Everything Starts with a Bird’s-eye View. An eagle-eye view!
My cats have finally gone to sleep, and now there’s peace and quiet.
Over a cup of coffee, I jot down in my agenda what I want to achieve for the upcoming day. I use a simple agenda and write with a cheap pen. Filling out the agenda helps me gain a bird’s-eye view of the day’s planning.
I start with a creative phase… a sort of brainstorming with myself. I put down on paper everything that comes to mind without reservation or critical thoughts. Anything goes! Even thoughts or emotions unrelated to the plan. For me, it’s a cleansing moment.
Slowly, a vision forms.
You know how three cowboys gather a herd of a thousand scattered cattle in the field? They first collect ten and move them from one side of the field to the other.
This way, they gather 20, 50, 100 cattle. Continuing, they gather them all into one herd.
Thoughts work the same way. My decisions for the day slowly take shape. I don’t rush anything; each thought comes at its own time. Maybe it’s a long list… maybe not. When I don’t know what else to add, I declare the creative phase over and move on to organizing, with a sip of coffee.
How do I organize myself?
I use what I call “mental filters.” I have two main categories of projects: important projects and secondary projects.
I work on a single important project for about 4 hours in the first part of the day. During that time, I don’t answer the phone, I don’t interact on social media, and I don’t get distracted.