2/3 secret of buoyancy – Refocus

After time spend in reflection—how am I doing (well-being) and how well did I do what I did?—I feel good as I know that I am valuing who I am and positioning myself to have fuel to fulfil my purpose.

The next thing to do is to refocus. Refocusing is clarifying my purpose and gaining clarity on what are the next steps.

Getting things done

‘Getting Things Done’ (//gettingthingsdone.com/) is the method I use for refocus. Here I focusing on the big things in my life. These are the key objectives, key callings, key responsibilities that I have agreed to. Time spent initially clarifying what’s important to you is freeing and energising, and is only useful to you if you have regular focus time aligning what you do with what’s important.

Clarity brings a lightness to what we do.

Knowing clearly our purpose and what is our part is to play the minimises the pressure and the makes the next steps are easier to see. This is clarifying the next thing to do. I write the action commencing with a verb. Noting this action gives momentum to the project.

What’s the next action?

This principle is not only personally useful. Teams get lift as they define the next action. David Allan encourages organisations to build a culture such that people automatically ask, “What’s the next action?” “When a culture adopts “what’s the next action?” as a standard operating query, there’s an automatic increase in energy, productivity, clarity, and focus.” Allen, David. Getting Things Done (Kindle Locations 4298-4300). Penguin Random House Australia. Kindle Edition 2015.

What is it that only I can do?

I guide my reflection time with the principle that I have a unique purpose. My question continually is ‘what is it that only I can do and , what can I delete, delay or delegate?
This is freeing and lightens the load.

Dave Allan’s principles have stood the test of time. How you apply them is up to you. Personally, I have found the app ‘things3’ to work for me. ‘In it, I have main Areas—My key responsibilities, relationships, and roles. To each area, I list associated projects/goals. This is where I define the next action. Sometimes that action is to simply to delete or defer. If I can not allocate the todo to a responsibility, relationship or role I cannot justify why I am doing it. I find this helpful to delete tasks from my todo.
Find a process that works for you.
I love Mondays reflection and refocus as they put me in a great place to actively replenish.