WEEK 15 SYL CHALLENGE: PRIORITIES

Challenge for week fifteen: Conduct a time audit.  Have a look at what you currently have on your to do list, what is in your calendar, what activities you are involved in, commitments you have made.  Do these reflect the values you identified in the goals you set?  How much of your time is spent ‘above the line’?  Think about what might need to go to make room for what you really want in life – to achieve the vision you have set for this year – or what changes can be made to your routines and activities to make room.

Interesting one this one.

In the process or getting your head around ‘time management’, which the next four or five challenges are focused on, we have to look at how we’re currently managing our time.

I don’t know about you, but I use to spend a lot of time running around trying to cram as much into my day as possible.  I’d dread a day where I’d felt that I was just sitting around reading or watching telly, because upon reflection, I felt that I’d wasted it.  In reality, it was down time for me, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

However, guilt steps in and you feel like you’ve done something wrong because you’ve taken time for yourself.

Here’s a tip: we don’t have to spend every waking moment of our lives running around after everyone else.  At some point, we have to stop and take care of ourselves.

That is nothing to feel guilty about.

Look at it like this; if we spend all of our time running around after everyone else and accommodating all of their needs, and neglect ourselves, we will crash.  What good are we to anyone, let alone ourselves, if we crash?

We must take time for ourselves.

So, part of this challenge is about focusing on what’s important to you (which again, refers us back to goal setting and the wheel of balance stuff from previous challenges) and puts them in some kind of priority.

Time management is not about cramming as much as possible into one day: it’s about having a day filled with things that we want to do, whilst still managing to address the things we have to do.

It’s about balance.

For example; no one wants to spend half an hour paying the bills.  Gaaa… what a boring and unrewarding job that is.  However, it has to be done.  If we procrastinate around this task, ignore it and put it off, all of a sudden it becomes and urgent problem and takes up more time (and creates more stress) than we really need it to do.

Our life should be a balance of doing the shit we want to do, and these little tasks are simply peppered through it as one of life’s necessities.

Deb, the creator of the 52 week challenge, talks about a time management matrix created by a gentleman called Stephen Covey, called ‘the four quadrants’. 

Basically, this matrix carves up your ‘time management’ life into four sections.  Thinks that are important or of value that are both urgent and not urgent (first two), and thinks that are not important, that are also urgent and not urgent.

I’ve attached a copy of my own quadrant that I created, so you’ll get the drift.

Now, this is not gospel according to Stephen Covey, but it runs along the same theory, and it works for me.

You see, in quadrant number one are the things that are a priority to me at this point in time.  My health, gym/water aerobics, my diet, my relationship with Charlie and any emergencies that pop up, no matter what they are.  These are the ‘big things’ that will take a front seat at all times.  These are the things that my life will revolve around.

You will note that ‘work’ is not listed here.  I see work as a necessary evil; something that I must do to fund my lifestyle.  This matrix is about what I do with my down time.

The second quadrant are things that are no so urgent, but still important to me.  Secondary things that I enjoy, and when the big things are done, this is what I focus on. 

I love updating my Facebook recipe page, my blog, watching the odd television show (love the cooking channel), reading, gardening, CWA and looking after Mum.  These are the things that bring joy to my life.

The third quadrant is things that are not a priority to me, but have to be done.  I have to keep on top of the household and my personal finances, and I have to do jobs around the house.  That’s life.  However, they’re not going to be a dominating part of it.

The fourth quadrant, to me, represents things that I really don’t want in my life at all, but are there none the less. 

In reality, we can’t control the impact of other people on our lives.  People will be negative; they will be drama queens, and they will endeavour to dump their problems on you instead of dealing with it themselves.  These things are inevitable, but instead of them controlling my life, as they have in the past, I’m pushing them as far out of my circle of influence as I possibly can.

Time management is about taking care of the important stuff first, and in this sense, by ‘important stuff’, I mean the stuff that’s important to me and the goals I’ve set for myself in this challenge.

I found this quadrant matrix very interesting, because what you see here is not what I started with.  It’s helped me clearly see what has to be a priority for me; what I need to be spending the majority of my time focusing on, and what’s actually dragging me down.

When I have the big stuff under control, I can bring in the little things, like the stuff in quadrant two.  They are not as important as the other things, but again, they give my life some joy.

It’s time to start living ‘above the line’ in quadrant one and two.  Above the line.

I’m not 100% convinced that I have my head around this challenge fully yet, but I think over the next few weeks, as I press forward with the other challenges, this one will fall into place.

Mmm…. Not meant to be easy, is it?

Peace out.

RANDOM ACTS OF FREEWAY KINDNESS

I was reading a girlfriends blog today, www.louslaughsandlearnings.blogspot.com.au, and a memory of something recent popped into my head.

You see, Lou was talking about altruism, (amongst other things), and where there is a point in which you have to draw the line.  We’re supposed to love and give unconditionally, but sometimes, you get to a point where you can give no more without compromising yourself.

That made me think of random acts of kindness, and I recall a story from a couple of weeks ago that I want to share.

I was driving along the Geelong Freeway, from Hoppers Crossing (where our mail box for work is) back into the office at Sunshine. 

It was a school holidays, and the traffic wasn’t overly heavy.  Four lanes of 100kms an hour was bliss!

Anyway, I’m in the very left hand lane, hooning along, and in one of the centre lanes, was a big arse 4WD ute towing a caravan.  The ute was loaded up with possessions, Mum and Dad in the front, kids in the back.

Their front left had tire was flat.

I dare say, because of the weight they were towing, they couldn’t tell.

