“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