Not everyone has a type-A personality; therefore trying to make each daily productive and fruitful is no small task. Over the years I have learned some principles that has helped me stay focus and get as much done as possible with the strength that the Lord provides.
Here are the 6 P’s that have helped me:
2) Picture. Before I engage in the day, I try to picture what the day will be like and what I would like to accomplish. It is helpful to have your planner or PDA in front of you. Usually for me, I am able to picture the day while I am taking a shower. I think about the meetings that I have and also the various assignments that I have to finish off. The more I am able to picture the day with fulfilling my responsibilities and accomplishing some goals, the more I begin to feel the excitement and motivation to tackle the day.
3) Plan. Once the day in envisioned or “pictured,” then we need a brief game plan. Usually it is good to plan out the whole week and then adjust it daily. We have to remember that a vision of the future will not necessarily guarantee a fruitful day. We need traction to the vision and those goals; therefore it is good to section off the days into bite-size chunks.
4) Pauses. It is easy for me to just sit at one place and stay focus for the whole day but I realized that sometimes this is not the most effective thing. Various bursts of pauses help the mind to shift gears and re-engage the work with freshness. I usually read up on various articles or check up on the news. It is usually different for different people.
5) Persevere. Sometimes I have one of those days where I either get distracted a lot or I just don’t want to work on things. Deadlines do not wait for us. This is when we have to learn how to persevere and press on. I have to constantly remind myself of the vision or end goal. Sometimes I look at a picture of my family or something inspirational (picture of the world, global city skyline, etc) to remind me of some of the key goals that I want to accomplish.
6) Pray. Closing out the day in prayer reminds me that everything is in the Lord’s hand and He is in control. When I spend some time thanking God for what I was able to accomplish (or not able to accomplish) that day, it puts everything into perspective and gives me strength to start the day afresh the next morning, if the Lord choose to give me another day to live.
Carpe diem!