13 February – Success! Bright Beacon of Hope!
Yes, indeed, Wednesday has dawned bright and beautiful. I got that coffee maker going and got my notebook and Bible and stayed awake, beautifully awake, brightly awake. Once it grew light outside I saw the fresh inch of snow that fell last night. It is also bright and beautiful.
The contrast between Monday and Tuesday taught me two things: first, having a plan makes my day much more productive; second, the beginning is the most important part.
I got through a rather long list of to-do on Monday, and I enjoyed the entire day. I was motivated, moving, clear-minded, and even with a cold I felt energetic. Tuesday I woke up late and very tired, fell asleep again, didn’t get moving, didn’t have a list or a plan, and was exhausted by afternoon. Some days are simply more productive than others, right?
Right. Some days are simply more productive because they are better planned, better managed, and better executed. Productivity doesn’t just happen when the Happy Productivity Fairy appears and waves her DayTimer over your head.
You can be sure that there are always circumstances that fight productivity, that some days despite your best planning and diligent efforts, forces conspire to prevent anything productive from happening. You can also be sure that the default of any day, left to run its own meandering course through whatever pops up or whatever you feel like, will not result in productivity.
Remember that
second law of thermodynamics? It’s the one about entropy: basically, as energy is transferred from one form to another, some is lost and as energy decreases, the disorder increases. Entropy is “
the degree of disorder in a system.” Until more energy is put into a system, the entropy will increase until, finally, disorder has increased to such an extent that no productive processes can continue.
Thermodynamics for Life Management: The disorder in your life will increase unless you continually add energy to maintain order and productivity. You’ve got to push that ball to keep it rolling, or else it will run out of energy and sit there and the moss will grow over it and soon you won’t even be able to find it anymore.
Start by
setting a schedule and
establishing a routine, keep on by
beating procrastination, and keep it solid by
continually simplifying your life.
by Lisa See