Today I came to the honest realization (as I continue working on my first quarter plans) that there are things that should already be done that I am still working on. Now this isn’t abnormal and is one of the main reasons we create quarterly versus yearly plans. That being said, this sometimes bothers me because I really try to do the things I say I am going to do and also do the things that really need to be done. Sometimes I succeed with flying colors and other times…well procrastination gets the best of us…but that is the whole purpose of this thing. So…in developing my first quarter 2013 plan, I know I need to put these things at the top of my first quarter goal list so they are done during this first month of January. Yes, there are other things I want to accomplish during this quarter, but we have to prioritize them in a way that we aren’t continuing to procrastinate on things and just pushing them further and further into the year.
We all tend to make time for things we enjoy doing and let those things that aren’t so enjoyable fly by the waist-side. Which honestly just creates a vicious cycle of nothingness…of laziness…of crap sitting around not getting done. Yes, it’s a hard truth but we have to face it at some point and what better point than right now. Let’s stop making the excuses and “Get’er done”. Most things will not take as long as we anticipate anyway…we just have to make a plan and commit to it.
I have also come to realize that my weekends aren’t really mine. There is always something I need to do for the house or somewhere I need to go and the list of “things” I had planned for that day are some how not accomplished which are just left on the list or skipped all together. See how the cycle just continues? I am saying this to say…don’t pack your quarter full of things that aren’t realistic or accomplishable. Know that life happens and you aren’t necessarily going to be able to do everything on the weekends. Know that you may have to work some stuff into your week instead. When planning the wedding, I ran lots of errands during my lunch time instead of going to eat with my co-workers because I could get the things done easily and check some things off my list. My time was precious and we had a lot to accomplish in a short period of time. If you know you have a big weekend with the family or with friends coming up, why try to cram everything into that Friday night or Saturday morning? This will just drive you crazy…at least it tends to do that to me. Break your tasks out over the week and see how much more sane you feel. Now, for those who are stay at home moms, students or housewives…the same holds true for you. Don’t think you don’t have stuff to do during your day and the weekends. You need to plan just as much if not more to ensure you meet all the needs you have throughout your day/month. So, when developing your plans make sure you take life into consideration, but don’t use it as an excuse to not do something. Look at the reality of things and see where you can make it work…where you can realistically fit it in…where you can shift some stuff around. Are you going out every weekend and not setting a day to do some of your goals? If you look and things aren’t balanced make an adjustment so you have a good work/life/fun balance.
