“Life moves pretty fast.” – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
I’m forever grateful for iconic lines from 80s movies that simply endure with their simplicity and catchy-ness (is that a word?)
How about this one from “Better Off Dead”? Classic.
Current musings:
Before we go down the rabbit trail of 80s movie quotes (a dangerous endeavor lol!), you might be wondering why I am invoking the checkered wisdom of Ferris Bueller today?
Because life absolutely moves fast. And we don’t want to get swept downstream any more than will naturally happen anyway. It’s a wild ride.
You know I’m always talking about how to get more done on a given day, because Overwhelma is lurking around every corner.
Sometimes she presents as an unexpected event that must be dealt with immediately. But other times (and this is when she’s particularly sneaky…) she presents as a shiny object like, “Oooooo! I really want to completely empty out this messy drawer right now that I only noticed because I was looking for tape!”
You’ve been there. Likely for both presentations and more!
“A is for Arm Your Alarms”
What can we use to combat it?
If you asked me to choose my VERY BEST focusing tool, the workhorse of my day, my Holy Grail of habits…the answer is easy:
Arming my alarms in my phone, EVERY SINGLE DAY. (Step 2 of The CALM Method, FYI)
There’s almost no downside to using multiple alarms, unless you’re in a movie theater or on a massage table. Oops!
And can you guess what’s even better than just one alarm?
RECURRING alarms! For those daily or even weekly tasks! SO. GOOD.
Do you forget to take the trash can to the curb in time for the weekly pickup? Or do you forget to take your daily medication?
Recurring alarms to the rescue! Plus, (and I LOVE this about my alarms) it keeps your to do list less cluttered! Reserve your list for tasks of urgency and importance. Let your alarms keep you accountable for the other stuff!
Are you thinking, “But, Ryan, I always snooze and/or dismiss my alarms when they pop up!”
#1. Not EVERYTHING needs an alarm, so if you’re dismissing a certain one, then it’s a “fantasy” alarm or it’s going off at the wrong time. I adjust my alarms every single morning (and yes, I have an alarm that says “arm today’s alarms”! I really do.)
#2. Why snooze is NOT bad for your daily alarms. (Public service announcement: snoozing your morning wake up alarm sets you back because you can’t get a full sleep cycle in 9 minutes so you actually make it HARDER to get up after hitting snooze. Don’t snooze in the morning, ok?)
However, the snooze function on a daily alarm is a powerful tool, as long as you don’t abuse it. Often the alarm signals you to start an activity, but I’m guessing that I’m not alone in maybe not exactly FINISHING it…that maybe, just maybe, something distracted you in the middle? I know, crazy talk!
So that 9 minute snooze will return to gently yet clearly tap you on the shoulder and say, “hey, did you actually DO that thing or did you end up down a rabbit hole?”
Oh, yeah. Thanks for the reminder, Ms. Alarma!
Hey, you’re not alone! It’s totally okay!! Your alarms are NOT mocking you, (although your family might)!
In fact, your alarms are holding your hand, walking alongside of you as you are trying to GSD all day every day.
Ultimate bonus for me since I don’t own a smart watch: my alarms helps me FIND my phone when I’ve set it down somewhere dark and obscure. Like INSIDE a dresser drawer. (True story!) HOW???
We’ll never know.
Curious about all things Google Calendar?
As always our free Digital Decluttering with Friends workshop happens at 12p Central time on Thursdays!
Special treat this week! We are so excited to welcome back Google rockstar Amy Novick! Her YouTube channel is full of great videos too so check it out and subscribe, would you?
Amy has so much to teach us about the power of Google Calendar, so don’t miss it!! Or catch the replay over in the CALM Collaborative FB group 🙂 See you soon!
I love it when you reply to my blog and share what’s on your mind, so keep ’em coming!
