There are over six billion people in this world, each with unique experiences and perspectives. Each day is an opportunity to learn more about them and ourselves. Don’t just stick with what you know, or what you think you need to know.

I like to read about design - branding, product packaging and even furniture. Although I like to think I can appreciate good design, I know that design is not my talent. That doesn’t mean I can’t buy a lush design magazine, or check out beautiful websites on the subject.

This gives me joy. It also inspires and informs other aspects of my life and creative work. Equally, my passion for writing teaches me valuable lessons on living well (with or without a chronic illness).

Mix it up. Feed your mind ideas from different disciplines, different places. You might be surprised by the results.

Here is a taste of the varied places I find inspiration, and thanks to Monika for providing the spark.

* * *

When you have a chronic illness you soon learn there is no ‘quick fix’, no magic happy pills to get you through a tough day. Having a little creative fun will certainly help and why not when bulldog clips + photos = stylish photo wall.

You might wonder what the future holds when google health heads to the hospital but don’t get too caught up worrying about tomorrow. Practice the art of slowing down instead. Above all don’t feel overwhelmed by the little things, perhaps all you need to do is throw away some magazines.

If you feel it is all too difficult, it might be time to embrace the suck and rediscover my old friend resilience, or maybe you need to stop trying to be liked and start being you.

Don’t forget you can save your world. Write. And read! You may discover the productivity secret of positivity and gratitude, or if you are very lucky you may just have a stroke of insight.

Rebecca is a freelance writer. She provides smart, fresh writing for blogs, websites, newsletters and corporate communications. Contact Rebecca for all your writing needs: rebecca[at]beyondibd[dot]com

I was browsing an IBD forum when I saw a thread asking if others ever forgot to take their medications. Intrigued, I clicked and found the author was referring to that kind of selective forgetfulness so useful when avoiding any number of unpleasant tasks.

For example, I rarely overlook the last piece of chocolate cake cunningly concealed at the back of the fridge, but may forget, until it is too late, the new exercise regime I was starting first thing Monday morning (oh well, there’s always the next day).

It seems I am not alone. The thread quickly swelled as others sheepishly admitted to this secret rebellion…

Why is it a secret?

• Because we are supposed to do everything the doctor tells us to.
• Because if we don’t then we ‘only have ourselves to blame’.
• Because people who don’t have to take 10 pills (or more) a day don’t understand why it is difficult/annoying/frustrating/boring.
• Because we feel guilty enough without a lecture from our doctor/parent/partner.

Why do we forget our medications?

It seems we are more likely to forget our medications when:

• we are in remission and feeling well
• we are taking a large number of pills each day
• the medication has to be taken at specific times before/after/during meals

But we are selective about which medications we forget. In the first instance, we drop the supplements like fish oil and multi-vitamins. After that we are more likely to skip those medications perceived to be ‘low potency’ maintenance drugs (like mesalazine) as opposed ‘high potency’ drugs (like prednisone or methotrexate).

What’s the real reason?

We tend to do the things we know are necessary, and treat the rest is optional.

Craig Harper on lifehack points out that we usually remember to take a shower everyday because, in our minds, it is a must do. It’s not an optional behaviour. Over time these also become habits ingrained in our daily routine.

If we know a particular medication is absolutely necessary, if it is relieving acute pain or diarrhea or is one which will cause uncomfortable side-effects if missed, we won’t forget to take it. It’s a must do.

But if we believe certain medications and supplements are optional - perhaps because their benefits are less immediate and tangible - then other factors come into play.

There is a part of us, especially those of us with a chronic illness, that resents the pills: resents these tiny daily reminders that we have a condition (probably for the rest of our lives) that we cannot control. And we want to rebel against them, just a little.

So what’s the answer?

I’m afraid I don’t have a neat five step guide for motivating yourself to take all your prescribed medications. No-one can make you do something you just don’t want to do.

It’s your body so make informed decisions and don’t let the occasional secret rebellion undermine your goal of good health.

