What Will You Have Done At The End of Today?

I know this is a problem I have, but I can't seem to get out of the trap and it's coloring my perceptions of other people. Sometimes I think it's unfair, but at other times I wonder whether people really are relatively inefficient users of time.

Enough with being cryptic. I'm talking about the fact that I'm a list maker. I have so many things going on and so many tasks that need to be completed that I'm completely driven by my Outlook calendar. If it doesn't get on my calendar, it doesn't get done. Every little task that needs to be done must be scheduled on my calendar. I actually use my calendar as a "To Do List" of sorts. Because I'll often schedule a task during any empty spot on my schedule and not actually do it at that time. However, it then gets on my reminder list automatically and pops up whenever I open Outlook at the start of every day. So, even if I didn't complete a task, it stares me in the face every day all day.

The interesting thing is that when I don't actually fill up my calendar with tasks, I still keep busy doing lots of things (I'm never just sitting idle wondering what to do), but I don't get anything important done on those days. I stay busy, but at the end of the day, I realize I got very little done. As a result, I have started to dislike people who don't maintain a clear To Do list of what they want to achieve that day. I believe that they essentially end up being completely unproductive during the day. They stay "busy" and feel that they're oh so busy, but don't really get any projects done. I think if you don't set clear goals of what you're going to achieve each day, you'll end up finding ways to fill up your time with inefficient nonsense. If you don't have a clearly defined set of tasks for each hour of the day, it is easy to keep busy and then not make any headway on your major projects. It's not that I'm never behind. In fact, as I said, I often don't get things done during the scheduled time slots since numerous other things crop up each day. However, when that happens, because it is now an ongoing reminder, I know when I'm behind and then schedule times at night or weekends to catch up. If you don't have the task list, you could end up not getting much work done on major projects and not lose any sleep over it. You still watch TV, putter around and relax (because you've worked so hard getting nothing done during the day), get to bed early, and wake up the next day with a fresh goal of nothing.

If you don't know exactly what you're going to get done each day or week, that's exactly what you'll get done.

Getting Somewhere - Faster!

I know I walk very fast. I constantly hear people I happen to walk with exclaim "Wow, people call me a fast walker, but you're crazy - you don't walk, you run!" I have one person at work who shakes his head any time he sees me in the hallways and exclaims "There he rushes - a man on a mission!"

I've always wondered why I like to walk so fast. The answer is that it's because there is just so much to be done. I have to constantly feel like I'm getting something done. That does not mean I'm a workaholic. I really don't think I am. I have too many non-work interests to be a workaholic. I love to read, listen to music, watch movies, play on the computer, keep up with new technologies, and much more. But, it is because there are all this millions of things I like to do that I hate to "waste time" on anything.

Yesterday, for the first time in a long time, I walked outside on my way to my daughter's dance show at a nearby school. Even though I walk fast, being outside allowed me to see a bunch of things I normally don't see - a burbling brook a few minutes from my house, interesting looking trails leading into deeply wooded areas, and a field of wildflowers surrounding the stream. For a fleeting moment, I thought "I really ought to get out more." But that thought quickly was replaced with "well, if I need exercise, I'd rather do it on my stepping machine in front of the TV." It is not that I watch TV (I hardly watch any TV at all - we don't have cable or satellite at home and don't miss it one bit). But, watching an episode of Twilight Zone from the 6-DVD set I bought two years ago while exercising helps me feel like I'm getting something done. At least one more item on my "To Do" list is being checked off. For some strange reason, that is more satisfying to me than being out for a slow walk in the woods. It's not that I'm not spontaneous or don't enjoy just doing things for the fun of it. It's just that there has to be a goal attached to anything I do. So, if my goal is to relax and walk around aimlessly, I have no problem doing it (remember the fun I had blogging about my Australia trip?)

So, if you want to know, I walk fast so I can get somewhere and do something.

I scare myself sometimes ...