I consider myself a very goal-oriented person who strives to prioritize things in life according to goals desired. But listening to guest speaker, Stephen Buckley, made me wonder if I’m prioritizing my time effectively. Buckley said, “Don’t prioritize your schedule, schedule your priorities.” This is actually a quote from Stephen Covey, the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
That statement made me do a little searching, which led me to a blog written by Bernice Wood, a mother of four children who began blogging her personal struggles in order to help others avoid burnout and live a healthier life.
http://livingthebalancedlife.com/
Wood gives insight into the quote by Covey and offers some tips to help everyone learn how to change the way they prioritize their life. Shift your thinking, is her first suggestion. By thinking about the things that are most important to you, you will discover what needs prioritizing. If it’s family, what goals do you have for your family? Personal goals? Professional goals?
Second take action. Make a list of actions and activities that are needed in order for your priorities to come to fruition. She recommends not listing every action needed, just the next action needed for each priority. Then schedule these important actions into your schedule.After doing this exercise, I discovered some changes needed to occur in order to get schedule in line with my priorities. Be mindful that when you say ‘yes’, it’s an automatic ‘no’ to other options. So make sure your yes’s match your priorities.
http://productivity.yourway.net/scheduling-our-priorities/
~gardenia coleman
I loved your post about scheduling your priorities. LIke you, I am also a goal-oriented person. Scheduling priorities usually means homework, internship applications, searching for potential jobs. Rarely does family or friends make my priority list.
After looking at the blog link you posted, I discovered that I have my priorities all wrong… (well, not all of it — just the part about friends and family). For so long, my education has always been my top priority. everything else just followed after. Leadership isn’t always about have the right credentials. It’s also about the relationships you make along the way, and I have forgotten that for far too long.
Keen insights leadership isn’t always about having the right credentials it’s also about the relationships you make along the way….
Thanks Gardenia and Jessica for teaching me this morning!
DrBill
I just visited her blog. I love this post because I’m always looking for information on lifestyle change and inspiration.
It’s so important for us to get in tune with what our bodies and minds truly want. Just because a person has been going at a specific pace or doing a specific schedule doesn’t mean he can’t re-prioritize at any point.
It’s much better to live a life catered to your natural wants (whether it be yourself, family, work, whatever you choose!) rather than to live a life catered to an inorganic schedule.