What Went Wrong with the Mailing?

416-621-9348 cgreaves@chrisgreaves.com
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(9) When I had the bundles ready for the 5pm Monday mailing, I set them by the door assuming I’d take them with me to the 5pm bus; my change of (transport) plans (getting picked up by car at 6 p.m.) caused me to lose sight of the objective “in the mail by 5 p.m.”. So I lost another day.

Next time: When the mail is ready to go, remember that THAT is the primary focus of the day, not the celebratory-supper-and-walk-out-the-door-with-it. The heck with the supper-date arrangements.

What a mess right at the end. Picture me, delighted on Monday at 3:30 p.m. with a stack of signed, stuffed, stamped and stacked envelopes on the little table by the front door.

I was due to leave at 5 p.m. to catch a bus downtown and meet a colleague for supper. “I’ll take them with me as I go and catch the 5 p.m. collection in the plaza across the street before I board the bus”.

Then my friend issued a series of emails and phone calls changing plans. “We’ll be picking you up”, “Maybe we’ll park at your place and go together by bus”, “My daughter isn’t coming”, “My daughter is coming; I’m driving back to pick her up” and so on.

In all of this I became focused on what to wear, how much more time I had to complete an essay that I’d started, and so on, completely losing sight of the fact that a change in pick-up arrangements affected by plans for posting.

Here’s what makes sense: If the primary goal today is to Get The Envelopes Out The Door, then Get The Envelopes Out The Door!

At 3:30 p.m. I should have put on my shoes and taken 10 minutes to walk across the street and posted the letters.

Leaving them by the front door says that my primary goal of the day ahs been superseded by another goal (in this case a social outing!)

Toronto and Mississauga, Sunday, December 05, 2010 3:27 PM