The alarm clock is my friend

The alarm clock is my friend.
There are times, when I am able to make it without its help, but it is invaluable when it calls upon me to do the things that I have prioritized to do, with a priority so high that I cannot allow myself to be late for them.
Some would think that these are the things that my surroundings have prioritized to make me do, with a priority so high that they cannot allow me to be late for them, but deep down inside, the choice is mine. And thereby, I have made it my priority.

Therefore, I should be grateful for the friendship of the alarm clock - because it helps me to fulfill my priorities. 

And yes, naturally: there are days, when I wish I could have stayed in bed a little longer. But most often, the reason is that I have been too busy the night before, doing things that I maybe should have prioritized a little less. Because it is an important ability to master: the art of saying no. Not least to say no to myself.

(Translated from Vækkeuret er min ven)

Anxiety at arm's length

A couple of years ago, I attended some lectures - including a lecture by a psychologist, who uses some time telling about, how he during his work life had done quite a lot of things due to chance; things that might not have been the obvious, and for sure not the secure, choice. But as he said:

If we can just keep anxiety at arm's length, we can move.

Even though I heard a lot of interesting stuff during a week of lectures at the time, it might be the above sentence that I have brought with me clearest in memory. Because if we make a habit of thinking like that, when we conjure up wild plans - and make certain to reassure ourselves, when there's nothing to be afraid of (and in most cases, there is nothing to be afraid of) - then it becomes so much easier to have a plan B at hand. And a plan C. And maybe actually work a bit on all of these plans while we are busy with whatever we are doing. Because there's nothing to be afraid of.
(Translated from Angst og armslængder, originally published October 2, 2012)

Impossible? Possibly not...

At earlier points in time, I have touched upon the fact that most of the time life is a matter of prioritisation, and I found it stated in a rather interesting way recently - the words are supposedly those of Muhammad Ali:

Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion.

Because actually, that's the way things are.
In very few cases we are working with impossibilities - and then we are usually in a mathematical-physical context like perpetual motion, trisecting the angle or squaring the circle.
In the vast majority of situations, when talking about the impossible, instead, it is a question of priority - it may be possible, but it is so complicated or costly that we prioritize not to try to do it.
But still, in most cases, we have a choice - and when something is rejected as impossible, it is simply because it is decided (by more or less conscious decision) that it should not be prioritised.
That something is impossible is thus reduced to anyone's opinion - not a fact.
(Translated from Umuligt? Som oftest ikke..., originally published March 9th, 2016)

On the topic of saying no

I used to be exceptionally bad at saying "no" to people, when they came to me for help - not least in the workplace. As a misunderstood attempt to be friendly, I would like to help anyone who contacted me with something that I could help them with.
And, as such, it was very good. Apart from the fact that I rarely had the resources to help all those who wanted help. Time used to run short.
And then suddenly it dawned on me: the fact that I cannot say "no", does not enable me to help everyone. It does not mean that I will not have to say "no" anyway. It just makes those who ask for help prioritize for me - after a first-come, first-served principle, resources are used, and when there are no more, the only possibility is to say "no, unfortunately". Or, what's even worse, return to some of those I have already promised to help and say that unfortunately, it cannot be done anyway. Hence, I basically reduce my own reliability.
So now I work with myself and do my best to get better, not saying "yes" to everything. In particular, if someone is better at helping than I - and that often happens - then less time is wasted. But also when there has to be room for something that's more important. Because I have learned that the only thing that happens when I cannot say no is that I exhibit unusually bad ability to prioritise.
(Translated from Noget om at sige nej, originally published October 19th, 2017)

What On Earth Should I Do Now?

Once again, I was inspired by a question on a blog the other day - basically, the question was: What should I do when I have more things to do than what I have time for?
There is of course always the old discussion: what's urgent, and what's important, and a certain prioritization will always take place due to different levels of urgency and importance - but in the end, when we have done the things we really, really need to do, we always end up with not enough time to do the things that we really, really want to do - it might not be really urgent or important, but we still like to interact with more people on twitter, write that additional blog post, read that additional book, write that additional chapter in yet another book we want to write.
When the things that really, really need to be done are done, I tend to leave it all up to a simple question: "What would I like the most to do right now?" There are of course dark sides to this - for instance, things might end up sleeping for months because there are things that just strikes my fancy better (but then, if things cannot afford sleeping for months, they all of a sudden tend to become urgent or important).
But if I do the things that I like to do the most, it also has the side effect that it eliminates the temptation from procrastination - I actually begin to do things that are useful rather than procrastinate, because I do what I like the most, have fun, find flow. And in the end - summing up over a larger period of time - I get more done this way. There might be things I would have liked to do that I didn't come around to - but I would have used my resources in the most efficient way.
And the good thing about having projects lying around in notebooks everywhere is that you will never run out of inspiration for what you could do, once the flow with a project ebbs - there will most likely always be another project to pick, before procrastination rears its ugly head.
So what is next - when all things that really, really need to be done are done - is the thing that is the most fun at the moment.
(Translated from Hvad i alverden skal jeg nu gøre?)

The Most Important Task

Not many days ago, I used almost one and a half minutes on Daniel Pink and his Pinkcast - now I did it again. This time his talked over a topic he picked up from the writer Leo Babauta - a topic, abbreviated into MIT (no, not that MIT, but rather): the Most Important Task: if you want to get the right things done, start the day by picking out the Most Important Task of the day, and without hesitation get on with it: allowing no outside disturbance such as e-mail, Twitter or other procrastination to get in the way until the MIT is completed.
It is, as Pink also indicates, somewhat of a revelation, because it is so obvious, when you think about it. Just get on with it.
And, well, just hope for the stakeholders of your Second-most Important Task being unable to physically place themselves between you and your MIT...
(Translated from Den mest betydningsfulde arbejdsopgave)