Wednesday January 14, 2009 While I can be very spontaneous, some things I like to plan for ahead of time. Like paying bills on time. That’s why I’m a list maker. Plus, when I make a list ahead of time showing me what I have to do, it never seems like as much as when I didn’t know what was on the list.
In the course of my work day, papers get piled up on my desk as I move less important items to the bottom of the stack. Messages about calls I need to return are placed off to one side. Checks there in that wire cat slinky thingy. I like being able to see everything in one layer, all spread out. At the end of a week, between my carelessness, the breeze coming in the window and the occasional feline nap, the papers get strewn all over the desk.
If I can remember to simply go through them page by page every few days, that lets me get a handle on what I have going on, and lets me make sure the papers are kept on the desk in priority order.
When I go to do my billing, the first thing I do is print out a hard copy of my Recurring Monthly Invoices. Then I highlight in yellow all of the invoices I will need to send this month. That makes it easy for me to simply go down the list and bill the highlighted clients. If I get distracted, it’s easy for me to know where I stopped, since it will be marked off. If I wonder how much more I have to go, I simply look at the list and see what’s still in yellow.
When I go to pay my bills, the first thing I do is make a list of what Andrea owes and what Horizons owes, and the dates these payments are due. Then I highlight in yellow what I have to pay on right now and I do it.
Keeping track of it as it comes in is the best way, but my lifestyle is such that I simply can’t open in one day all the mail that comes in. I keep an ongoing stack of junk mail to be shredded and ongoing stack of junk catalogs to be recycled. I keep an ongoing list of companies to write to ask to be removed from their mailing list. So half my mail time is spent processing junk mail. But it’s an important investment for my future – it’s time well spent to cut down on future junk mail.
Because of this, it takes me awhile to get through everything, so it ends up in piles on the desk. So when I make myself keep an ongoing list of the work I have to do, and my upcoming expenses, that helps me meet those goals quicker. It brings the end into sight for me.
Rather than me thinking, “Omigosh, the pile of work on this desk is so high, I have to stop for now and just work on it later,” I can know, “Oh heck, I only have 3 calls to return and 24 more payments to log in to the bookkeeping program, and 3 checks to deposit and 2 credit cards to run. I can whip through that in just 4 hours if I stay focused.”
Me knowing what is on the list to do – even if it is a long To Do List – helps me see the end is in sight. That lets me plan for relaxation time and contemplate my next step as well. Those are things I can’t do if my next step is just “get back to work.”
When I don’t know what’s on the list, I can’t see the end in sight. If I can’t see the end, all I see is “my desk is piled high and too many people want me on the phone.”
When I see the end, I feel at ease to move quickly past it. Plus, if I see ahead of time that I will need $3,800 more by the 18th, that sets the Universe in motion to bring me that dollar amount by the date I want it. It’s as if by just knowing the amount ahead of time, the Universe cranks up the $$ on their way to me so I can meet my goal by my deadline. Even if that goal is just to pay a bill on time.
Try it. Figure ahead of time how many dollars you’ll need by the end of next month. Write it down with the intention that you’ll look at it each day and anticipate that you’ll be led to bring that amount to you by that date. You’ll work for it, you’ll get new contacts, you’ll discover new opportunities, you’ll attract it, you’ll definitely buy a lotto ticket each week just to give dollars another avenue to come in to you. Let me know your results.
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