Finding Freedom

Since I talked about feeling disconnected after being unplugged from my business for a day or two, I’ve been trying out different things that help me come Monday morning.

I tried the ideas recommended by wise commenters Janine Adams and Kelly Parkinson. I talked to my special advisor Kat. I tried time management and organizational systems like Mark Forster’s Autofocus and even re-visited Flylady.

What I kept finding, was that no one system was working for me. Some systems were too vague, others to rigid. I kept trying to tweak things and make it work for me.

I started paying attention to how I really work, what kinds of things that I wanted to track on lists.  What the benefits of paying attention to all of this stuff is anyway.

After just a few days, I realized I had a real potpourri of stuff, things I wanted to do every day, things that I wanted to do less frequently but still regularly, the projects with a concrete beginning and end, the maybe someday stuff.

It became clear really quickly that the trouble was trying to find just one way to deal with all of this stuff. The magic really started happening when I took parts of the systems and used them where they really worked. Where they naturally helped and supported me. And dumped the rest.

So now, on Monday mornings I know exactly where I am. And even better? When I pay attention to everything with this system, I can unplug even more fully each evening and weekend, knowing that nothing will be forgotten, nothing will slip through the cracks. And I don’t have to spend one more second trying to remember not to forget something.

Now that’s freedom.

To do list: by JPhilipson, on Flickr