Here's another installment of my project to provide an antidote to the pessimism we find all around us, by exploring the ways that we can make our own luck.
This time: T is for Toleration busting
One of the first things I learned when I started my coach training with Jim Vuocolo and Coach U was the concept of Tolerations.
What’s a toleration? They are the small irritations, energy drainers, things we put up with large and small which irritate us. They may be so small that we barely notice them, or so big that we can’t help it.
The key that sticks in your lock, the bad habit, the dead plant in the driveway, the corrosive colleague, the negative news on TV.
We may train ourselves to put up with them, even “not really notice” them any more. But large or small, tolerations drain our energy, create discomfort, and cause us to work harder. Eliminate them and life sails more smoothly and efficiently.
The first step: make a list: Write down the tolerations that come to mind when you think of work, home, and all other aspects of your life. As you think of more items later, add them to your list. Nothing is too trivial.
Your list may include situations, your beliefs and behaviours, other people's behaviours, unmet needs, broken objects, incomplete projects, problems, lack of equipment, your car, etc. It may be that you have never set up your printer defaults correctly, so you have to constantly change the settings.
You may or may not choose to do anything about the tolerations on your list right now. However, just becoming aware of the things you are tolerating, will bring them to the forefront where you will naturally start handling, eliminating, fixing, and resolving them.
As you develop a habit of dealing with things as they arise, you’ll create fewer tolerations and feel more powerful and assertive about dealing with them.
Showing posts with label efficiency. Show all posts
Showing posts with label efficiency. Show all posts
3 December 2008
2 December 2008
A to Z of Luck : E is also for Easy Efficiency
A to Z of Luck: E is for Easy Efficiency
Here's another installment of my project to provide an antidote to the pessimism we find all around us, by exploring the ways that we can make our own luck.
My instinct is that we all are surrounded by a myriad of opportunities,and that the genius of luck is first, being able to see them, and second, being able to take advantage of them. I believe there are things we can do to make luck more likely, to help us make the most of the opportunities that are around us, even if the wider economy is in recession.
This one is somewhat prosaic. When we make small changes to be more organised and efficient, the effect on our energy can be big. (I'll post tomorrow about getting rid of tolerations that drain our energy)
I was talking to Wendy Davie the other day about how I've noticed in recent years that there is a trend to large dining plates and deep bowls which though small, don't fit in a dishwasher.
Deep noodle bowls are nice to eat out of, but they just don't stack well. Dishwashers only take one row of big plates (if they fit at all), rather than two rows of ordinary-sized dinner plates. Dishes with a big curvature in them also take more space, and are harder for the dishwasher jets to reach, so are less likely to be properly cleaned.
Similarly, extra tall glasses and coffee cups mean that you can only fill one row of the upper tier, and not use the fold-down stacking level.
All in all, oversize bowls, cups, glasses and plates mean you may be able to fit less than half as much in the dishwasher, which means you run it twice as often, using twice as much time unstacking, not to mention electricity, water, and dish detergent, and there are often dishes left on the bench, necessitating extra hand-washing.
My solution: choose an everyday dining set with smaller plates, without deep dishes, and ones which fit neatly into the dishwasher. Not only do you spend less time, money and energy on the dishes, but large plates encourage large portions (and few of us need to eat more!)
How does this relate to my ongoing series on luck? Well, if you reduce time by making efficiency easier, you're more likely to have the space in your life to take action when opportunities present themselves.
More of the A to Z on creating more luck (and getting more energy) tomorrow.
Here's another installment of my project to provide an antidote to the pessimism we find all around us, by exploring the ways that we can make our own luck.
My instinct is that we all are surrounded by a myriad of opportunities,and that the genius of luck is first, being able to see them, and second, being able to take advantage of them. I believe there are things we can do to make luck more likely, to help us make the most of the opportunities that are around us, even if the wider economy is in recession.
This one is somewhat prosaic. When we make small changes to be more organised and efficient, the effect on our energy can be big. (I'll post tomorrow about getting rid of tolerations that drain our energy)
I was talking to Wendy Davie the other day about how I've noticed in recent years that there is a trend to large dining plates and deep bowls which though small, don't fit in a dishwasher.
Deep noodle bowls are nice to eat out of, but they just don't stack well. Dishwashers only take one row of big plates (if they fit at all), rather than two rows of ordinary-sized dinner plates. Dishes with a big curvature in them also take more space, and are harder for the dishwasher jets to reach, so are less likely to be properly cleaned.
Similarly, extra tall glasses and coffee cups mean that you can only fill one row of the upper tier, and not use the fold-down stacking level.
All in all, oversize bowls, cups, glasses and plates mean you may be able to fit less than half as much in the dishwasher, which means you run it twice as often, using twice as much time unstacking, not to mention electricity, water, and dish detergent, and there are often dishes left on the bench, necessitating extra hand-washing.
My solution: choose an everyday dining set with smaller plates, without deep dishes, and ones which fit neatly into the dishwasher. Not only do you spend less time, money and energy on the dishes, but large plates encourage large portions (and few of us need to eat more!)
How does this relate to my ongoing series on luck? Well, if you reduce time by making efficiency easier, you're more likely to have the space in your life to take action when opportunities present themselves.
More of the A to Z on creating more luck (and getting more energy) tomorrow.
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