Remember if your life has no sense of purpose beyond work some time maybe soon, maybe later, you will hit a wall where you will stand with either your back against the wall or your nose pushed into it wondering ‘what is life all about?’

Choose to prepare ahead of time to avoid a life that has no sense of purpose beyond work by making sure of the following:

One
Make sure you have more than financial, material, career and work based goals that you review daily. In your goal achievement action steps that you write in your day planner make sure you have spiritual, family/friendship and physical goals to achieve each day. For example, make an appointment each day with yourself like you would with a business client to do some inspiring reading or
enjoy a long conversation with your spouse or a close friend or to get out and enjoy a walk in the fresh air (if possible do all these!) These goal cards can help you.

Two
Put these spiritual, family/friendship and physical goals in your day planner weeks ahead so you plan your work day around it. Make sure you always have your day planner on hand when you make any new appointments so you avoid a conflicting appointment or simply confirm the new appointment later.

Three
Review your non-career, non-work, non-financial goals daily along
with all your other goals.

Your friend on the journey,

David

Did you ever wish you had planned ahead for a difficult day? - photo by D. Hennessey

There has been days when I have woke up in the morning and wondered ‘Okay, what do I need to get done today?’ When I have this thought I know I am in trouble when it comes to my personal time management.

After many years testing and retesting time management systems that I have come across to help me achieve more effectively my daily goals I realized that I needed an ‘action list’ often called a ‘to do’ list BUT I recently realized I was reviewing my ‘to do list’ at the wrong time of day.

I had been reviewing my list first thing in the morning when I needed to review it briefly as one of the last things I did at night.

When I review my list as one of my last things at night (note: my to do list includes personal, family and work items) I can confirm they are definitely actions ‘to do’ and not actions ‘not to do’.

Then as I go to sleep I set my subconscious mind to work on the successful completion of the tasks the next day. This helps me have clear thoughts of motivation when I wake up. So I get out of bed with my priorities already established for a fulfilling day.

Yes, I do look at my list in the morning as I start to take action but I know it is what I want to do because I planned it the night before.

Note: If my ‘to do list’ is not inspiring enough to get me out of bed I definitely need to review the list and put priorities on their or the list is more of a ‘Not to do’ list.

Your friend on the journey,

David

Not to Do - Park here - that's a sidewalk!

‘The Not to Do List’ is an idea I remember reading about years ago long before I read Timothy Ferriss’s notes about The 4 Hour Work Week. If you recall another source of the idea before Timothy Ferriss’s book please help me out with an email to ‘remind’ my memory what was my original source.

The Not to Do List is exactly as it sounds. It is a list you keep beside your daily ‘To Do’ list to help you keep focused. The list contains actions that you want to avoid since they get you off track and out of focus and life just drifts away.

Here are some ideas you can use to create your list.

One

Avoid having the urges to answer every single phone call right away. Invest in a message center on your phone and schedule times of day you will check your messages. Please avoid answering the phone if you are in a meeting whether it is business or personal unless you have a wife who is expecting or someone you know is ill. Unexpected phone calls can really destroy your focus.

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Two

Avoid checking your email first thing in the morning. Set priorities that you want to accomplish every day and do them first then check email. You will also want to add Facebook and other forms of Social Media to this ‘avoid checking first thing in the morning’ list.

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Three

Avoid driving around town to save a few pennies on an item. Yes, price compare but do it online and even by phone on higher priced items but don’t burn your life away (and the earth’s fossil fuels) just to save less than you will spend in the process of driving around. If you do see a good price on a product you use often either buy several of them there and then and store them. Or make a note where you are at for the next time you are in the area to cash in on the special deal.

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Four

Avoid doing activities you don’t like. If you have a friend who likes to jog and you detest jogging don’t jog  ride a bike beside them, skateboard, rollerblade find something you like to do on their route or meet them afterwards for a swim or a refreshing drink.

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Five

Well, I sense you have the idea only you know what you need to put on your ‘Not to Do ’ list. Now take your ‘To Do’ list and write a note to make your ‘Do Not Do’ List today.

Your friend on the journey,

David

P.S. If you would like to read more about Timothy Ferriss’s book The 4 Hour Work Week there are almost a thousand reviews on Amazon. Find out details via this link to The 4-Hour Workweek