April has begun! We’re far enough through the year that we have finally quit accidentally writing “2017” in our notebooks. But funnily enough, it feels like the year just started. Perhaps this is because we’ve gotten caught in a cycle of repetitive actions (which doesn’t have to be a bad thing), but sometimes the days blur together and it seems like another Friday has already come along.
For many people in the Karst community, it’s tax season, a time where very important deadlines loom, but other more urgent tasks remain. It seems like a good time to reflect on our priorities, and the controls we have in place to make sure we are constantly keeping whats important to us in view while helping others achieve what is important to them. Here's some resources we've found helpful over the years:
Check out this article on Eisenhower’s Urgent/Important Principle, which helps break down how to prioritise tasks in a way that will help minimise anxiety. Anxiety has a way of distracting us from the things that need to get done while simultaneously making us unable to get our minds off those things. We really think this article can help many of those out there struggling to figure out in what order to complete our to-do lists.
We believe that visually organising our priorities or tasks is extremely helpful in keeping us accountable toward our goals. Planners are very helpful for this, but perhaps you don’t have to communicate through written words to convey ideas effectively. Check out this book by Dan Roam, called “The Back of the Napkin: Solving problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures." Although it’s not directly related to this months theme, the book teaches you to break down problems into much more palatable chunks, which may prove to be a useful skill when prioritising tasks.
A different take on this months theme: What’s important to you? Are you acting in alignment with your Vision from January? What inspires you? Many people (us included) spend lots of time and money on self-help or business books, but sometimes the kick in the pants you need is just to see someone talk about their passion. We really love Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee with Jerry Seinfeld. This man loves comedy and he only interviews other people in comedy (President Barack Obama excluded). Available on Netflix, our favourite episodes are with Julia Louis Dreyfus and Steve Martin. Watching Dreyfus and Seinfeld reminisce about something great that they made together, and hearing in depth the story of Martin’s career in comedy is exactly the kind of inspirational levity we need once in a while.
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