Lesson 18 - What’s Your Leech?
It’s now time to start utilizing your Daily Target Praxis.
The Daily Target Praxis is Simpleology’s way of making sure you keep up with your desire to stay on target long after the course itself is over.
In Lesson 18, Simpleology talks about leeches and power ups. These are both understandable terms that require little explanation but require tons of practice and examples to implement effectively.
Think of leeches as kryptonite. Superman, the most powerful being on Earth, can do anything he want as long as he doesn’t come in contact with the debilitating mineral known as kryptonite. Kryptonite sucks his power, just like leeches can suck yours.
But leeches might not be as obvious as you might think.
Back a couple of years ago I was working at a different job. It was a very informal working environment that was focused on nothing but the bottom line. My boss didn’t care if I came in at 11am and left at 2pm as long as my work was done and done right.
Try as I could, I couldn’t keep up with my co-workers. Everyday I seemed to be the first person in the office and the last person to leave. I was swamped with work, while everyone else seemed to be handling theirs with ease. I couldn’t figure out where my time was going.
I tried cutting down on my socializing time, but that barely produced any results. My time was still being sucked somewhere and I couldn’t figure out where.
I decided to spend one day and record all the activities I did. I wanted to see how much time I spend on little things like emailing, IM’ing, personal phone calls and making coffee. The results shocked me.
I couldn’t believe how much time I was using doing a million two second unnecessary things. Over the course of a day, I spent close to half an hour making coffee and close to an hour checking my emails.
What was even worse was since I was using my time so haphazardly and I was constantly late I was constantly stressed about time. So even though I was wasting my time, I wasn’t enjoying it. I was having my time and my energy leeched all at the same time.
I devised myself a schedule where instead of chatting online anytime I felt like it, I would only do it during 10 minute intervals. I quickly saw that even though I was spending the same amount of time on these distractions, during the time I was working I was much more efficient. I was surprised to see that my work gone done in a more timely manner and it was of higher quality.
Take some time and think about what your leeches are. Simpleology will touch upon this as well, but it can’t ever hurt to be prepared and ahead of the game.