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Putting pockets into your life can make the difference between being ‘calm’ or ‘crazed.’  What are pockets? Visualize each of thefollowing to help get the concept in your mind…

• Picture yourself getting an old purse or wallet out of your
  closet and finding change in a pocket.  You got a surprise
  of some extra money!
• Think about a time when you reached into a winter coat or
  spring jacket and found folded-up money. You received a
  surprise of some extra money!
• Remember a time when a three-hour meeting was canceled at
  the last minute and you found out you had a ‘pocket’ of
  time you weren’t expecting. A wonderful surprise!

When you have ‘pockets’ in your life, big and little surprises (of the positive kind) can result. 

Let’s look at it another way by considering these scenarios:

• A boat capsizes and people are trapped underneath.
  They can survive for a time because of the pockets of air
  that exist. 
• A quarterback is protected by the pocket created by
  his offensive line.  Without that pocket, it’s unlikely he
  could withstand the rush of the defense. 

This concept started to take hold in my life as I noticed my lack of pockets. At that time, I was the Director of the Excellence in Teaching Program at the University of Nevada, Reno. See if my situation was similar to one you have in your own life.

If I had a 10:00 meeting across campus, and I knew that it took me ten minutes to walk from my office to the Provost’s office, I would leave at 9:50, working right up until the moment I needed to leave. I was, of course, thinking how efficient I was. WRONG! A 10-minute walk across campus would only work if:

a) I didn’t see anyone I knew along the way (and that wasn’t going to happen after 15 years on campus),

b) I didn’t notice something interesting to look at (students doing something, a new set of plantings, a poster that begged to be read), and

c) I didn’t need to take a quick restroom break on the way (also highly unlikely since I’d been working all morning and drinking coffee!)

So, in order to be “on time,” I’d be charging across campus, barely greeting anyone I knew and purposely ignoring everything interesting that might distract me (and of course, not stopping in the bathroom). Harumph! This was not a smart or efficient way for me to behave.

So, I made a decision: I decided to make that year (and it’s a constant, continuing quest) the year of time “pockets.” If I had a breakfast meeting that started at 8:00 and I knew it took 15 minutes to drive there, I would leave at 7:30. Gosh! What if I got there early?! Here’s what happened: I was calmer and more ready to meet, pay attention to my colleagues, and think.

So, what I want you to do right now is to read through the following list, and ask yourself whether you have any pockets in one, all, or any of these areas. 

1. Time o you have any time pockets, that is any type of reserve of time–be that daily, hourly, weekly, or monthly–or are you just crammed every second of every day, every year?
2. Wealth:How about “money” pockets? Do you have any cash or credit pockets–or are you just hoping that nothing breaks and that the overtime continues? Not having any money pockets causes extraordinary stress on individuals and families (and companies, too).
3. Stuff:Are all of your “things” on their last legs? Are you in a situation where your appliances, your flashlights, your office equipment, etc. are all working–but just barely. This means your pockets are gone.
4. Home, kids/family o you have any emotional, energy, and time pockets as far as your home life and family are concerned? Or, are you strained to the breaking point? Is everyone ‘on edge’?
5. Work:Regardless of whether you are self-employed or employed by another person, consider whether you have any pockets in your professional life. You know you don’t have any pockets if you feel you might snap at any point. There’s the thought that if someone gives you one more task to do…well, you fear what might happen. Or, possibly you are a manager and every one of the people working for you is less-than-qualified. You have no pocket of ‘excellence’ in your work setting. You are likely to be able to think of other areas where your work pockets have disappeared or become quite slim.
6. Health:When your health pockets are gone, then all the other pockets run the risk of disappearing altogether. If you are way behind on your sleep (and have been for weeks, months, or longer), if you have a nagging cough, ache, headache, rash, or who-knows-what-else that has been hanging on for awhile, or if you know you are ignoring your weight, cholesterol, or high blood pressure, then you are deliberately tossing away any pockets you could hope to have.
7. Energy:Your energy pockets are related to many of the other pockets on this list and at the same time, you can tend to your energy pockets in some different ways. Check and see if you feel you have an abundance of positive energy. Are you excited about your life, your projects, your relationships, getting up every day to see what might be in store for you? Or, do you feel dread and despair as you think about these aspects of your life? Ouch.  Pockets are non-existent if the latter is true.
8. Ideas:What’s your idea pocket? Are you replete with ideas or experiencing a dearth in that direction? Notice whether this is a change for you. If you used to have TONS of ideas but now have very few, think about what might have caused the change.

I hope thinking about your pockets–be they wide or narrow–is useful to you.

Tags: energy, health, plan, Productivity, schedule, stress, time-management, work

Posted on: October 13, 2009

Filed under: Educators, Entrepreneurialism, Productivity, Putting Pockets in Your Life

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