Rebecca is a freelance writer. She provides smart, fresh writing for blogs, websites, newsletters and corporate communications. Contact Rebecca for all your writing needs: rebecca[at]beyondibd[dot]com

When people are faced with the opportunity to make a life changing decision a whole raft of common self-limiting beliefs can take hold. You might believe it’s too late for you to start something new. You might believe there is no point starting something if success is not guaranteed (or at least highly likely). You might not believe you are up to the task: it is too challenging and will take too long to achieve.

But you don’t have to believe these things.

Believe that right now you can take one small step towards your dreams.

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All you really need do to start out on a path that may change your life is take a single step, then another and another.

Make one small change, then follow it with another. Tackle one problem at a time. Don’t worry about what might happen. Wait until it does. If you have many tasks in front of you, just do them one at a time. Look for the next thing that needs doing and do it. Repeat that again and again.

That’s it. Do one thing and see what happens. If you feel good, do another. Don’t try to go any faster. Don’t rush ahead in a burst of enthusiasm and crash into a wall of problems and exhaustion.

Extract from Slow Leadership

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Believe that when you take that first small step, with purpose and determination, you will make things happen.

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Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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Believe that if you focus on just small steps, and if you have faith in the journey you have chosen, you will reach your destination.

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Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Rebecca is a freelance writer. She provides smart, fresh writing for blogs, websites, newsletters and corporate communications. Contact Rebecca for all your writing needs: rebecca[at]beyondibd[dot]com

I am savouring autumn days of sunshine, blue-crisp skies and falling temperatures (a very comfortable maximum of 24C / 75F here in Queensland, Australia): it is my favourite time of the year.

It’s also the beginning of cold and flu season.

IBDers at greater risk

As if all the usual symptoms of IBD are not enough of a challenge, IBDers can be more susceptible than healthy people to common infections.

Our bodies are already working hard to control inflammation and/or ulceration and this weakens our ability to resist common infections such as cold and flu. Our natural immunity is further compromised by the immunosuppressive medications often used to treat IBD such as Azathioprine (Imuran), Mercaptopurine (Purinethol, 6-MP) and Prednisone.

A Mayo Clinic study recently reported that the likelihood of developing an opportunistic infection (that is, infection caused by common organisms that would not affect a healthy immune system) is increased for any IBD patient taking immunosuppressive medication, particularly those over 50 or those taking multiple immunosuppressive medications.

How to fight back

Periods of good health do not come easily to IBDers. When we find ourselves in that idyllic state it is usually thanks to a little luck and a lot of attention to our medication, supplements, diet and lifestyle. So it can be very frustrating when all this effort is undone by a common cold, or a dose of the flu. It just isn’t fair. But then, as we know, life isn’t fair. So what can we do about it?

Get shot

The question of whether or not to have the flu vaccination seems to incite strong feelings in a lot of people. So much so that I treat the subject the same way as religion and politics - not something to raise in general chit-chat with people I don’t know well.

There are those that just don’t like needles, or who say that the shot does no good: they get sick anyway. The most extreme anti-believers cite examples of friends and family who became sick (or worse!) after getting the shot.

The fact is, as flagged by the Mayo Clinic study, those on immunosuppressive medications are at higher risk of infection and complications arising from infection.

This is exactly the type of person that health authorities recommend should get the flu vaccine. This article outlines the reasoning and points to published research on the topic.

Better then reading about it on the internet, ask your doctor.

Keep it clean

The viruses which cause colds and flu are transmitted most commonly through the air by coughing and sneezing, by direct contact with infected saliva/nasal secretions, or by contact with surfaces contaminated with these body fluids.

Think about all the surfaces you touch during the day - hand-holds on the train, escalator balustrades, pedestrain crossing buttons, lift buttons, telephones, doorknobs - then think about everyone else who has touched these after they sneezed or coughed into their hand. Finally think about how often you touch your own face, your eyes, nose or mouth, having collected all those communal germs. Gross.

Regular and thorough hand washing is one of the best ways to avoid becoming sick.

How regular? Probably more often then you think - particularly when you have been out and about touching all those contaminated surfaces!

