This pretty much sums up my week haha. Okay, things really aren’t that bad, but I finally picked The 5 Choices from the library. I’ve been a on a total personal/professional development kick (aside from baby food books) and second to Primal Leadership, I think this is quickly becoming another fave.
It takes the concept of the “so busy” label that so many of us throw around and evaluates whether or not we’re really busy, and if our attempts at being productive are really so. I’m still in the thick of the book, but I really like that it operates on the FranklinCovey Time Matrix:
{image via EntreLeadership}
I’m guilty of burning myself out by constantly operating in Q1 and then trying to relieve myself by escaping to Q4. I say yes far too often, and I also have a bit of an urgency addiction. I like lists, I like crossing things off of lists, and it’s a bad habit that desperately needs to be broken so I don’t feel like I’m constantly bouncing around.
So I printed off this graphic, placed it in a highly visible spot in my cube, and have been evaluating my behavior this week. While I’m definitely feeling less productive, I feel better. So we’ll see how this evolves, it’s all very interesting, but I love trying new things, and as we’ve seemingly just gotten a ton of freelance work, I need all the help I can get.
I’m about to go find this book at my library because I also have the bad habit of living in Q’s 1 & 4 which is making me feel unhappy with my performance and in a semi-manic state when stuck in Q1 constantly. I have to let go of wanting to feel productive, but it’s so hard! Thanks for posting this, can’t wait to read it myself.