Get Organized with Priority Shapes

Priority Shapes

Bayport, NY - We all have priorities in life.  Priorities are what provide us with direction and the determination and motivation to achieve our goals.
For me, when I'm at my busiest, I lose focus on my life's priorities. I become small minded; focused on the task at hand - the day or moment I'm in; and the big picture just becomes scrambled eggs.
I have a good friend that is also super, super busy right now.
Yet, when I spoke with this friend recently, she had a calmness about her.
In the midst of her Buzz she had called ME; She had just come from grocery shopping for her organic,health foods; She had closed a few major deals that she had been working on.
In other words, she had not lost focus of her life's priorities. She made sure to be in contact with close friends; her health had remained important; and she was focused enough at work to close deals and meet her sales targets.
For some reason, I always believed that a "TO DO" list would bring me success.  I thought, "all I have to do is check off a couple of things I've done for today (my homework, clean my room, pay a bill) and eventually I will arrive at my goal."
Though, the structure of a "To Do" actually makes you feel like crap if you don't get something done. (Picture allllllll those boxes that still aren't checked off.)
PLUS, where does a "TO DO" list lead? What is it's Goal? Getting the day's work done! And that's great because we all need to go grocery shopping and do our laundry and make sure to sign our children up for swimming lessons. But we also need a map (not a list of the bigger picture.)

Whenever I find myself Soooooo busy that I have literally no time to Sleep (we've ALL been there, c'mon), I have to take a look at my Priority Shapes and see what I know is important to me; what isn't; what I see for myself and my child in the future and what I know is toxic for me.

So what are Priority Shapes? As I explained before,they are the coping mechanism I created to stay on target when my life was out of control. I was moving in every direction but Forward.

How it works is each shape represents a priority or non-priority in your life.

You can get out a piece of paper and literally draw the shapes on the same page or each on a separate page - Just make sure that the finished product is something you can look at every day or whenever you need it.

In my example I drew a BIG HEART in the center of the page.

HEART: These are absolute priorities. They take precedence over ANYTHING else; our Heart comes first. Think of our Heart as the literal heart beating in our body - make sure you are checking up on these priorities and make sure they are constantly moving forward. For me, Heart Priorities include: Annabella; being a mom; my family; my close friends; my spirituality; my job - selling goals; my blog - expanding writing ideas; yoga, health; my book (Eggbert).

CIRCLE: The circle represents the people that are most important to us. For me, my daughter is the CENTER of the circle. I know who is in the circle - Its a small, positive group: My family; My BEST friends. I also choose to honor family who have passed in this group and I think of people I look up to. These are the only people that can take up space in my mind and these are the people that I have personally required myself to make an effort to see.


SQUARE: These are Back Burner items. Second to your priorities yet STILL important. I tend to want to get involved in everything but guess what?  You can't!  You need to Prioritize. Put your future projects in the square. The square also holds some of the other groups and people that you would like to get involved with if you had more time.

DIAMOND: The Diamond is all that we Aspire to be and to have. In the diamond, put the names of people who inspire you. The Diamond also serves as a place for us to store our Long Term Goals (the goals that seem so unattainable that we've currently labeled them  hopeless). The Diamond gives us a Flawless, Clear look into the Future and what we want it to be.  Our future is a Clean slate

STOP SIGN (Octogon): Stay Away! Stop - Heed!  Don't Go There because you know it Always leads to misery; That's what the Stop Sign represents: The People, Places, Things, Attitudes and Ideas that HOLD us back from victory.  Having Trouble? These are the people going nowhere in life, yet we still choose to hang out with. These are the websites and magazines that make us angry, they always scare us into thinking we're dying that the "world will end". Are you saving up for a home or something else big? Put the following items in the Stop Sign: Night Clubs, Tiki Bars, scratch off tickets, internet shopping and shoe shopping.  It may sting - but remove these things from your life and your Goals can be reached.

Rectangle: Perhaps the most important shape is the Rectangle.  This is our actual "To Do" list.  These are the things that we cannot forget to do. These are our daily MUSTS and they are different for everyone. So go ahead and list yours.  Make sure you are doing them everyday and you will reach your goals that much faster. They could be the laundry, showering, bathing your children, makeup,  putting your children to bed, your morning and evening commute to work , reading the news, staying in touch with your parent or visiting a loved one in a nursing home or another facility.

Me and the Center of My HEART and
CIRCLE, Annabella. 

I hope I've helped someone.  I know this helps me.  It's important to know that ALL of these shapes are connected.  The Circle, Heart, Rectangle and Stop Sign are NOW. The Diamond and Square are our future - but two very different types of future.

Good luck and please provide feedback if this helps.
Kat xoxoxoxo