Some Q-III activities may be related to tasks required by an employer. For example, an employee is asked to write a report that he does not see any value in creating, but because employer wants it -- and he values his job or that relationship -- Q-III activity becomes a Q-I activity. If a large portion of your work is filled with activities that fall into Q-III, it may be time to consider career move.

Many of us are "urgency addicted" - a self-destructive behavior that temporarily fills a void created by unmet needs. This type of addiction is as dangerous as other commonly recognized addictions and dependencies.

Quadrant IV: Quadrant of Waste

This quadrant represents activities that are not important and are not urgent. Here are examples of activities that fall into Q-IV: * Trivia, busywork * Reviewing junk mail * Some phone calls * Escape activities * Viewing mindless TV shows

Most of us do not spend much time in this quadrant because we simply don't have time to waste. The most common Q-IV activity I encounter in my work with busy people is escape activities. When stress level gets high enough, some people escape from reality by doing activities that do not address or resolve problem. This is considered wasteful.

Note that same activity can fall into Q-II or Q-IV. You are only one who can determine which quadrant activity belongs in. If you are treating yourself to true recreation and relaxation (resting and renewing yourself), you are in Q-II. If you are engaging in an escape activity (avoiding problem and not finding a solution), you are in Q-IV. The motivation behind activity determines which quadrant you are in.

The goal is to manage activities in Quadrant I, focus on activities in Quadrant II, and avoid activities in Quadrants III and IV - activities that you've deemed as not important. And yet, because so many of us are urgency-addicted, we tend to spend bulk of our time in Quadrants I and III - doing activities that are urgent and important or urgent and not important.

Now that you have a tool to help you measure how much of your time you spend doing activities that are not important to you, it's time to make some conscious choices about how you spend your time in future.

WEEKLY PLANNING - A TRANSFORMATIONAL KEY TO RECLAIMING YOUR LIFE

"The greatest value of planning process is not what it does to your schedule, but what it does to your head. As you begin to think more in terms of importance, you begin to see time differently. You become empowered to put first things first in your life in a significant way." --Stephen Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

Let's revisit my clients, Carol and Marilyn.

Carol has fully embraced weekly planning process. She is noticeably more at peace now than she was when we first started working together. Her quality of life has dramatically improved as she has clarified priorities and has done weekly planning to ensure that she focuses her time on Quadrant I and II activities and avoids Quadrant III and IV activities.

Marilyn has not embraced weekly planning process. She is too busy putting out fires (Quadrant I) to spend time planning (Quadrant II). And more she neglects Quadrant II activities - relationship-building, self-care, values clarification, and planning her schedule to accommodate what is most important in her life - more Quadrant I activities she has to deal with. She generates her own fires and then feels compelled to put them out.

When we neglect activities in Quadrant II long enough, they often become Quadrant I. Then our schedules get filled with urgent activities. When urgency rules, stress levels go up, and we do not feel that we have any choice about how we spend our time.

A client recently started her coaching call with me by sharing her frustration about not having enough time. She went on to list all of things that she HAD to do that day. After hearing her say "I have to..." about six times just for that day alone, I asked her, "Do you CHOOSE to do these things?" She recognized that she did not HAVE TO do any of things...that she CHOSE to do most of them, and she might choose to either delegate or not do one of things that before felt like a HAVE TO. The realization that these activities were a choice completely shifted how she felt about them.

Language is very powerful as we do our planning. Be aware of your self-talk as you make choices for week. Listen especially for should, gotta, and have to in your self-talk. Those trigger words may signal that you may not be feeling at choice, even though you probably are. Unless someone is holding a gun to your head, you have a lot more choice than you realize.

Stephen Covey has created a six-step weekly planning process. I've found that this process does not work nearly as well if I skip any of these steps: 1. Connect to your own personal mission statement. 2. Review your key roles, beginning with SELF. 3. Identify what you choose to do this week for each of your key roles. 4. Calendar in WHEN you will do what you chose in Step 3. 5. Exercise integrity in moment of choice as you live your week. 6. Evaluate how your week went as you prepare for next week.

To review this planning process in greater detail, visit http://www.orgcoach.net/sixsteps.html. This process has transformed my life as well as lives of many of my clients.

People are motivated change by two things: increasing pleasure or decreasing pain. Weekly planning is a tool that has capacity to help you increase pleasure and decrease pain in your life. I challenge you to go to your calendar NOW and schedule one hour a week for next month -- preferably at same time each week -- to do your weekly planning. I'll bet that quality of each week will go up and you will feel a much greater sense of accomplishment because you will have heightened your focus on what's most important to you.

While you have your calendar out, I request that you add a note to e-mail me a month from now at mailto:orgcoach@gte.net and let me know how following this six-step weekly planning process has affected your life.

If you REALLY want to do something, time can generally be found pretty easily. For example, if you just won an all-expenses paid trip to land of your dreams, you'd probably find time to fit it into your busy schedule without much of a problem.

So, it's time to begin fitting in those things you want to do, and 10 Minute Goals can help. Schedule 10 minutes a day to catch up on your reading, or to begin learning that foreign language, or to simply spend having fun with your children. Then, work on those goals when schedule date and time rolls around.

4. 10 MINUTE LUXURIES: Don't forget to schedule a few 10 Minutes Luxuries per day to do something nice for yourself.

Sometimes day is so rushed and chaotic, that it's easy to forget really important things like family, health, spirituality, personal time and so on.

Take that 10 minute vacation every day. You deserve it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Maria Gracia - Get Organized Now! http://www.getorganizednow.com

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