Hope Found in a Wooden Handled Plunger!
Posted on April 24, 2012 by Keith Hill, One of Thousands of ADD ADHD Coaches on Noomii.
The most menial of tasks becomes a metaphor for life.
I had to unclog the toilet the other day, and I thought, “Is this really a metaphor for my life?” I am working feverishly on something for my business that is way overdue, and my son calls out, “Dad! The toilet’s clogged.” It’s moments like this that really make you question the decisions you have made. Right or wrong, they are your decisions.
I am convinced that the key to being truly productive and successful in this life is the ability to minimize distractions. Now I know that sounds easier said than done but let’s take a look at a few quick tips for helping this process:
Plan everything thoroughly – you have to plan action steps to get where you want to go. It’s not enough to have ideas in your head. It’s a guarantee that a plan in your head will get pushed out by the next major thought that jumps in your head. Once that happens, it’s bye-bye productivity and hello distractions.
WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN! – This is so important I had to capitalize every letter. I am willing to bet that you have had enough great ideas in your lifetime to solve every problem you have ever had or will ever have. The problem is that those ideas came, and went without so much as a second glance. I have a good friend who jots down as many ideas as he can think of during the day and jots them down on whatever is handy. At night he enters all of these ideas into his computer. Once a week he categorizes these ideas into folders. Currently he has over 500 gigs of ideas, and whenever he has a problem, he checks his files for ideas on how to solve it. He also has enough info for about 50 books. This seems very time consuming, but it makes sure he is able to store and use his creative resources. It can work for you too!
Reward yourself often – Find what motivates you and use it on a daily basis to keep yourself in check. I have had many clients who set up a reward system for themselves, but the time between rewards is so long, they subconsciously lose interest and become unmotivated. Sometimes the littlest rewards produce the most efforts.
Use the 80/20 rule – The Perreto principal is the idea that 80% of your productivity will come from 20% of your actions. If this is the case, it is a good idea to figure out what your most production actions are in a given day, and plan to take those actions first thing in the morning. No excuses here. Do what works first, what may work next, and what doesn’t work, never.
I am not a big fan of piling up the to-do list, but these four things should help you make a positive change in your day when it comes to minimizing distractions. Hope can be found in the smallest and most unassuming places. Such as a wooden handled plunger, which I quickly applied to the toilet problem, and went back to work.
