If you are a high achiever who has 110 things on her/his to-do list today, this post may not be for you. If you want to be a high achiever but get overwhelmed at times, this might be more suited to you.
I was talking to a new friend, Justin, the other day through emails about how we can get over indulgent in work and actually be less effective. That conversation made me think up a challenge post to my readers: I want to tell you to focus on only three things today. You decide what they should be. You’ll be tempted to focus on more, but limit yourself.
As a teacher, I tend to get bogged down in all the demands from the district and parents. Sometimes, it can sap my energies. The professional solution is to focus my energies with an almost tunnel vision on no more than 3 things. I can still do other things, but my success for the day will be determined on whether I got those three things accomplished. For example, tomorrow my 3 are: 1) Multiple meaning words, 2) Finalize my parent conferences calendar, and 3) Teach the final 2 math concepts we’ll be testing next week. There are many other things I could/should be worried about, but these three are the most important. I will name the day a success when these three things are done.
It is the regular attention to goals that makes me feel like a great teacher. I wasn’t born great and I do not remain great just because of what I have done. My puritan upbringing cringes at calling myself “great,” but I am simply referring to the data that says: I set goals and achieve them. To me, for any occupation or endeavor in life, that is greatness. What do you think this challenge could show you?
6 Comments
I think if I tried to pick three things to focus on, the universe would bop me with 3 other more pressing things….LOL
At work, though, I like to think of it as triage. I keep all my open work in a folder and since the new work comes in constantly, I put it in the folder in order of importance. The work on top gets done first, the lesser things will have to wait.
That was one of the best life lessons that I learned when working in the police department. Not all 911 calls are the same. Some things have to take precedent over others.
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Pay, 3 things a day. I am lucky if I can only do just 20 things a day. I manage 17 simultanous projects at my job, 4 blogs, 2 little kids, wife, house cleaning, and somehow try to find time to exercise daily.
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Ok ok. You both make a good point. Save this post for the day when you have the flu or just feel outright overwhelmed. I am talking about “focus” here not simply doing three things. Make three your “pet” projects, even if they are the exercise. I think you will see all the rest of them more clearly.
BTW, I need to exercise more so I admire that!
Well i am lucky that i can manage more than 15 things per day and i am happy that i can finish all of them in required time. :)
We all have to focus on many more than 3. The point here is to focus on three most crucial. I thought I said that. Anyway, glad to hear about your 15.
I think you’re right, if you focus on just a few things instead of looking at the entire list, you will feel like you actually got things accomplished rather than barely making a dent in what you have to do.
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Focus on Three Things Today
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