What constitutes thorough hand washing? Lather up well and vigorously rub all over your hands and up your wrists for 15 to 20 seconds. Stick with regular soap; antibacterial soaps are no more effective at killing germs and can lead to the development of stronger bacteria!

The ‘no-water required’ alcohol-based hand sanitizers that are now available are very effective and convenient - meaning you’ll probably clean your hands more often.

No matter how often and how well you wash your hands, it is also a good idea to avoid touching your face to reduce the risk of any transmission.

Create a healthy work environment

I work full-time in a large office building which means I am spending more than 40 hours a week in an environment which is, quite frankly, a haven for sickness.

I breathe recirculated air kept too cool (even in winter) by an old air-conditioning system which has seen better days. There is no natural light. I share this space (and facilities like toilets and a lunch room) with a large group of people who pick up viruses, bring them into work and share them around by coughing and sneezing. I don’t mean to sound paranoid, but, well, I am.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says if you are sick, stay home.

Better to miss a few days of work and return at full strength than dragging yourself around at half strength for much longer. The extra bonus is that you won’t infect your fellow workers, causing more misery and costing your company more money in lost productivity.

Try and convince your colleagues of this logic so that they too stay home when they are sick. If they don’t, avoid close contact.

At work, pay particular attention to hygiene. As well as hand washing, use antimicrobial wipes on your mouse, keyboard and phone.

Keep a plant on your desk; they improve air-quality and reduce stress (which boosts your immunity). Go outside for lunch to get some fresh air and sunshine.

Be kind to yourself

Take care of your body and your immune system so it can take care of you. Get plenty of rest, eat right, stay hydrated and exercise. You know the drill!

Wishing you good health,

Rebecca.

Two decades of scientific research has demonstrated the physical and psychological benefits of writing about our troubles.

Patients with serious chronic illnesses such as asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, cystic fibrosis, cancer and HIV, when asked to write about their most stressful and emotional experiences, reported the following benefits:

• improved immune function;
• reduced blood pressure;
• improved lung and liver function;
• reduced pain;
• fewer days in hospital; and
• improved mood. (see note 1)

The idea of delving into your emotions, and exposing them on paper, may make you feel uncomfortable or vulnerable. Although a journal exploring your thoughts and feelings will give the greatest benefits, there are other types of diaries which can help you manage your Crohn’s or colitis.

Food and symptom diary

A common recommendation for those with inflammatory bowel disease (and many other illnesses) is to keep a food and symptom diary. As every IBD patient knows, and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) confirms, there is no specific eating plan which works for everyone. Keeping a detailed food and symptom diary helps you identify the foods that bother you, and is an important source of information for your doctor and nutritionist.

Maintaining a minute record may become tedious over time, but even if you keep the diary for only a few weeks you will become more aware of what you eat and may uncover patterns in your symptoms. Example food diary.

Wellness chart

A wellness chart is an easy way to track your disease and general well-being over extended periods of time.

A variety of indices, such as the Crohn’s Disease Activity Index (CDAI), are used to measure disease severity. These primarily record objective data such as blood analysis and weight; however, there is increasing interest in measuring the impact of IBD on the patient’s quality of life.

You can devise your own chart and rating system, customised for your common symptoms and triggers, which will only take a few minutes each day to complete.

Once again this will be a useful source of information for your doctor, and will help you take a more active role in your health management. Perhaps more importantly, it will encourage a broader, more realistic perspective of your health. We all have good and bad days - on the worst days it can be difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Your wellness chart will remind you that you’ve had better days and most likely will again. Example wellness chart.

Medical timeline

From your first diagnosis, keep a simple timeline of your treatment. At minimum include medications (with dosage), tests and results, and major events in your disease. If you can, also include names of doctors consulted and notes of your discussions.

Initially you will be able to recount all these details from memory, but as the years pass you will be surprised how quickly one test blends in with another, and you might forget the name of that particular medication you took for a month and then stopped because you had a bad reaction.

This information is particularly useful when you change doctors, or if you have to see a new doctor in an emergency situation. It will also be very helpful if you wish to assist with IBD research - I was disappointed that I could not remember more details concerning my initial diagnosis for a recent research survey.

