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Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Barb Rankin, I like to be organized, make lists and plan for future events, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a lesson about periodically tossing out plans and lists, and seizing your opportunities so that you don’t miss what life has to offer.
For today’s fun fact, let’s talk about resources that will help you with planning and organizing.
Fun Fact:
Planning and organizing IS a popular subject. I searched Amazon for books with planning and organizing themes, and got 10,340 results. The first page included ones on productivity, organizing a school choral program, event planning, project management, organizing an Alaskan fishing trip, organizing your kitchen, organizing your child, and one that simply promised to organize everything. Whew. The most expensive book was $80 and there were a few that were free on Kindle. So if you want to plan and organize anything, there are plenty of resources from which to choose.
I wonder if there is a book that will help me organize my cats and make them do what I want ….I doubt it – cats don’t organize.
What I Learned Yesterday:
As I mentioned at the beginning, I enjoy planning and organizing. Whether it’s at home, at work, or for vacation – I simply like making lists of things I need to do and crossing things off my list. As a “task oriented” individual, this gives me a great sense of accomplishment. I feel as if I’m in control and I have my act together. Wow – I did something! We like that feeling don’t we – admit it. We do. We like it. It feels good.
There are many advantages of planning and organizing, whether you are preparing for a vacation or undertaking a major project at work. You’ll outline the things you need to do and how long it might take, improving your time management. You can anticipate surprises and be prepared for an alternate course of action. You’ll understand your resource needs, whether they are time, people, money or systems, and you can determine how you are going to get those resources. Planning and organizing should lead to less stress, since you’ve charted everything out in advance.
But there two are two sides to every coin, aren’t there!?!
Not everyone likes to plan. Planning and organizing takes time. Planning can seem rigid and inflexible at times. What if you are on vacation and see something incredible that you’d like to explore or photograph, but you know that the tour bus is departing in 5 minutes? There is fun in spontaneity. If an opportunity suddenly appears and it may never happen again, do you pursue it? Carpe diem! Seize the day! Seize the opportunity!
A number of years ago, I was in Georgia on a business trip with several co-workers, negotiating a major contract. We had planned our trip well – we had discussed all negotiation points ahead of time and knew what we were willing to accept and what we wanted to negotiate. We had spent months getting to this point, and it was classic planning and organizing. As we wrapped up the session and were congratulating our customer and ourselves on a job well done, I received a call from a friend.
Several months earlier, he had told me about a trip he, his family, and several of their friends were taking. It was an 8 day rafting trip down the Colorado River, through the Grand Canyon. I had heard other people talk about their experience on this trip, and it was definitely on my bucket list. My friend told me that sometimes there were last minute cancellations, and asked if I would be interested if someone dropped out. Knowing it was unlikely, I said, “sure.”
My friend told me that one of the folks had to drop out because they had injured their knee earlier that week, and their doctor told him he couldn’t go. They were leaving in less than one week. Did I want to go?
“YES.”
Wow – now what?
I immediately began the scramble to seize this fantastic opportunity. That meant getting back to Phoenix, getting a list of what I needed to bring on the trip, arranging for coverage at work, finding someone to take care of my cats on short notice, and anything else that needed to be done before I left.
Is it important for us to try something different, to try new things? We all have comfort zones. Places where we feel happy, secure, in control. But if we always remain in our comfort zones, we may not grow and be able to adapt to what life throws our way. We may be less flexible when things happen that are outside our control. Leaving our comfort zones allows us to “go with the flow,” and be more creative. You don’t have to do anything big, like a white water rafting trip, it could be something small, like a watercolor or photography class.
Here’s what I learned.
The trip down the Colorado River, through the Grand Canyon was one of the best vacations I’ve ever taken, and left me with memories for a lifetime. I have a picture on my wall snapped just as we entered the second wave of a large river rapid.
By being open to new adventures and spontaneity, we stretch ourselves and our horizons, learning new things.
Will we like all of them? We may not. But you never know what you like until you try it. I’m going to challenge you to try something spontaneous this week. Seize your opportunities.
I’m Barb Rankin and this has been stuff I learned yesterday.
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