Fly on the E-Commerce Cyberwall

Farewells and new adventures
My daughter, Becca, headed off (after nearly three hours of "last-minute" tasks and a trip back to pick up a crucial item she had forgotten) to a lot of lengthy farewells. It was good having her here. She's a bit of a whirlwind to have around, but fun.

So she's off to new adventures as an Air Force officer and I set aside what was left of the day for a new adventure of my own.

I decided to do a technique known as a Brain Dump to help me focus more on where I wanted my business (and my life) to go. The process goes like this: you find a spot where you won't be interrupted for at least two hours and take a lot of paper along.

Once you're alone, you write down everything you want to do or be or have. Then you write down in a separate list everything you feel you need to do. Then when you've completely exhausted everything you can think of, you copy everything down onto yet another list, breaking things down into categories, setting priorities, and developing action plans for the highest priorities.

I must say, the process was refreshing. It's been so long since I've had any true solitude that I'd forgotten how good it feels. Most of the time I multi-task, doing planning in front of the TV or while others are coming and going and engaging me in conversation. It was a luxury to focus on brainstorming without distraction (for the most part).

I can see why they advise that you do it on paper instead of computer; working on paper puts you into a more relaxed mindset than computer, with its ties to the rush, rush cyberworld. Also, I found that the act of rewriting multiple times engrained things into my mind better than copying and pasting on computer ever could.

One mistake I made, though, was not allowing more than two hours for the process. I started about two hours before supper and had to step away from it for supper, a little TV and some needed chores. I found when I went back that I had to regain the momentum I had lost by turning my attention back to everyday life.

I don't know if I ever did get my momentum back; I was considerably less relaxed and more irritable. Maybe it was just that the organizing was more complex than the brainstorming. At any rate, I felt a little overwhelmed by trying to organize and prioritize all of the thoughts that ranged over many different areas of responsibility.

I did see some connections and want to revisit it tomorrow.

But the process has had a positive effect already. As I went through my e-mail tonight, I deleted a couple of things that I had been hanging onto, not sure if I wanted to pursue them or not. Documenting where I wanted to go made it crystal clear that those opportunities represented a completely different direction than what I want. Delete. Delete. Delete.

And that's the kind of focus I want to develop.
Jeff