Journaling or the one-sentence diary

Give yourself 15-20 minutes a day to write about how you are feeling and what has been happening in your life. Wake up 15 minutes early to make the time, or write just before bed. Grammar and spelling are not important; you don’t have to use sentences, or even words (you might draw a picture). If even this seems overwhelming start with a one-sentence diary.

Whatever form your diary or record-keeping takes, the key is to keep doing it! Set an achievable goal and don’t berate yourself if you miss a day - just be sure to do it the next. As you continue you will find it easier and once you have built a string of entries you will begin to see and feel the benefits.

Rebecca Leigh

References
1. Baikie & Wilhelm, “Emotional and physical health benefits of expressive writing”, Advances in Psychiatric Treatment vol. 11 (2005): 338-339

I did not ask, “Do you have self-limiting beliefs?” We all have self-limiting beliefs - unless you have attained “enduring, transcendental happiness” through enlightenment, in which case you probably don’t need to read this post.

For the rest of us… this three part series from Andrew Leigh at The Creative Instinct challenges us to: acknowledge that we have self-limiting beliefs; recognise how these beliefs shape our destiny; and work at identifying these beliefs. Whilst reading these articles I had a ‘light bulb’ moment (actually, it was more like a ‘fluorescent tube’ moment - the idea flickerd once weakly… it flickered again… and just when I was about to give up on it all together it buzzed to life).

I saw clearly how the numerous beliefs we hold about every aspect of our lives, including our health and inflammatory bowel disease, could easily limit our potential for success and happiness.

Why are self-limiting beliefs dangerous?

Andrew observes that whilst some self-limiting beliefs are obviously negative, others are more subtle:

Self-limiting beliefs can permit ‘success’ but will put unconscious boundaries on that success which we will find very difficult to cross.

An obvious negative self belief may be: As a sufferer of Crohn’s Disease I can never have a successful career.
A more subtle, but nonetheless damaging self belief may be: I have a good job, but because of my Crohn’s I won’t be able to progress up the corporate ladder.

The real killer, and the quote which got me thinking, is:

… we don’t experience our personal self beliefs as perceptions (which might or might not be accurate) – we experience them as granite hard truths. And so – being the truth, we accept them and live our lives within the limitations set by them…

… [but] they are not the truth of who you are – they are simply an unhelpful version of the truth that can be changed if you decide to.

There is no spoon

As I said, reading this wasn’t quite a light bulb moment. But the idea took root and I began to make a few connections.

In Do You Recognize These 10 Mental Blocks to Creative Thinking? by Brian Clark:

…changing your perspective and seeing things differently than you currently do. People like to call this “thinking outside of the box,” which is the wrong way to look at it. Just like Neo needed to understand that “there is no spoon” in the film The Matrix, you need to realize “there is no box” to step outside of. You create your own imaginary boxes simply by … accepting certain things as “real” when they are just as illusory as the beliefs of a paranoid delusional.

Seth Godin is a highly influential and creative thinker and writer on marketing, change and work. From his blog and his book small is the new big:

On thinking big… and the difference between a meeting of high-powered executives and room local CPAs -

They [the execs] were starting with the same raw materials as the group in the second room [the CPAs]. The difference, I think, was that a long time ago, the people in the second room had made a decision about what they deserved, or what they were capable of, or what they were going to stick with. And it was a bad decision.

On Lies to protect the status quo (from the small is the new big printed version):

It fascinates me that we’re so gullible, that people will embrace patently false ideas if it helps them deal with their fear of change.

On the power (and the fear) of self determination and on success and work:

None of the people who are racking up amazing success stories and creating cool stuff are doing it just by working more hours than you are. And I hate to say it, but they’re not smarter than you either. They’re succeeding by doing hard work.

Hard work is about risk. It begins when you deal with the things that you’d rather not deal with: fear of failure, fear of standing out, fear of rejection. Hard work is about training yourself to leap over this barrier, tunnel under that barrier, drive through the other barrier.

What if?

What if the only difference between us and all the people we admire — all the people we think are ‘better’ than us in some way or another — is that they believe and they try, and we don’t?

