The Mommy Organizer
A pencil and paper can come in handy when you want
to remind yourself of any open loop you hope to close.
That's Garlisea and Pearwy, Raffy's and Ryan's plush toys.
I am sure
each one of you here has an idol – you know a person you look up to for
inspiration. One of mine is Bunny Pages,
the man behind Thirsty, Mooon Café and many others.
He visited
Richard’s house to check out an old Mercedes and he shared an anecdote I will
never forget – that in order to move forward in life, you need to fix your open
loops.
Bunny got
the idea from the book “Ready for Anything” by David Allen. The basic principle is this – clear your mind
of distractions and close the open loops.
Open loops
are thoughts unresolved that keep popping in your head and distracts you from
concentrating on things you need to do at the present. Thoughts like a promise to call a friend, or
bills yet unpaid, or projects yet undone.
"Being a mother of two growing boys
can be a source of gazillion open loops."
When these
open loops accumulate, they become problems and become sources of stress that
eventually keeps you from moving forward.
To close the loops, you ask yourself “What’s the next step?”
The Mercedes
in Richard’s garage has been rotting there for ages. I even felt embarrassed when Bunny was there
to see it in its un-glory – draped in dust, filled with cobwebs and rusted.
That open
loop was closed when Bunny decided to buy it.
Since then,
I became aware of my open loops. There
are so many! And that’s what I want to
pay forward to you today – be aware of your open loops – and close them!
My biggest
loop was taxes. I had open cases that
spanned 15 years! It was a headache that
remained a headache for such a long time I was even scared of it! So what should I do? Close the loop. How should I do it? Ask “What’s the next step?”
True enough
I closed the loop. I paid a bundle of
penalties, but hey, I saved myself a load of worry! Last Tuesday, I paid my business tax. Honestly, it was not as hard as I thought it
would be!
So ask
yourself right now, what is my biggest open loop?
I live in my
mother-in-law’s house that is 75 years old.
Naturally, the house has so much clutter – well, 75 years worth of
accumulated memories, so go figure. The
living room was filled with clutter – so much so that we couldn’t sit on the
sofa anymore! It bothered me for ten
years! I kept telling myself I’d help
remove the clutter but I just couldn’t start!
So what
should I do? Close the loop. How?
Ask, what’s the next step?
It took me
months of taking the next steps. Each
day I could spare, I threw away used magazines, shredded old press kits, and
dumped accumulated junk in the garbage can.
Now, the
sala is spic and span, everything neatly tucked in the rightful place, visible
and usable, and a huge sofa I can plunge into everyday with a laptop do my
work. Sweet.
How did I do
it? I closed the loop. I asked, “What’s the next step?”
Being a mother of two growing boys can be a
source of gazillion open loops. I used to
suffer the pains of forcing my boys to wake up, eat breakfast, and change for
school every morning. Then urge them to
take a bath, eat dinner and study every night.
I vowed to make a chart that they can follow, but it took me so long to
make the chart, let alone implement it!
So what did
I do? I closed the loop. I asked, “What’s the next step?”
Now the
chart is there, ably followed and I enjoy lesser to no headaches daily!
The
principle is simple really. It is
actually the adage “Don’t procrastinate.”
Don’t be lazy. Don’t delay. I know you hate to do it. Sometimes, you are scared to do it. But do it anyway!
So I urge
you once again. Close the loop. How?
Ask yourself, “What’s the next step? “ What’s your next step?
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