As bizarre as it may seem, I spent Sunday afternoon in a retirement village for no reason other than to visit and watch people as they push themselves toward a horizon most never admit they see they just know its coming.
I find it interesting that every generation seems to be in a rush. Men and women in their late 60’s couldn’t get into the club house fast enough with their pool cues and workout gear—nobody seemed to be sipping on their water bottles, they didn’t have time—each of them had somewhere to be and getting there was taking way too much time.
I kept thinking to myself, “Self! Will any of them remember where they were today?”
It’s nothing to brag about but like the Nicolas Sparks film The Notebook…my decision to write everyday paints for me no answers but rather presents a path I study like a student vowing to ace a math test. It’s within those 2:45 AM ink stains that I’m able to relocate what’s been lost, found or still undecided. More importantly, by electing to write I’m able to put focus on the amazingly high expectations others have placed on me without having to generate wasted energy on tasks that rob, steal and or borrow from a system that’s vowed to never crash but fate is fate.
How does one eliminate tasks or better handle what businesses are forcing their employees to endure?
To walk around the office or kitchen at home boasting about not having a worry in the world has evolved into the new American dream. Screw owning a house or rich persons fancy car or having 2.3 kids with a cat named Billy Joel…it’s not an option to survive, we force our life and style to obey a command. Another day is here and with it a brand new task that sits higher than family, God and personal endeavors that inspire your needs to want to grow.
The farthest thing from your boss’s biggest wish is cutting you some slack. They’ve earned the right to tell you what to do and for how long. So, ultimately it’s up to you to come up with a winning solution that puts balance in your morning, noon and night. But if you’re too busy doing the boss’s work, where do you locate enough space to put the long leather reins around the neck of this mammoth horse?
It’s everyone’s goal to settle in and find pleasure in sleeping with the tasks that offer the biggest and best return to your investment. It’s completely natural to become more creative, productive and competitive when there’s less to bog you down. Stress is caused by too many tasks.
What’s stressful to me might not be stressful to you but you’ll never see me wanting to walk a mile in your shoes. I know how busy you are and to this very second it’s extremely difficult for me to digest a plan that reveals how it is you make it through the single twenty four hour period you’re given.
Two decades ago the hottest words in the world of business were Time Management. Blah, blah, blah…no such thing in a struggling America—not when 96% if this country is working just so they can have insurance. The idea of being Zen or masterminding the perfect teamwork opportunity is exactly what former Philadelphia 76er’s owner Pat Croce called the biggest hoax on earth.
Task management is the underlying secret to keeping peace in your mind, body and soul. Learn to reduce before you produce. Do only three things a day. Don’t sicken your arms, legs and back with twenty—get control by putting forth the effort to maintain three tasks a day. Ha! Words are words and living out such actions is like trying to get past Simon Cowell on American Idol.
The number one reason why Health Care will never work in this country is because American business ego and expectations rate higher than lawmakers creating a plan that protects the backbone of once made us a great nation. It’s become legal for owners and operators to abuse their staff by gifting them with a single sentence, “If you can’t do it…I’ll find someone who will.”
And it’s only going to get worse…
All the more reason to take Task Management more serious—tasks are made to be reduced, eliminated, delegated, postponed or fully committed to. Not wanting to sound like your father but its time you start putting focus on what’s important.
I’ll never forget sitting in a radio station full staff meeting in 1991 where Andrew Ashwood shouted over the gray phone positioned in the center of the conference room table, “I don’t want employees who don’t put God and family first! I need a firm foundation to be with me everyday and you can’t get any stronger than having those two things first in your life.”
I find myself thinking about that statement a lot. Our hunger in this country no longer has anything to do with success or survival…spend five minutes in a nearby mall and everything we do is based on financing the objects we assume will make it all go away, even if its only for five minutes. It feels too damn good to hear, “Thanks for shopping _____.”
Research shows…it makes you feel incredible and guarantees them another day of insurance. I don’ think that’s supposed to be our top task. Nor is being first in line to see Ironman 2, scoring the most sushi at Benny Bob’s Buffet or harnessing control of the latest video game.
Do you remember the late 80’s television commercial where the aged person exclaims, “I’ve fallen and can’t get up.” Your current walk of life is no different except there’s nobody willing and able to pull your tail back into the game…they’re too busy working on their own tasks.
Cancer, migraine headaches, stomach aches, heart attacks, strokes, alcohol and drug addiction and divorce rates are at an all time high…the best we can do is shrug our shoulders and softly say, “Oh well.” Or we can put a little focus on locating three tasks and no more a day.
What’s your game plan?
arroecollins@clearchannel.com
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