If our perception, our self belief, shapes our reality, then what if we changed our perspective? Could we change our reality?

Of course, in life, there are always challenges and genuine limitations. And having a chronic illness is certainly one of them. But how many times have you heard a story about a person who has overcome great hardship or disability to achieve something remarkable? Have you assumed and accepted that you cannot do certain things because you have IBD, without really questioning the basis of those assumptions?

Do you believe that:

• if you have IBD you can’t be an athelete?
• if you have a chronic illness you can’t hold down a job?
• if you have Crohn’s you cannot travel extensively because you might get sick?

You may think some of these sound quite reasonable, even sensible, but rarely is truth so absolute. When we realize “there is no box”, we can start thinking more freely and creatively about our own lives.

Use the The Creative Instinct tools and ask yourself, “what are my self-limiting beliefs?”. What perceptions have you have accepted as ‘truth’ which need further examination?

Rebecca

If you want to work well, you need to take time for play, rest and relaxation. So if the daily grind is getting you down I can recommend an excellent medication-free treatment… a good pampering!

To be classed as a good pampering, you need three things:

1. Indulge and excite the senses

It must offer something out of the ordinary for your taste, touch, smell, sound or sight - if it indulges more than one all the better!

2. Bring about a quietness of mind

You may be contemplating the experience, hardly thinking anything at all, or calmly considering what has been happening in your life recently. In any case your mind is quietly in the moment, it is not distracted or excited by some external frenetic activity.

3. Generally go it alone

This is related to the previous point. Of course there may be other people around, but generally achieving quietness of mind requires personal solitude - no talking or distractions from friends.

Here are some of my favourite pamper suggestions:

• Oh la la! Visit a day spa for massage and/or beauty treatment.
• Best kept secret… Select some delicious home treatment products (body scrub or lotion, pedicures, facial - there are so many to choose from now!) and dedicate two hours to a slow personal pampering.

• Oh la la! Treat yourself to high tea at the finest tea house you can find.
• Best kept secret… Select a fine tea from a specialty store and enjoy creating your very own tea ritual - with a slice of sweet cake.

• Oh la la! Visit a forest or natural sanctuary - stay overnight and wake with the birds.
• Best kept secret… Find a shady spot in your local park and laze away the afternoon.

• Oh la la! Set out for a day drive with no destination - get lost and enjoy the journey!
• Best kept secret… Jump on your local train, ferry or bus and see where it takes you.

Keep it slow!

And remember that none of these can be hurried - set aside the whole day and let everything else fade into the background.

Share your favourite pampering tips in the comments

Rebecca

For me, four years of infusions adds up to more than 16 infusions and more than 16 hospital day admissions. Here are my top tips for making hospital visits comfortable and stress-free.

Note: These tips are based on my experience in Australian hospitals, primarily in the private system. Where I am, receiving infusions (medication by drip) involves being admitted to the hospital for three to five hours. I have read American sites which talk about patients receiving their treatments in more informal lounge style infusion centres.

1. Make your appointment early in the day

Although you may have to wait a little while for morning discharges to make beds available, you will be ahead of the crowd that always builds in hospital waiting rooms as the day progresses.

2. Clear your schedule

Even though you may be told that the treatment will take only two or three hours, do not schedule anything critical for your afternoon on the day of treatment. Hospitals are too unpredictable: there may be an emergency which takes precedence over your appointment; there may be a shortage of staff on the day; or there may be some mix-up with the pharmacy which means your medication takes longer to be sent up to the ward then it should be (all these have happened to me).

If you have somewhere to get to by a certain time you are only going to increase your own stress and impatience if anything goes wrong - and that doesn’t help the situation. Plan to take the whole day and if you finish earlier, be happy with your good fortune.

3. Pay attention to the process - be your own carer

Notice what happens during your treatment, and your routine observations. You shouldn’t be relying on the nurses to tell you what is normal (well not after a few times anyway), you should know what is ‘normal’ for you and be able to tell them!

