on his blog about trying a new method of being productive. I shared that I have become completely sold on the Cindi method, utterly simple (though it took her years to get me to DO it).
Come the start of a week, I review everything that needs to get done that week. I assign each task to a day, and then I save my list. I modify and review it and update it as necessary (new things get added in, or assignments fail to get done and need to be moved). I review the list first thing each day.
But the real joy of the list comes in highlighting an item and selecting: "strikethrough." Productive days get lots of strikethroughs and childish as it sounds, I absolutely love those days when everything gets a line through it. Those are my home-run days.
Today was a good day for it. I started the day with this:
Matins
Proof Bulletin
Materials for Kristi for choir (Psalms for Maundy Thursday; Psalms for Matins on Easter; Chants for Easter DS)
Hymns for April to Carlo
Sermon for Sunday - Oculi
Sermon for Centurion, Fifth Lenten Vespers - "I had seen death before."
Bible Study for Sunday
Prayers for this Sunday
Set up sanctuary for Sunday (bulletins, prayers, sermon on pulpit, hymn board)
Elders Meeting
Everything but Elders Meeting is now scratched off; when I get back from elders I can eliminate that too and look forward to tomorrow, when the only big items on the list are Matins, go the Y, clean house, and prepare for teachers' wine and cheese gathering tomorrow evening here at the parsonage.
Nothing fancy, but I find that it really works to keep me motivated because like a little kid I love to scratch off items that are finished. What do you MEAN you think I'm obsessive compulsive???
P.S. Before someone asks: of course I do NOT finish all my lists each day, let alone each week.
I do this at work and it is so helpful. I often don't get each day's tasks done - but they are always all done by the end of the week.
ReplyDeleteTo find such joy in simply crossing something off a list - it's like clicker training for humans.
LOVE crossing things off a list! LOVE to look back at the list and see everything crossed off. HATE putting the list together, which means I am as disorganized as ever.
ReplyDeleteElders are such a great bunch that you''ll be sad to cross it off since the time with them is over!
ReplyDeleteI do it too... Wonder where I got it from... Dean thinks it's absolutely ridiculous. He keeps it in mental storage and if that fails... The computer. It's not the same as physically scratching it off my list!
ReplyDeleteOh, mine is all on the puter, luv. I cross things out by selecting "strikethru." :)
ReplyDelete