A new weekly segment, possibly... who knows really.

When I worked outside the house, I needed to be super organized.  I learned the ways of Stephen Covey and executed them without fail.  In a true work environment, it is a dream come true - a real life saver... but in my world now, it doesn't really work.

Sure, I can write down that I am going to perform certain tasks at certain times of the day but let's face it - it might not happen then because of unforeseen challenges.  This is not something I would have figured on outside of the workforce.  Shoot, inside the workforce, I was better able to manipulate timings than I am at home.  You would think it would have been the other way around, but it honestly isn't.

This has caused me to have to relearn, or morph, the ideas and principles that I do know into something more logical and fitting for my new world.  Instead of blocking hours of my day, I have to do zones of time with goals.  Having hard and fast time frames to accomplish tasks doesn't really work for me now - it has to be more fluid.  So I did what any other hyper-organized, anal retentive individual would do - I revamped, tested and revamped again until I was able to find a solution that worked well for me.

One thing that has helped me stay focused during the week is to do what Stephen Covey calls First Things First, via my Weekly Compass.  It basically is a motivational tool to help you remember to see the big picture and to keep balance in your life.  This has been one of my most important tools for so many years.  Even when I couldn't figure out a system that worked in my home, my Weekly Compass kept me sane.  I always do it on Monday and now, I thought I would share it with you in a possible new weekly segment called "Motivational Mondays".

There are four segments to the Compass ~ Physical, Social/Emotional, Mental and Spiritual.  All you have to do is write out the most important thing you want to do that week for each segment.  You can't be vague either - you have to have detail or else you can't really hold yourself accountable.  Here is my Weekly Compass for this week:

• Physical ~ Start working out every day - 10 minutes a day this week.
• Social/Emotional ~ Talk with Peanut twice this week.
• Mental ~ Learn how to read a lace pattern working.
• Spiritual ~ Knit peacefully for an hour a day.

Those are my goals for this week.  If I write them out, I am more likely to do them.  If I review them every day, I am more likely to accomplish them.  So every Monday, I am going to figure out what it is that I want to accomplish that week and I will share them with you.  I don't know how long this will last, how detailed it will get or where this ultimately will lead... but do know that I already feel more calm and in control of my day.

Just so you know, I did not get any type of endorsement or anything of that nature from Franklin Covey Inc.  These are just my personal thoughts, opinions and ideals that I wanted to share.  If you would like to learn more than I urge you to click the links throughout this posting.  I was first introduced to this system over 10 years ago through a 3 day workshop by my then employer and it was the most transformational three days of my life.  I have used it ever since, in some form or fashion - I just wish I would have learned back when I was in school... man, that would have been a true lifesaver!