4. Wear clothes that are comfortable, flexible and warm

In my experience, hospital air-conditioning is cold. And sitting (mostly) still on a bed for several hours doesn’t do much to warm you up. So take something to keep warm and be aware that once the cannula (drip needle) is in you will be more restricted, so make it something you can throw over your shoulders.

5. Be a patient patient

Sorry for the pun. Be sensitive to the fact that the staff who are assisting you may also be dealing with any number of other patients at the same time, some of whom may need more urgent attention than you. Please don’t be the loud, demanding, unreasonable patient who always wants to be first. Being agreeable will also endear you to the staff and mean that if you do have cause to complain you will be taken more seriously (cry wolf and all that).

6. Bring snacks and drinks

Nothing worse then sitting there hungry hoping that the hospital lunch is going to be edible this time.

7. Bring something interesting to do!

Channel surfing the hospital TV for five hours is guaranteed to leave you feeling groggy, even if the drugs don’t! So do something interesting, use the time to try something to haven’t done before (like drawing), or just rest.

I know others who are in hospital for longer stays will take their own bed sheets and pillows — do you have any tips for making hospital visits more comfortable?

Struggling to meet unreasonable commitments and expectations is exhausting and demoralising. Yet frequently these demands are self-imposed: it might seem like your todo list driven by the needs of others but, if you review it honestly, you will see that the long list is borne of your own expectations and feelings of obligation.

Last week I detailed step one in my process for ‘cutting back’ my commitments: Capture all your commitments on paper.

Now for step 2 and 3…

2. How much time do you really have?

You now have a complete list of all your commitments: everything to which you have dedicated some level of psychic energy.

Now you need to get real about how much time you actually have for all this stuff. There are only 24 hours a day and 7 days in a week - this is non negotiable.

Neil Fiore in The Now Habit details how to use the unschedule methodology to ensure that you have guilt-free relaxation time and will, therefore, use your work time more productively.

For my purpose you need only complete step one of the unschedule process which is to draw up a weekly timetable and all your non-negotiable activities. This includes absolute must-do activities (like sleeping and eating) and leisure/lifestyle activities (like exercise and socialising).

The kind of activities you list in your unschedule include:

• daily must-do activities such as sleeping, eating, commuting
• other routine events such as medical appointments
• health activities such as gym or walking the dog
• quality time (that you enjoy) with loved ones / friends such as dinner or a picnic
• relaxation / pampering time to read a book, get a massage

You may be thinking, surely dinner with friends or getting a massage are luxuries that I only get after I have attended to my todo list? Absolutely not!

Firstly, these types of activities are absolutely essential to your ongoing mental, emotional and physical well-being and there should be time for them in your schedule each week. If you don’t ‘have time’ for some leisure and fun, then that is a sure sign you are doing too much.

Secondly, if you defer fun until you have finished your todo list then you will never get around to having fun, and you will continue to feel overwhelmed, overloaded and overworked. It is a vicious cycle!

Note: Neil Fiore’s unschedule is intended to help you be more productive with your work, so you only schedule non-work activities and then log your work time after you have completed at least one-half hour of uninterrupted work on a project.

For this exercise we are attempting to work out how much time you have for your personal commitments. If you have an office job then the hours of your shift are pretty much a non-negotiable ‘routine event’ which is not available for you to use for personal commitments. So you will need to add in, for example, a ‘work’ appointment from 8:00am - 1:00pm and 2:00pm - 6:00pm each weekday.

Having completed your unschedule you will realise that you may only have a couple of hours a day (perhaps longer on the weekends) for other commitments (by the way, Neil Fiore recommends you have at least one full day a week for recreation and small chores).

We now know just how limited our available time is, but we still think that all the items on our lists are equally important. How do we decide what to cut?

3. Is it something you really want to do?

Thinking ‘I have to do this thing’ or ‘I should do this thing’ or ‘I am a bad person if I don’t do this thing’ is a terrible way to motivate yourself. I have written before about creating the right frame of mind for positive action.

You need to make a deliberate choice about what you want to do, based upon a genuine consideration of all the options, an understanding of the benefits and costs, and an acceptance of the consequences of your choice. That might sound all too calculated and clinical, but, most of the time, we make can make these judgments very instinctively.

