Leslie's posts Leslie on 14 Jan 2007 07:49 am
What is “Job 1″ for today?
My “regular” daily 2Do list 24 items on it. Some of those items rotate through, but there are never less than 24 “have-to’s” that I try to do every day. A lot of days a lot of those things don’t get done because of Job 1.
What is Job 1? It’s the thing that you have to do on any given day that probably defines your day, whether you like it or not. Whether it’s on your regular 2Do list or not. Whether it’s on your calendar or not.
But your calendar is the first place to look.
If it’s Tuesday and you have to be at your office all day, then working is your Job 1 for Tuesday. If it’s Tuesday and you’ll only be at the office in the morning because you have to take your mother to the doctor’s for her one-year cancer follow-up appointment, then I’m figuring that being a Daughter is Job 1 for that Tuesday.
What’s important is that you acknowledge what is Job 1 for any given day. Some days, you get to pick what is your own Job 1, since there is nothing in your life (or someone else’s life!) that has pre-determined it for you.
I call this “Today’s Opportunity”.
That 24-item 2Do list I started by talking about begins with a question: “What are Today’s Opportunities?”. I ask myself this question early in the morning - just about the time I’m determining the Job 1 for the day. Sometimes Today’s Opportunities and Job 1 go hand in hand.
When Kerch comes with me to my annual mammogram (which is very stressful for me), we get to spend time with together in an appointment that neither of us cance.. That’s an opportunity. And, of course, the mammo would be Job 1 for that day.
Sometimes “Today’s Opportunities” are not as obvious as a calendar item. In which case, you have the best opportunity of all - to choose for yourself.
Choose early in the day - then you’ll have focus. You’ll be using your time more purposefully and not fall down the rabbit hole of Law and Order and ER reruns on TNT. Unless, of course, the opportunity to spend the day watching a Law and Order marathon is your choice. Hell, you don’t even have to iron or knit at the same time - just watch Jerry!
–Leslie