Days 10-14: Pouring the Foundation

Planning vs. Doing
It may be the biggest challenge in the life of a technology specialist.  There is a certain amount of planning that needs to take place, unless... all there is doing.  Planning takes time.  It takes effort.  It takes away from doing.  It makes the doing more effective.  I remember my early days of teaching.  I spent a lot of 'planning' time setting up templates for labels, web pages, and other 'stuff' I knew I would use on a year to year basis.  To some people, it seemed a bit insane, the amount of time I spent getting a spreadsheet set up.  However, that all change into jealousy the next year when the same task was insanely quick.  Other teachers were asking, "how did you do that so quick?"  The answer, I invested the time earlier that allowed me to be quick.

This week I have been finding the balance between getting things set up for future success and 'doing' things. As a consequence, my 'to do' list ballooned throughout the week till I began to be a bit scared of things.  I was adding things that I wanted/needed to get done on top of things that others needed done, all while trying to do things that others needed to get done.  Adding no small measure to my anxiety was the daily email delivered by my 'to do' app informing me of all that I hadn't done.  I think some programmer at Wunderlist had an evil smirk on his face as he contemplated an automated email feature that would be sent out during the middle of the night.  "Just the right way to get the morning started, with a guilt trip," he probably chuckled as that feature was added.

Well, I have news for him.  Today I had a few chunks of 30 minutes to myself and have successfully cut my list down to a manageable size.  I've even been considering 'bigger picture' tasks.  My hope is that, by getting the right foundation (planning) down, everything I end up 'doing' in the future will be much more effective.  Kind of like the gal on PBS' Antique Road Show.  "Your antique, because of it's condition, is only worth a small fortune.  BUT... if you spend a few hundred dollars on a professional restoration, it could then be worth a large fortune."

I hope to spend a small amount so my efforts will be worth the larger fortune.  I think that is a wise investment.