Happy Friday!
Quick update: On my GTD system, I’ve used it every day this week and it has been fantastic! Just being able to visually see everything that you’ve been juggling around in your head is quite a relief. My biggest issue currently is finding an efficient method of focusing directly on the time-sensitive projects.
One small change:
Today I’d like to talk about a little lamp, yes, a lamp. I bought a lamp a couple weeks ago for my desk I have in my room so I could get some more efficient reading time when I’m home. The interesting thing about this addition is how dramatic of a change it has made; I now spend about three hours at my desk every day now when I could go a week without even looking at it before! I now do my morning devotions, read books, write these blogs, and manage my schedule at this new central location.
Why this is significant is that I’ve seen my productivity increase tremendously because of this small change. Instead of laying on my bed with my iPad or casually sitting on the couch and zoning out with the tv on, I now find pockets of time to be productive because this desk now is an appealing destination.
How did it work?
It is strange to see what seems to be an insignificant detail produce impactful results, but I’ll break down the situation so we can see how it all worked out: For those who don’t know my living situation, I live in the attic of my family’s house. It works great because I have the floor space the length of the whole house at my disposal, but the lighting is very poor in the attic; the light is very focused and harsh, and there is very little natural light. The current location of my desk is against the wall and where I sit is right in the path of my nearest light and produces a shadow over my desk, which has made reading a difficult task. So by adding a small desk lamp was all that was needed to change this desk from an unappealing location to my go-to location.
This is just my personal example of change, but the fact is that most of the changes we want to make in life do not require an extensive plan of execution, rather a small change in a critical point. Losing weight doesn’t require getting on “The Biggest Loser” but maybe removing the bowl of sweets from the desk.
Prior to this change, if I really needed to spend time reading or anything productive without distractions, I primarily had to leave my house, because I just could not focus and would end up doing other things. The problem wasn’t some weird aura that my house had that sucked my energy, but rather I just didn’t have the proper resources to encourage me to do what I wanted to do.
Change doesn’t have to be a constant struggle of self-discipline. Sometimes we just need to look around and identify what is producing the struggle and eliminate it. Your willpower is a finite resource (check out Charles Duhigg’s “The Power of Habit” for more on that), so don’t waste your energy on fighting with the problem head on when you could attack it at the critical point and move on!
Have a fantastic weekend!
—Grant X.
Currently reading:
“Breakthrough Rapid Reading” -Peter Kump
“Crazy Love” -Francis Chan
Life verse: “But a generous man devises generous things and by his generosity he will stand.” -Isaiah 32:8
Life Mission Statement: To be intentionally focused on providing opportunity and adding value to others.
