“Think like a Man of
Action,Act like a Man of Thought”….Henry Bergson
In his book ,”Getting Things done”,David Allen states a
thought provoking exercise that you can do even now. The requirement is just a
pen and paper.(No Don’t use the Computer for this exercise !)
STEP 1:
Write down the Project or situation that is most on top of
your mind at this moment.Something like Next vacation,My Finance or say House
repair,whatever
STEP 2:
In a single sentence describe the intended successful
outcome of the project or situation.
Example:
“Visit Singapore for the Next vacation”
“Clear off Debts by 2015”
“Fix the leaking roof in the drawing room”
STEP 3:
Now write down the very next physical action that you need
to take move the Project or situation forward towards the successful outcome.
“Call the travel agent about Sngapore travel packages”
“Collect all the current debt situation in a Spreadsheet”
“Talk to the builder and fix appointment for House
inspection”
Remember all we are doing here is to just capture the
situation on a piece of paper and think about it in a deeper way. This should not take more than 5
minutes.Physically, in the world nothing has changed yet by this exercise. Even then, if you do
this exercise you will feel a sense of relief because you have clarified the
Outcome and determined the next physical action.
In the current world where there are much more things that
require attention and action every day, the above technique of vertical
thinking will prevent us from getting stress out. This is because it is not the
lack of time but the lack of clarity about what to about a certain issue is the
root cause of Stress.
So from today carry a pen and paper to the bed ! If something is
causing sleepless night , implement the vertical thinking and I am sure you will get a better quality of sleep.
Remember, "All it takes is to take a step and then the next"......Maya Angelou
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