out of the way of our usual thoughts and thus don't risk violating our principle to conserve RAM.
Here's another mantra that has served me well:
Trust the process.
In a few chapters, I'll recommend spending five minutes each morning planning your day. Ironically, it is the hectic days when you are most tempted to skip the five minutes of planning, yet it is those days that planning is most beneficial. I say to myself, 'Trust the process,' and do the planning. I'm always glad I did.
When your brain is full of negative or toxic thoughts such as, 'I'll do it later,' or 'I'm too busy to stop for five minutes to plan my day,' a mantra has the power to fill your brain with a positive thought, squeezing out the negativity. If you can act during the fleeting moment that the mantra fills your brain, you'll be taking positive action before the negative thought can return.
That's a really important point. You can train yourself to fake out your brain!
Maintain Focus During 'Project Time'
Earlier in this chapter I talked about the importance of managing interruptions. That's all part of maintaining focus . Interruptions are the natural enemy of focus. You'll learn to use your organizer and other techniques to maintain focus.
Distractions are so, um, distracting! Think about how an operating system works. When time-critical operations need to be done, the kernel locks out all other tasks and works on exactly one task until that task is complete. For example, when memory is being allocated to a task, the kernel locks out all other memory-table access so that this one happens correctly, without multiple processes all trying to modify the allocation tables at the same time. As an SA, you want the same kind of laser focus when you're working.
Operating system designers go to great lengths to make sure that a process can return from an interruption quickly (especially the constant swapping between processes in a multitasking operating system). They do this because they know that time spent returning from an interruption is wasted time and should be minimized. You should do the same.
Manage Your Social Life with the Same Tools You Use for Your Work Life
Last but not least, don't forget to have fun. The same tools we use to make sure there's enough time for our important projects at work can be used to make sure we don't miss out on the social life and family life that we want to have.
No one's dying thought is, 'Gosh, I wish I had spent more time at the office.'
By using the same tools for organizing your work and non-work life, you increase the practice you get at using these techniques! The more practice, the faster you develop better organization habits. You are also leveraging some good, proven techniques rather than reinventing the wheel.
This isn't to say that your social life will become structured and scheduled down to the minute. There's nothing wrong with scheduling an evening of goofing off!
It Won't Be Easy
I'm told that when teaching, it's better to tell people how difficult it's going to be early in the process so that they aren't so disappointed when they realize it isn't all milk and honey (or Jolt and chocolate). I'm told that it's a lot better than promising people 'easy, fast results' and having them give up at the first challenge, possibly blaming themselves for not achieving the instant results promised.
Therefore, let me be perfectly clear: this may be the most difficult journey on which you've ever embarked. You've spent your entire life developing the bad time management habits you have right now; you can't fight that inertia over night. It's going to take long hours of practice. You are going to stumble through a lot of this, come back a month later, reread a chapter, and realize that you've been doing it wrong. At times it will seem like there is no hope, that these techniques are a waste of time and more difficult than just muddling though the old way.
I can assure you that you'll have all these feelings because I felt them all, too.
But now I'm writing this book. I must have survived. So will you.
Every time things look grim and difficult, just remember that change comes in small steps. Keep trying. Stick with the program. Squeeze those negative thoughts from your brain by saying to yourself, 'Trust the process' and give it another try.
When you least expect it, someone will say to you, 'You're so organized! I wish I knew how you do it all so well!' and you'll realize