Look at each item on your list and ask yourself:

• Why is this item on my list?
• Did I make a positive choice to do this thing?
• If so, why was it important to me?
• Is it still important to me?
• Does it support one of my major life goals?
• What will happen if I don’t do it?
• If it is a promise I have made, can I renegotiate?
• Is this something I want to do in the future which I can add to my someday/maybe list?

As you do this review, please remember the first and second of the ten commandments for reducing stress:

1. Thou shalt not be perfect, nor even try to be
2. Thou shalt not try to be all things to all people

If attending another one of Uncle Wayne’s mind numbing monthly slide nights fills you with dread, why do it? Do you really believe you are contributing to positive family relations? If you refuse you may hurt some people’s feelings, but you cannot be responsible for the happiness of others. More likely, however, people aren’t even aware of the ’sacrifice’ you are making for them and, moreover, if they were they would tell you not to bother. I think we tend to vastly overestimate our own importance. (Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to tell Uncle Wayne he is a terrible bore, there are always better ways to handle such circumstances.)

Conclusion

There are a lot of productivity techniques which, when applied well, will improve your efficiency and enable you to get more done in a day. More importantly, by being aware of what your choices, and cutting back on those activities which do not contribute to your longer-term goals, you will automatically find more time to devote to the things which are really important to you.

The bonus is that when you are working on things that are truly important to you, when you have a clear vision of why you are doing what you are doing, the work will seem more like a joy than a chore!

Good luck with your cutting back campaigns!

Rebecca

At any given time we don’t have a clear idea of what all this stuff is, nor do we know if we have enough time to actually do it all. But we just keep going in the hope that somehow we will reach an ‘end’. But we won’t. Our efforts, and our failure to reach this illusive ‘end’, will only exhaust, frustrate and depress.

This all sounds pretty grim, but we can do something about it! And the answer is not work harder or longer - the answer is to cut back on your commitments.

Last year I initiated my own cutting back campaign, and this week’s Zen Habits post “A guide to cutting back when you feel overwhelmed” prompted me to share my experience. As Leo explains in his post, overloading ourselves leads to stress (which is very detrimental to our physical and emotional well-being) and also decreases our effectiveness in achieving our goals.

We need to take care of ourselves, and use our energy wisely to achieve the goals which are important to us. Usually, doing this involves cutting back. The key to cutting back, as far as I am concerned, is to ‘get real’ about your own life.

Get a clear and honest perspective of what you are doing now, what you are capable of doing and what you want to do. Once you have this, it will become obvious what you need to cut. I am going to outline the three step process which helped me get a better perspective.

1. Capture all your commitments on paper

David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) system contends that we all have a lot of ’stuff’ bouncing around in our heads (according to Allen, stuff is: “anything you have allowed into your psychological or physical world that doesn’t belong where it is, but for which you haven’t yet determined the desired outcome and the next action step”).

As long as we allow this to continue, our mental energy will be consumed with keeping all these balls in the air and we will forever have the feeling that there is something we have forgotten, or something we should be doing that is more important than what we are doing right now. Sounds kinda overwhelming, huh?

GTD instructs us to capture all this stuff - that is, write it down. Until you make this list you will not have a complete picture of what you have committed yourself to do. And while all this stuff remains a big, undefined blob you will have no control over it and no ability to do anything about it.

So, to begin your cutting back campaign you need to make a list. Include EVERYTHING you are currently doing or trying to do. This includes big goals (like go back to university), small goals (like exercise every day), things you said you would do (like help out at a charily stall), and mundane tasks (like clean windows).

For the purpose of this exercise, if something is on your mind, if it is already on one of your many to do lists or if you keep meaning to get to it, then you have committed mental energy to that task and you need to write it down whether or not you beleive you are truly ‘committed’ to it.

Use David Allen’s own Trigger List to make sure you have captured all those niggling to-dos from all areas of your life.

In next week’s post I’ll cover the final two steps in my cutting back campaign.

Rebecca