One Step at a Time and {Master Lists}

When we read books and visit Web sites of people who write “how-to’s” we often fall into the trap of believing they have {it} all together. They don’t. While experience and expertise are essential elements of having {it} all together — actually having {it} all together is about practice and habits. Regardless of how many letters (PhD, MBA, etc.) are next to the presenter’s name, we all wander from time to time.

So be sure to note that when you read something I have written, you fully understand that I write about it because I learned about it. Most often, the old-fashioned way: First hand and by working it out via trial and error.

I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do. ~Edward E. Hale

This week’s theme is: One Step at a Time

One step at a time is enough for me. Impatience is simply a way of beating yourself up. ~Susan Jeffers

I know many of us resist the one-step notion because we are zig-zagging countless steps as we engage in {multi-tasking} — the descriptive we assign to tilting windmills ala Don Quixote! Frenzied. Futile. Frustrating. Faulty.

Or the other extreme: In the midst of busyness or personal challenge, we often cannot see our way clear to even move — let alone take a step. However, step-by-step we can move through. Don’t get bogged down in “how far?” just take slow and steady steps in the direction of your dreams.

This is how we can accomplish anything.

Sometimes I am a blur of activity — other times …  not so much! And frequently during those {other times} I forget that Life progresses in cycles and that the cycle of accomplishment and checking items off on my To-Do List will be back around! Dealing with factors (such as my wellness issues) that are out of my control is not something I do easily. But I do it. And the only way I can do it?

One step at a time.

And sometimes — I just wander …

For example, creating an online store (my beaded jewelry designs) is one of my goals-in-process. I have been reading, reading, reading about how to best accomplish this; I tweet here with friends about what they have learned and I meet regularly with a local bead store owner (who has also invited me to sell my jewelry there).

Is this something, oh creative one, that you have considered? Well, then click here for Etsy’s Frequently Asked Questions or visit Art Fire’s site for Seller Information!

But, here is the deal: I have been {wanting to} accomplish this for the past year!

There have been all sorts of so-called reasons — but it comes down to zig-zagging instead of taking one step at a time. In the same direction!

We live and we learn to take / One step at a time / There’s no need to rush / It’s like learning to fly / Or falling in love / It’s gonna happen and it’s / Supposed to happen that we / Find the reasons why / One step at a time ~Jordin Sparks

Maintaining a Master To Do list the key to taking one step at a time. What has worked for me (although I do not always maintain it …) is to compile a list of everything that rattles around in my mind — all the reminders, tasks and projects I want {to-do}. In its most effective format, I keep it as a Word file and add items from the small notepad I keep with me (most of the time); other times I simply fold a piece of 8.5×11 paper in half and handwrite the list!

We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand — and melting like a snowflake. ~Marie B. Ray

Other tips, suggestions and how-to’s:

• Mind Tool’s To-Do Lists — The Key to Efficiency
• How to Write Effective ToDo Lists (★ very useful site!!)
  
• Overwhelmed by Your To-Do List? Go With a ‘Will-Do’ List Instead (I like this site; information and a clean design. And a page devoted to quotations.)
• (Very lengthy article …) How to Use a Master List of Task Management
  

Miscellany …

• Right Brain Planner, ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life page (scroll down for a list of tips for your “one-steps” …)
• Recommend reading this book: Getting Things Done by David Allen, or visiting his Tips and Tools and Articles. My quick notation from February [here] …
• Simplified Principles of Alexander Technique
• One of my favorite online tools is from LabPixies, the ToDo gadget.

We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. ~Aristotle