone – balancing the checkbook – watching the evening news – with a baby in a backpack, and a toddler clinging to one leg. Or blame it on being a child of the 80's, when the average attention span of a human being dropped to the average length of a music video on MTV.
Multi-tasking just seemed to be the way to go if I wanted to "get everything done," which is, in itself, an oxymoron. Everything will never be done. If you don't believe me, do the laundry or the dishes. No sooner is the laundry basket empty then someone throws their dirty underwear on the floor. Dry that last dish and put it away and someone will set a dirty glass or ice cream bowl in the sink. Just saying.

Recent studies indicate multi-tasking is not as productive as we were led to believe. (See this NYT article for evidence.)

So what's the solution? It's obvious most of us NEED some sort of time management technique, lest we be drowned in the tasks we keep avoiding in favor of doing things we like. Using the Pomodoro Technique (pomodoro means tomato in Italian... I'm glad they left it as pomodoro, because tomato technique just doesn't sound quite right) you attack your to-do list in four 25-minute segments, with 5-minute breaks in between. After the fourth segment, you take a  20-minute break.

This appears to be especially helpful for those of us who are involved in creative endeavors – writing, painting, design, etc. – which have the ability to suck you into your chair for hours at a time. Only the longer you strain your brain you're losing effectiveness, making more mistakes, and effectively thwarting your own best efforts.

I, for one, am not good at taking breaks. Once I start, I want to finish. This is particularly silly when pursuing goals like writing full novels, painting an entire room, all kinds of crafting projects, scrapbooking, and cooking.Yes, cooking. For years I've avoided recipes that require "chilling" or "marinating" because I hate to take breaks. Marathon cleaning sessions have frequently left me so exhausted I pass out on the couch without ever enjoying the fruits of my labor. (By the time I wake up someone has made a new mess, of course.)

The Pomodoro Technique will require me to exercise some self-discipline (never a bad thing) and will, hopefully, keep me from scrolling Facebook and Pinterest for hours on end instead of doing the things that I really want to do, the things that really MATTER.

My tomatoes outside in the garden are still green on the vine this first day of autumn, nevertheless, the change of season is a good time to start applying the tomato ... er ... Pomodoro .. technique!

It doesn't matter if you have a day job in an office or you're self-employed, you

photo by Kumar Appaiah	via PhotoRee

need to be your own boss. Because if you don't take charge of what you do with yourself every day, someone else will.

That said, what kind of boss would you like to have?

Most of us have had good bosses, mediocre bosses, and bad bosses.

We've had bosses who micromanage, bully, berate, and harangue. Bosses who lead by enforcement instead of relationship, and who place no trust in our ability to do our job ourselves.

We've had bosses who are little more than puppets and figureheads. As long as they don't try to stick their noses in the actual work that's to be done, all is well. These kinds of bosses are nice until you need help; then they are useless.

And we've (hopefully) had good bosses who understand both their authority and their responsibility. Bosses who stand behind us and support our efforts, who encourage even while they correct, and who believe we have limitless potential for improvement and advancement.

When we take a job somewhere, we don't get to choose what kind of boss we'll have, but when it comes to managing ourselves, we have a choice. What kind of boss will you be?

I admit, most of the time I'm a micromanaging, legalistic, bullying kind of boss to myself. The evil boss who nitpicks and torments and provokes his/her employees. (Not only has that been a battle for ME, it's been a battle in parenting, as well. Thank God for a spouse who balances out my micro-management!)

Give me a goal, and I'll come up with the most difficult method possible of achieving it, and then belittle myself when I invariably fall short of my own expectations.

On the other hand, not expecting anything of yourself, or not expecting enough, is just as bad as being an over-achieving driven person. Both management types inspire lousy performances.

Acknowledging that each of us has authority and responsibility in our own lives, what kind of boss are you for yourself? Do you encourage yourself? Do you compliment a job well-done, or ignore it with thoughts like "it's about time"? Do you offer yourself suggestions for improvement, or beat yourself into submission with harsh rebukes and punishing behaviors?

If you're struggling with a consistent sense of "not good enough" or a repeated failure to accomplish your desires, maybe it's time to check your own boss-style, and change the way you manage yourself!

We are a generation of multitaskers, but that's not always the best way to live. Some things simply shouldn't be multitasked.

Check out my post today at Inkwell Inspirations for more on doing one thing at a time!

"This month is crazy!"
"I'm so busy, I can't even enjoy Christmas!"
"I have so much to do I'll never get it all done!"


Sound familiar?
(If it doesn't, you can scootch yourself right on over to my house for some holiday assignments!)

I'm a victim of Martha-itis when it comes to Christmas. No, not Bible Martha, Martha Stewart. (Although she certainly fits the Martha role... can't you see Ms. Stewart tugging at Jesus' sleeve during His message and insisting her sister come and help her in the kitchen?)

All year long I'm drawn to crafts and projects and decorating ideas and homemade Christmas cards and the like, only to find myself smack dab in the midst of December sans a plan. (That's French for "without," in case you were wondering.) 

