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Listen to Diane and Coach Meg here:
Listen: Segment 1 Segment 2
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Recently I asked coaches in the Wellcoaches community to submit a list of 10 ways in which they want to thrive. Diane is dealing with some challenging health issues and asked me for a series of coaching sessions designed to improve her health and life satisfaction.
In our third session, Diane's excitement for goal setting and visioning was being drowned out by the noise of daily tasks and to dos. She had fallen into the trap of believing that everything on the list is a top priority, and worthy of concern when not accomplished immediately. Last week's blog presented the idea that life's tasks can be divided into four categories, as suggested by Dr. Stephen R. Covey in his influential book, First Things First.
The Quadrant of Quality
This week, I'd like to focus on Quadrant 2, often described as the "Quadrant of Quality." When we are dedicating time to activities in this Quadrant, we increase our ability to do other things. Spending time on activities such as recreation, or re-creation, provides fuel for the less desirable or more urgent tasks of daily living.
Seek it Out
Unfortunately, unlike the other Quadrants, Quadrant 2 items do not come knocking on our door. Because we tend to focus on urgency rather than importance, other tasks are in-our-face more than these items of quality. Dr. Stephen R. Covey demonstrates this with the story of the wood cutter who was busy sweating cutting a tree down. A stranger passed, saw the extreme effort required to cut the wood and suggested sharpening the saw. The wood cutter continued in his laboring and replied "I have no time to sharpen the saw; I have to cut the tree down". The moral, of course, is that if we don't take time to sharpen our saw, all of the other tasks in our lives will require more effort and be produced with less quality.
Where to Find the Time
As Dr. Covey says, "If you are looking to spend time in Quadrant 2, Quadrant 3 is the primary place to get it. Time spent in Quadrant 1 is both urgent and important - we already know we need to be there. And, it's obvious that we need to eliminate tasks and behaviors in Quadrant 4. But, Quadrant 3 can fool us. The key is learning to see all of our activities in terms of their importance. Then we're able to reclaim time lost to the deception of urgency, and spend it in Quadrant 2."
Questions for Reflection
When determining what to commit to this week, what is "important" even though it is "not urgent," consider the following inquiries:
• What would happen if I did these things in the coming week?
• How would that make me feel about the quality of my life?
• What if I did only some of them?
• What positive difference would it make in my life?
• What if I did this every week?
• In what ways would I be more effective than I am now?
