Think As Inc

TAKE CARE OF UNFINISHED BUSINESS

October 31, 2009 on 7:08 pm | In life coaching | No Comments

It takes a period of continuous exercise before you begin to pull from stored fat.  Therefore, to achieve serious weight loss, you need an uninterrupted commitment.  A time management technique encourages the grouping of like activities (e.g., returning phone calls at one time, reading email at one sitting) rather than stopping and starting work each time a call or email comes.  In this way, you have uninterrupted focus on one activity at a time and get more done overall.  Both the fitness and the time management techniques illustrate the importance of seeing something through to completion in an uninterrupted way.

Yet, in our daily lives, it is difficult to practice this.  We find ourselves rushing to work, to school, to a social commitment, to a family event, with interruptions in between (family calls at work, housework during family time, phone calls at dinner).  We do so many things and not any of them to our satisfaction.  Our to-do list gets longer and more remains unfinished.  This overwhelming and hectic pace can easily lead to disappointment. 

You might think that doing more is the answer.  However, the key is in the finishing, not the doing.  When you play with the kids, don’t answer the phone, don’t fold the laundry, don’t do anything else.  Even if this means that you get 15 instead of 30 minutes of uninterrupted play, the 15 minutes will likely be more satisfying.  You will have finished a quality interaction, rather than started several activities simultaneously. 

Taking care of unfinished business means focusing your time and energy in a quality way.  It is starting and stopping with purpose, rather than haphazardly combining activities.  You will find that you are more efficient and probably get more done, although that is a secondary point.  Primarily, you enjoy each activity more (whether work, play or laundry) because you are present and attentive and able to notice how even mundane activities can actually be fulfilling.