This December, I'm giving up on planning and turning to plotting.
I'm a writer, I can plot. Right? Sure, I can! And so can you.

Set up some scenes. The tree-decorating scene, the gingerbread house-making scene, the fill-in-the-blank outdoor activity scene (because I won't be participating), the office party scene, the candlelight Christmas Eve service scene, the shopping for stocking stuffers scene (because if I do any other shopping it will be online), and so forth. You can look at your December calendar and lay out your own plot.


The problem we have is when our scenes are interrupted by unexpected events, unannounced characters, and surprising twists. When those things occur as I'm writing, I enjoy them. I know the story is moving along, bringing my characters closer to the resolution of their internal conflicts.


In real life when those things occur I tend to kick and scream and throw stuff.

So what if I were to approach this month with a novelist's mindset? Having the general framework in my head, but willing to let the details "fall where they may" instead of scheduling every moment of every day for myself and every member of my family? Carrying out the month of December — Advent, a time for preparing oneself for Christ's soon return — from the POV as my life's main character instead of narrator. Instead of being traumatized by the unexpected, I'd be invigorated... looking for the next exciting turn in the story.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by December's activities (like I have been) just step back, pretend you are your own main character, and lay out your plot for the month, with plenty of room for the twists and turns that are certain to come!

See you next month!  
(That would be Wednesday.) 

Would you voluntarily strap yourself to a medieval rack and turn the crank until your joints were stretched to the point of snapping?

AngusKirk via Flickr

Yet every time we procrastinate, we might as well be adding an inch or two to the the rack we call our schedules, until we are, literally, stretched out so far we become useless.

To procrastinate is to put off or defer until a later time. The word didn't appear until the mid-1500's, which makes me curious what was going on back them that inspired the birth of the word. Today, at least in American culture, it might be the most pervasive method of self-torture around.

Self-torture? Isn't that a little strong? You ask. Not really. Who hasn't procrastinated something until the opportunity was lost, the assignment was late and you lost a grade, or the bill was overdue and you had to pay a late fee?

Whenever we procrastinate, we will pay a greater price physically, mentally, or emotionally than the cost of doing the task at hand.

I'm guilty. You probably are, too. And if you live with fellow procrastinators (especially if they procrastinate the things YOU think are important, like taking out the trash, or putting the dishes in the dishwasher, or doing the laundry) you know how frustrating the "I'll Get Around To It" addiction can be.

 I posed the following question on Facebook last week. The responses varied from "starting" to "getting up in the morning" to "paying bills," "grading papers," and all different forms of home maintenance.  No surprises there.

Then I asked WHY. Notice, I only received half the feedback (mostly from different people.)
Based on the responses, our reasons for procrastinating are very different. Two homemakers who both procrastinate mopping the floor (the most archaic and absurd form of housework known to mankind, IMHO) may do so for entirely different reasons.

Finding the WHY behind your tendency to put off certain tasks is the key to finding a cure. The www.stopprocrastinating.net website lists five underlying causes of chronic procrastination. (You can read the whole article HERE.)  Those five types can be narrowed down pretty easily: laziness, pride, fear, indecisiveness, and selfishness. Selfish procrastination comes into play when you get a "rush" out of putting something off until the last minute, even when it causes someone else harm.
In the interest of accountability, here's our challenge (and mine). We're all paying a price for whatever we procrastinate.

1. What are you paying the highest price for? 
2. Can you identity the primary reason you procrastinate that thing?

I've got three: housework (laziness), exercise (laziness) and writing (fear). What is my procrastination costing me? It's costing me the one thing I have a finite quantity of that cannot be recovered without supernatural help: TIME. If I procrastinate exercising in the morning for two or three hours, that's two or three hours I can't get back. That, in turn, causes increased stress (which increases the likelihood of procrastinating something else). Vicious circle, isn't it? I'm ready to get off the rack, aren't you? 

The word b-r-a-k-e is the word for those things on our cars, buses, trains, roller skates, and bicycles that mechanically reduce the speed at which we are traveling. The word b-r-e-a-k means to separate something into pieces.

B-r-e-a-k can also be used casually to refer to a brief time of rest, as in "to take a break." Our McDonald's generation has grown up with "you deserve a break today" in their mental jukeboxes, and the results are starting to show. There's nothing wrong with taking a break - at the right time and the right place. But put too many breaks together and you end up with the "brakes" on your life.

Have you ever driven your car with the emergency brake engaged? Sometimes it takes a second to figure out where that drag is coming from. You check your gauges, your gears, slap yourself in the noggin and let off the brake. Apply the same principle to discover what keeps you from DOING what it is you want to do but just can't seem to get done.

For myself of late, it's a bad case of procrastination. I procrastinate early morning exercise because my body resists the pain of those first 10 minutes of cardio. That leaves me in exercise garb and accompanying bedhead most of the day. Is that a bad thing? For me it is, because it makes me feel like I've wasted half my day.  Or I procrastinate housework because I "don't feel like it." Does anyone ever feel like doing housework? Since when is that a good reason? I procrastinate sewing and craft projects because I don't want to get out all the stuff I'll need. Or I procrastinate writing because I doubt my ability, I fear failure, and don't want to argue with my annoying internal editor.

