When I am giving a talk, or I’m working with a group on organizational skills, the first question I ask is about intent. The question of the moment is:

“What do you want to get out of this class?”

Thinking about why you are doing something helps you focus on the task at hand. And when I’m giving a talk, I want people to focus, to listen with an end-goal in mind. It’s not that I think the content is so important; it’s that I think each person’s time is so important.

Which gets to the bigger question, and the one I hope you ask yourself before committing your time to any work, project, or person:

“Is spending time on this something that’s important to me?”

Last week, I was giving a talk at a local library and opened with the question about intent. After the talk, I saw a couple of attendees chatting out in the parking lot. I stopped to ask how they liked the talk and they all grinned. They were discussing intent – but not about the class. They were trying to decide if they should go to a meeting for a club they all belonged to. The club had been fun at the start but was no longer productive. And they wondered if attending was the best use of their time.

Ahh. Organizational Zen shows it’s pretty face 🙂

It’s so easy to keep doing the stuff we’ve been doing. Taking a moment to question a habit can help you head in a new direction. But you have to take that moment. You have to stop and think. You have to value your time enough to say,

“I think I’ll try something different today.”

Sending you organizational love from Sovicille, Italy, where I am spending three weeks with my mom as we celebrate her 80th year here on Earth. If you know my mom, you know these have been 80 very productive years! Mom is one of my primary organizational guides. Happy birthday, Doris!