TWO TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS

Whether you are a soccer Mom or a busy executive, adopting these two tips into your life can change your personal effectiveness for the better.

TIP ONE:  CAPTURE WHAT YOU NEED TO ACCOMPLISH IN A "TO DO" LIST

This is probably the single most important step in bringing control and focus to the chaos that is your life sometimes.  The way your brain works is like this...if you have something you need to accomplish and you don't define the next step you need to take to accomplish that task, your brain is going to continue to remind you that it needs to be done.  It's just the way your brain functions (medical research proves it!).  You will be sitting somewhere trying to focus on what you are doing and all of a sudden that unsettled/unplanned thing you need to accomplish is going to pop back into your mind causing you to lose focus on what you're working on.  Next thing you know there's another one popping up.  And pretty soon you're not getting anything done but thinking about all the things you need to do.  It happens to most of us frequently!

So here is TIP ONE.  When you think about that "something" you need to accomplish simply ask yourself "what is the next thing I need to do to accomplish it?".  If you can complete that next step in a few minutes - just do it.  If it takes longer than a few minutes to accomplish it write down the next action you need to take on your "To Do" list .  For example, if on Monday the reminder in your car tells you the oil needs to be changed, the next thing you might do is decide you are going to accomplish that on Thursday at the Jiffy Lube.  Simply write down "Change Oil in Car at Jiffy Lube on Thursday" on your "TO DO" list.  That decision has been made.  You'll be amazed at how this keeps all those nagging things you need to do from continually popping into your head and stressing you out.

TIP TWO:  WORK YOUR LIST

So you've captured all these next steps or "TO DOS".  Now your thoughts are not continually being bombarded by all these things you need to accomplish.  That's because you've decided what to do about them and have those actions captured on your "To Do" list.  Your brain is happy that you've done that and is not bothering you with it anymore!

Well a list by itself doesn't get anything done, right?  So here is TIP TWO.  Each day should be preceded with a review of the things that need to be accomplished on your list that day.  You can do that review the night before, the morning of the day or whatever works best for you.  But the main thing to remember is to keep marking things off that list each day so the list doesn't continue to grow faster than you are completing things.  You can also use a calendar to help you track time driven "to dos" if that works better for you.  If the bills need paying by the 26th and you've decided to pay bills on the 24th simply write down "Pay the Bills" on the 24th in your calendar.  You're done.  Simply reviewing your list and deciding what you can get done that day will work fine for most of us.  By staying on top of your "to do" list you'll feel a sense of accomplishment that leads to the peaceful feeling that you are in charge and on top of the things in your life.

CLOSING THOUGHTS:

There are many resources out there to help you improve your personal effectiveness.  Author David Allen has a particularly helpful book entitled "Getting Things Done" which can be purchased from the author's website  http://www.davidco.com/, at online retailers such as Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280 or in most large chain book stores.  It is packed full of ideas, practical approaches and research backed methods to improve personal effectiveness.  It has tips that work in the home as well as in the workplace.

If you'll just work at these TWO TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS your productivity will increase, you'll see an improvement in your anxiety level concerning the things you need to accomplish and you'll feel a much greater sense of confidence as you mark things of your "TO DO" list.

WE WILL ALWAYS FIND GOD IN THE MOST EXPECTED OF PLACES

A true story of God's mercy and divine appointments as related to me by a friend who struck up a conversation with a stranger sitting in a waiting room at M.D. Anderson Hospital...

The elderly man sitting next to his wife in the wheelchair in the hospital waiting room was tall and very slender.  He had driven a truck for 40 years until a stroke he suffered made it impossible for him to continue to work.  In that 40 years he and his wife had bought a home, raised their children, paid their bills and taxes and done everything they could to set a good example for their children.  Despite his health issues they had continued to make ends meet.

Six months earlier the doctor in the small town clinic where they lived told the man that his wife likely had breast cancer.  They sent her to a regional medical facility where the diagnosis was confirmed.

Because of the man’s disability and discharge from his job they no longer had health insurance for his wife.  Suddenly they were faced with the reality that his wife needed treatment to save her life – treatment they could not afford.  After many failed attempts to obtain assistance they were ultimately told by the small regional hospital that they could not treat the woman any further.  There was nothing they could do.

The couple returned home and his wife grew more ill with each passing day.  Devastated and with nowhere left to turn the elderly gentleman left his sick wife resting at home one Sunday morning and slipped into a pew at the back of their small town church just hoping to find some relief from the feelings of despair.

At the end of the sermon that morning the Pastor said he felt there was someone there who had something they needed to share.  As the soft music continued to play the elderly gentleman suddenly found himself rising from his seat and slowly making his way down the aisle toward the front of the congregation.

As he neared the front he wondered “what in the world will I say”.  He never spoke in front of groups.  He was terrified.  As he turned to face the crowd he thought his knees might give way.  But as he began to speak in an uneasy tone about the life he and his wife had lived and the situation he now found himself in his voice soon became filled with strength.

He told the Church it was hard for him to understand why they had worked all their lives, raised their children and always taken care of their business and now when he needed help for his ailing wife there was nothing he could do save her.  He prayed daily to God for strength and help.  As tears streamed down his face he said it was almost unbearable to think of life without his wife.  He didn’t know where else to turn.

After some comforting words from the Pastor and prayer from the congregation the elderly man excused himself to the bathroom to dry his eyes and steady himself.  As he emerged from the bathroom the Pastor said there was someone who was visiting in the congregation that day who wanted to speak with him.  The visitor told the elderly man she was very moved by his story and wanted to help him.  She said she couldn’t make any promises but gave him a phone number and asked that he call the next day.

The call the elderly gentleman made the next day started the wheels in motion that would deliver an answer to his prayers.  The stranger who was visiting by chance in the congregation worked at M.D. Anderson hospital.  The stranger arranged for his wife's care at one of the leading cancer treatment centers in the world – free of charge.  His wife had been delivered from certain death by a divine appointment in a small town gathering of God's people.

The story was a reminder to me that when we don’t know where to turn WE WILL ALWAYS FIND GOD IN THE MOST EXPECTED OF PLACES.