Disorganization

Having to constantly find documents, forgetting commitments and appointments puts is a huge sinkhole. The solution out of this is simply to create a system for organizing and routinely tidy it up. You may have implemented a few systems, but here are some areas you might consider giving a clean-up:

• Computer hard-drive
• Calendar
• To-Do Lists
• Project Task Lists
• Office/Desk/Home
• Filing System
• Closets

The Should List

Today I have been mulling over my "should" list. I was thinking that it runs in the background, almost continuously and might very easily be one of the most overlooked energy drains. It occurred to me that much of the "helpful advice" I've been finding about energy drains sound a lot like even more "shoulds" that I "should" add to my to do list, that I "should" be implementing, and "should" be eliminating and "should" be dealing with... etc. etc.

And I realized that my Should List is a lot like an unnecessary program running in the background on my PC. Here's why: "All sorts of programs run in the background on your PC. Closing unessential ones is sometimes a good idea, because doing so can increase your system's speed and can help keep software installations trouble-free. Identifying which applications are essential and which are not takes some detective work, however."

If your computer is running slowly - here's a link to that article at PC World. If you think your "should" list is depleting your energy and bogging you down, today might be a good day to begin some inner detective work.

One thing that I thought might be important is to have an idea of what the word "should" actually means. I looked it up, and here's a dictionary definition of should. I didn't find it very helpful, so I did a search for the words "should have" and came up with this grammatical explanation. And that's when I realized that it isn't the words themselves, it's the meaning and the intention behind them.

For me, when I say "I should have done the dishes," what I actually mean is, "I'm such a slob, and lazy because I didn't do the dishes yesterday (or the day before, or last week)." It might also mean, "If I was smart, I would have done the dishes," which has an even deeper layer meaning, "I'm stupid because I didn't."

What about you? When you say yourself "I should do the dishes." or "I should mow the grass." What is it that you are really telling yourself? What is the rest of the story? And how does it make you feel when you say "I should" or "I shouldn't" or "I should have"?

What do you think? Should we do something about our should lists?

A Small Delay

Sorry for the delay in posting, my phone has been out of service due to all the rain we've been having here in Missouri so I have been off line. Today, finally the phone is fixed, the dial tone is back, and I'm just flat out too tired after a long (really long) hard (really hard) day at work to do more than put up this quick note.

So - I'm handing it off to you guys today. Any thoughts or ideas about energy drains that you'd like to share? Experiences? Aha moments? Helpful tips or advice? Your input and insight is valuable! We want to hear what you have to say.

What is holding you back?

In preparation for this project, I did an online search for "energy drains" and found this helpful bit of imagery:

"Imagine a vase being filled with water. Imagine also that the vase has a number of little holes from which water is leaking away. We are all like that vase, receiving energy from different sources. When you are full and overflowing, then you will naturally pour out your surplus energy to nourish others and to make your contribution. However, the unsupportive environments, unmet needs, and negative situations you put up with are the holes that drain your energy. They deplete you and prevent you living your life to the full."

It occured to me, after reading this, that I might be holding on to some of my energy drains because of fear.... fear that I don't really have a contribution to make, fear that I won't or can't live up to my expectations, fear that I might succeed, fear that I might fail. Which got me thinking about that quote by Eleanor Roosevelt: "Do one thing every day that scares you."

So what sounds scary today? I say, let's do it!