I'm now 40 years old , and finally realizing that i can't do everything.
Get used to it. I'm LOTS older than you and I have things that I now can't do never mind the time they would take.
All those dream project I keep trying to shove into my calendar, I'll never get to do.
So they all have to go on my someday maybe list. But that list is already so long I can't possibly review it weekly.
So don't review it weekly. I too found that the pull of the projects I want to do but realistically can't now and maybe never was strong. So I limit major changes to 4 times a year, on the solstices and equinoxes. I wait to deal with my S/M lists (currently I have 83 S/M lists) until then. I am often pleasantly surprised that some projects have been done and completed without me ever referring to the S/M lists. And some are now, with the additional time, no longer important and can be deleted. A few make the grade to come into the current system, many more stay on the lists but are still in the "not Now" phase.
how do you all strengthen yourself before you look at your someday maybe list for all the emotions it brings up? How do you stop yourself from trying to bring Someday Maybe things onto your list when you just don't have the space?
I stretch out my quarterly/12WY review over a week. I would love to do a personal retreat, in a place of solitude and spend a weekend there but realistically that's not going to happen now, if ever. I typically try to spend about 3 hours per day on this deep dive into my system. So I plan my review week sort of like this. This is a rough plan and it can change but I try to cover all these pieces.
Day 1 - Clear my desk and space so I have room to pull out stuff from archives, reference, etc. as I need them. I work from neatly organized stacks (it looks messy but there is a structure) so first task is move all my stacks elsewhere. Collect large blank pieces of paper (I buy large cheap art canvas pads or even have gotten a roll of butcher paper and used that) and a bunch of multicolored pens. I also scrapbook so I have a bunch of both pens and pencils in all colors available to me. Clear ALL my inboxes down to zero even if it takes a long time. I want a clean slate to work on.
Day 2 - Reflect on what I did over the last quarter. Review my calendar, my journals, and notes or documents I made during the last quarter with created dates within the timeframe. I'm looking for what I did, what I accomplished, what went well, what didn’t go well. I use my large paper to write things down that seem especially relevant or important to me. I often use different colors for the general areas that they apply to. I review my personal purpose, and my list of areas of focus. I try to give an overall score of how I felt I did in each AOF and chart it out so I can see the trends. I compare this one to the ones in previous years for the same season. I chart them on a wheel so I can see if I am "well-rounded" in my work.
Day 3 - Look forward on my calendar for what is coming up. Is it spring and will I be dealing with shearing, lambing and irrigation start-up? Are there any planned visits from out of town guests? What do I know is coming up? Are there commitments I have made that I need time to prepare for?
Day 4 - Detailed in-depth review of all current projects. This is the time to really look at each one I am currently working on. Questions include, is this still necessary? Do I still want to do this? Can it continue to be worked on in the next 12 weeks? Are there constraints that mean I need to put it in mothballs for a while? Have I lost energy? If I want to keep it on my lists but I can't work on it now then I take the time to write a detailed breadcrumbs of the current state so future me can pick it up when the time is right without too much backtracking. I can usually remove 75% of my current projects during this phase.
Day 5 - Review my someday/maybe lists. As I said I have a lot of them. I start by looking at the lists for each major AOF. I try to start with the AOF that I did the worst in from Day 2. I often can’t give equal attention to each AOF over a season so if I neglected one last season I see what I can do about that for this one. As I look at projects I try to see if they still matter to me, If I think I can realistically ever do them, and then do I think I can do them this season. I will put far more on the list that I can accomplish in this stage. I used to re-write them all now I sometimes just make links in a MOC or TOC type document to notes that relate to those projects or copy and paste the summary into a single large document.
Day 6 - Prune the lists. For each project estimate the time I think I should devote to it and then add 50%. That gets me closer to reality.The figure on which ones have to go back into someday/maybe. Perhaps I can combine several projects into one simpler one? Or a whole group of related things will not be doable because of some resource that is lacking, like money or time, or a tool or access to people or equipment I need. I try to build in about 25% of my time as undefined to handle the new projects and changes that invariably happen. after I make my plan.
Day 7 - Put it all together. Order the projects in a way that makes sense. If any projects are dependent on other projects put them in an on-hold status with links so that when the predecessor project is done the next one automatically becomes available. Clean up my tasks and make sure that all project support material is collected and readily available. I'lI often make folders for projects to serve as a holding place for digital info and then complement it with a paper folder for paper resources. Add the next action to my context lists. I do a wrap up at the end with a quick and simple read through all my projects to be sure I haven’t missed anything.
When I'm done I know I have a clear plan of action for the next 12 weeks and I am starting fresh with a new 12 week year ahead of me. It takes a lot of time but it's worth it.
