DECISION PROCESS FOR TAKING ON TASKS
Rough draft, but idea is clear I think. Working copy.
This is to be used as a checklist for each decision on whether to take on a task.
However, it won't be, in the heat of battle (a busy day) - you'll forget.
So, what you do is build a system that you follow that makes it automatic or close to it anyway.
Read the rest of this page for "strategies" to use - and for a list of priorities in terms of the value you can get out of something. (Remember you must "lose" something, maybe even approval or perfection or..., of lesser value, as there is always a tradeoff if you don't have "time for everything" - which is a myth that can only cause you emotional pain - but there is no real pain in "losing something of lesser value" in order to gain something of higher value - that is pure, exciting, life enhancing, and one of the secrets of living a better life. To put it another way, if you don't follow these, you are guaranteed to live a lesser life and probably not to be really, truly happy!)
LEAVE SPACES AND PLACES
Of course, the smartest thing to do is not to overload oneself in the first place - and to make sure one has a flexible schedule (see below). But given that we have not set clear boundaries and held to them, we must have a back up strategy.
This strategy does not allow us to "do it all", as that is impractical at best and damaging at worst.
Instead, we set up a system that will cut our work off when it gets to have less worth than personal activities AND to limit what we do, except for true emergencies (house burning down, possible death or injury, etc.).
One very key strategy is to limit almost all activity to being optional, where there are no positions and fixed responsibilities that are obligatory. And the person is to do what he loves to do and to pick and choose among "what comes by" for the value he can contribute, instead of being assigned things and trying to meet the demands, commands, and requests of others.
The effective person will not take on an item of "some value" when he can take on items, both in the personal and work realms, that are of higher value, especially for emotional and physical self care.
Level I. Mandatory:
___ If I don't do this, I will have breached my higher level responsibility.
___ And/or it will ruin my credibility with someone I depend on for my income.
___ It truly has high value, not "medium" or "some" value. The latter are all low enough
that there are a lot of competing events that have high value in the personal areas
of life.
___ It is a true emergency where there is virtually no other choice.
Level II. Non-negotiable items of high value (always done except in rare high value emergencies.
__ Health maintenance blocks
__ Daily grounding
__ Relationship quality time
__ Personal life learning, flexible but rarely miss:
__ As you are freeing yourself up from the overload, limit yourself to no work after 6.
Intangible of value:
__ Personal "margin" of free time to "chill out" or relax, rejuvenate - or absorb the
variability in today's to dos, without causing stress and too much to do.
Level III. Optional
__ Very high value (choose if it is more valuable than extra spare or personal time)
__ Good to do (a highly productive person doesn't do "good to do's")
__ Low value, but some
Staying flexible and not picking obligatory things. (A "contribute" by choice strategy.)
__ Not volunteering to be an "officer" of the club
__ Not volunteering to be an organizer or "in-charge"
