My grandmother was a fantastic woman. She believed in getting important things done and letting non-important things go, so you could focus on what mattered.
She had a heart attack and open-heart surgery when I was in my Junior year of high school, and when at last she had recovered enough to be sent home, there were only two choices. Go home, where the family could look after the patient or send the patient to a nursing home. (This was long before home health nurses.)
So, I went to live with my grandparents for a year and a half and “took care” of gram while grandpa was at work at the mine. Because of the family emergency, I was able to finish high school through correspondence.
My grandmother had a morning routine that was set in stone. She would get up at 4:30 to fix breakfast and eat with grandpa. It was something she’d done their entire married life, and she didn’t think recovering from open heart surgery was an important enough reason to change it.
The rest of the morning routine was also set in stone, with certain chores done in a specific order on certain days. (I still remember helping her to wheel the old wringer washing machine out of the back porch and hooking it up to the hot water hose on Tuesdays, and after washing the clothes, carefully feeding them through the wringer to get rid of excess water. Then we hung them on the line. She always did the important things first to make sure they got done. In fact, I believe my grandmother perfected the “Get It Done” movement long before Stever Robbins even thought of his “Get it Done” podcast or of writing his book.
I remember her asking me – more than once, “CherylMarie! Are you going to keep frittering away your day, or are you going to do what you need to be doing and get it done?” (To her, “frittering” was anything that didn’t include working on my homework.)
Today, frittering sounds like a funny word, and an equally funny thing to ask somebody, doesn’t it? But think about it. My grandmother would have called it frittering when we get caught up in small, non-important tasks or when we spend the day spinning our wheels on trying to get something “just right.”
And is frittering something you really want to be doing?
Rather than waste your time doing what’s unnecessary, why not spend more time in a directed activity designed to help you realize your dreams? Wouldn’t you rather be getting Important Stuff Done than…well…what you’ve been doing?
It’s time to get out of your own way and take charge of your life. Read on for some quick tips from my grandmother’s wisdom to find out how.
Remember What YOU Want and Why You’re Fighting For it.
To combat feeling like what you’re doing is pointless or feeling overwhelmed with what you need to do, try this one incredibly simple thing: remind yourself why you’re doing it. When you have a purpose, it’s easy to get moving, even if the reason you’re doing it is something only meaningful to you.
Focus on the Goal
Now take things a step further. You know why you’re doing something. Now imagine what life will be like once this one goal is accomplished. Hone in on the benefit, like how good it will feel to have this completed or how much better you’ll feel once that is finished, and how doing this one thing will take you that much closer to your goal.
Stop the Insanity… Comparisons
Your entire world grinds to a halt when you start worrying or obsessing over what other people are doing rather than focusing on reaching your own goals.
The sad truth is that someone will always do it better than you, be younger, faster, smarter, or better looking. But so what? Letting yourself get caught up in this game will only drive you crazy and keep you from getting your essential things done.
A better choice? Compare where you are now with where you were six months ago, a year ago, or five years ago. Focus on your personal growth and accomplishments and make a new goal of beating the records set by the ‘old you.’
Drop the Perfectionism
Nothing derails you faster than getting caught up in trying to make sure everything is ‘perfect.’
For one thing, you’re never going to achieve perfection, so all you wind up doing is forever nitpicking at something without ever really doing or finishing the work. Sometimes you just have to tell yourself ‘good enough is ok and let it go so you can move on to the next important thing.
Reward Yourself with Instant Gratification
Sometimes it just feels good to get a little reward now and again, even if you’re doing the rewarding. So keep a ready supply of small treat ideas, such as spending a few minutes playing a favorite game on your phone or getting fifteen minutes to go on Instagram or watching a Tik-Tok video, for when you reach those critical mini-milestones. You’ll be amazed at what a bump this gives to your productivity.
And then, quit frittering and get back to work, as my grandmother would say, and just get the next most important thing done.