All I could think was ‘forget the tyre; they’re going to completely stuff their rim if they don’t pull over’.

So, I come up alongside them, wind the window down and start tooting the horn.  The mother looks at me, and I start pointing to their flat tyre.

Obviously, she couldn’t understand me, so she wound her window down.  I yelled out ‘Your front tyres flat!’

She gave me the thumbs up, and turned to her hubby as I drove away.

In the rear view mirror, I saw their hazard lights come on, and their vehicle slowly make it’s way across the lanes, and pull up in the emergency lane.

I drove along, smiling to myself, because I felt I’d done something good for someone else.

How long would they have travelled before there was a problem?  How long had they been travelling already?  Would anyone else have stopped them or pointed this out to them?

What kind of holiday would they have had if their rim was damaged; an expensive one, I dare say.

It cost me nothing to help them, but I couldn’t help but wonder if someone would have done that for me?

Treat others as you would yourself, they say.

Peace out.

I'M OFFENDED

A quote from a friend:

Announcing 'I'm offended' is basically telling the whole world that you cannot control your emotions, and that everyone else should do it for you.

GREEN BOMB

Well; I didn’t see that coming.

Bob Brown resigning from politics at what I would have considered the height of his power?

One must wonder why?  What’s the real reason for him leaving now?

Do The Greens actually listen to the feedback from the public, and are making moves to save themselves before the next election?  Federally, The Greens are a little on the nose, particularly after the debacle that’s become their ‘alliance’ with the ALP.

A lot of people are blaming The Greens for the excessive taxes we do not need, poor economic stimulation because of it, and all the other tree hugging bullshit that’s seen the ALP do more back flips than an acrobat.

They have been slammed in the New South Wales and Victorian elections, losing what seats they did have, and it’s predicted that the same thing will happen when the federal election rolls around next year.

One wonders now if they will go the way of The Democrats; who were simply there to ‘keep the bastards honest’.

The one thing I will admire about The Greens, is the way they have conducted themselves.  There was no indication of political instability within the party, no suggestion publicly the Brown was ready to go.  They kept it all private and ‘in house’, as it should be.  The ALP and Liberals could take a leaf or two out of The Greens book on this one…

At 67, maybe he’s ready to go?  Maybe Brown feels that he’s done enough? Maybe he’s built the party up to a point where he can step back now?

Maybe he’s dodging a bullet?  If they get massacred at the next election, as it’s predicted, at least he won’t be around to cop the fallout for it.  Christine Milne will.  Mmm… clever.

Brown will be remembered as the great man that built the party and lead it through the greatest period in its short history.  Brilliant.  Nothing like a martyr, is there?

Or maybe it’s simply become too ‘political’ for him.  Maybe it’s all heading in a direction that even he doesn’t want it to go, because the game has suddenly become way too serious.

So, where did it all start?

Well, throughout the 1970’s, the good Doctor was exactly that: a doctor.  He graduated from medical school in the late 1960’s, and for the next decade, practiced his craft. 

In the late ‘70’s, he became the director of the Tasmanian Wilderness Society, which would see him involved in a myriad of protests and actions in the defence of our magnificent wilderness.

In 1983, he was arrested during a protest blockading works for the proposed Franklin Dam, and spent nineteen days in prison.  On the day of his release, he was elected into the Tasmanian Parliament.  That year, he because our ‘Australian of the Year’.

In 1990, he established the Bush Heritage, which funds and purchases environmentally significant land.  Apparently, the Bush Heritage’s first purchase was a block earmarked for logging.

1992, Brown helped form the Australian Greens as a national political party, which before then, consisted of loosely aligned local activists.

1996 sees him become the first Australian Greens Senator (and first openly gay member of parliament), and over the following years, he would be a strong opponent to the Howard Government, and a loud voice for environmental and social issues alike.

In 2003, Brown was famously ejected from federal parliament during a speech by then visiting president, George W Bush.  He was very vocal in his opposition to the Iraq war, and certainly let Bush know it during his visit here.

So, after many years as the ‘public face’ of The Greens, after many years working tirelessly for environmental and social issues throughout Australia, Bob Brown has called it a day.

In June 2012, he will retire gracefully from public office, but I’ve no doubt that’s the last we’ll hear of him.

Love him or hate him, you can’t argue that Brown is not dedicated in his mission.  It’s rare to see someone stand so convinced of his beliefs, where those around him were being bought for the best price.

Is he leaving on a high?  Yes; I think so.

Was he pushed? I don’t know. 

What will it mean for Australian politics?  Hard to say.  I think The Greens will disappear somewhat after the next election, as the public are sick and tired of them and what they see is happening to this country through their alliances.

Many have wondered who is actually running this country.  We’ve elected the ALP into power, yet it would appear that a man with only 14% of the vote is the one running it.  The majority did not vote for this, and the majority will certainly make sure it doesn’t happen again.

However, stepping aside now gives The Greens a chance to re-build and work a new strategy in time for the next election; in time for them to save themselves at the sacrifice of the ALP.

Personally, I’ve never been a fan of the man.  I don’t agree with his policies, and I don’t agree with the way The Greens are wielding their power at the expense of our nation. 

When he steps aside in June, he won’t be in the limelight to see the legacy of the carbon tax and how it impacts upon this nation.  If the face of the carbon tax is running for the hills before it comes to fruition, what does that say about our future?

However, I do respect the man’s resolve.  He had a vision, and I have no doubt that he will leave a lasting imprint on our political nation.

Peace out.

NOTE: all historical information about Bob Brown was obtained from the Herald Sun website :D