What about you? Identify what keeps you away from your goal. It could be procrastination, or fear, or laziness, or feeling overwhelmed by your circumstances. What are you afraid of?  Are you "lazy" because you're exhausted from not taking proper care of yourself? Do you feel overwhelmed because you've been avoiding that pile of mail, dust bunnies in the corner (dust puppies at our house, since they are made almost entirely of dog hair), or Himalayan mountain range of laundry and ironing downstairs?
 

I'm participating in American Christian Fiction Writers' NovelTrack during the month of July. I've set a personal goal of completing 30,000 words on my current manuscript. That's 1,000 words a day for 30 days.
I'm considering it a kick-myself-in-the-pants program. If I were a paid professional writer, I'd expect to put in at least that much a day, at the bare minimum! 

To accomplish that goal, I have to define my priorities for the month. If I don't make writing a priority, I can't expect the results of a writer. Duh. Sounds simple, but we do this sort of thing all the time. If we don't make eating healthy food in reasonable portions a priority in our lives, splurges follow binges and we end up blaming everything but what we've put in our mouths for the resulting weight gain.

Now that you know what's most important to you, outline your ideal schedule. Choose an average day, give yourself time to sleep (I once had a "perfect" schedule that allowed me to complete my entire to-do list, but only left three hours for sleeping), time to prepare food and eat it in a relaxed posture (not standing in front of the pantry or in the car on the way to somewhere), time to bathe, time to care for pets, interact with family members, exercise, run errands, whatever you consider non-negotiable for your daily schedule. Fill in the remaining blanks (no matter how few there seem to be) with the things you really, truly desire to accomplish. 

If you want the results of a _____________ ,

you must DO what a ____________ does.

How would you fill the blanks in the above statement? Does your new schedule agree with that statement?

We might all have different amounts of money, health, and talents, but we've all been given the exact same quantity of time in a day. Each day every human being has 24 hours to spend, no matter where you live or how old you are. There is no such thing as "free time" just like there's no such thing as free money!
If there's anywhere resistance to progress rears its ugly head it's in the realm of time. Time gets wasted, squandered, and lost, often in spite of our best efforts.
I have the privilege of writing the local history column for the newspaper here. I use the archived copies every week to pull interesting tidbits of news and gossip from the old papers. Without computers, telephones, cell phones, automobiles, vacuums, dishwashers, washers and dryers, convenience foods, microwaves, or any of our other modern contrivances, people lived full lives and often accomplished as much, or more, than the average person accomplishes today.
Of course, they didn't have the distractions we have, either. No TV, no Internet, no telephone, limited options for shopping and travel.
There are some who advocate tossing out our modern comforts for the sake of our health, our relationships, and the quality of life we lead. If you are addicted to your crackberry, or the web, or the television, you might need to fast those items to balance your life. But for most of us, the problem doesn't have anything to do with the devices that are supposed to make our lives easier, it has to do with the choices we're making with those devices, and with our time in general.
When it comes to time, we've got SCUD missiles raining down around us. (SCUD: Satan Continuously Uses Distractions.) And we aren't even aware of them most of the time. Distractions are a huge hindrance!
When my daughter was little and had to clean her room, I'd often find her there hours later, with what looked like nothing done. I called it "getting lost in the details." She'd end up picking through her dresser drawers, or sorting out her jewelry, while the floor remained buried in discarded clothing and toys and general junk.
She gets it from her daddy, who has been known (he'd deny this) to take the most minor of tasks and turn it into an all-day project. Sometimes focusing on the little things is necessary. Sometimes it's a distraction designed to keep us from completing a task. We need to be able to discern the difference.
In order to stop "clock fighting" we have to realize that the clock is not the enemy, it's our friend. If we use it wisely. If Nora Roberts can churn out five books a year (I know, I keep going back to that, because it just amazes me) what could I be accomplishing? I may not have her writing ability, but I have the same old 24 hours in a day that she has! Obviously the difference lies in what I do with my 24, versus what she does with hers.
For myself, it's time to stop making excuses and blaming "not enough time" for my failure to be a good steward over my household, to complete the assignments my Abba Father has placed on my daily schedule, or to attend to the proper care of my spirit, soul, and body. 
With that said, it's time to go exercise, and then head to the grocery. And during my two-hour drive each way, I could spend that time praying or plotting or listening to a podcast, instead of flipping through the radio stations. I could even just -- GASP! -- relax and enjoy two hours of solitude.
Okay, no more clock fighting... you are the master of the tick-tock, not the other way around!
 

Robin Lee Hatcher reposted this from Randy Alcorn's blog and it is too good not to share.
I wouldn't mind having this framed and hung in every room at eye level!

Four things you can't recover...
 

 

 

 
 p.s.
Click the links to visit Robin Lee Hatcher's blog and Randy Alcorn's blog! Both are well worth the time.