Judy explains the concept with a gardening analogy:
I got up this morning with a longer to-do list than usual (hard to imagine, but it’s true). I started frantically working and attacking one thing after the other on my list. However, with each task I accomplished, instead of feeling better, I felt more overwhelmed. I knew I had to do something to break the cycle.
At 2pm I finally decided to stop and enjoy lunch on the back porch where I looked out at my one-year-old rose bushes. They haven’t been doing as well as I would like and, over the weekend I did some research on how to better care for them. I found that I should be cutting them back more aggressively.
After lunch, I decided to take a 20 minute break from my to-do list and cut back my rose bushes. As I was doing that, I remember that one time I saw a lady in her yard cutting some roses off her bushes to make a bouquet.
I stopped to tell her how gorgeous they were and I said, “How can you stand to cut them off, though. I would want to keep them there so that they last as long as possible.” Her answer? “There’s nothing I can do to make them last longer. But, if I cut them off, I can enjoy them in the house. And, by cutting them off and constantly trimming the bush, I’ll have even more roses the next time.”
As I trimmed my roses, I thought about how they will grow stronger and healthier by cutting them back. And, by walking away from my “to-dos”, I found that I came back more focused and productive.
What about you? Are there things on your "to-do list" that you could simply prune out? I'm interested in your experiences--please comment below.
Office Supplies Office Furniture Office Chairs Office Desks Wholesale Office Supply
Barbra:
Wanted to thank you for your comment on my blog and also share details about a tool that I learned about not too long ago.
It's called Remember The Milk: it's a web-based To Do list, which you can access via your web-enabled cell phone too, so you can essentially keep it updated and available from anywhere, without the need for heavy software like Outlook and the like.
Hope this helps!
Posted by: Manny Hernandez | October 10, 2006 9:14 PM | Permalink to Comment