I grew up on a farm and as early as 5 years old, I would often hang out with my father as he did chores in the barn. Even at that young age, I had some chores to do as well. Just part of being a farm family.
One day, I noticed that my Dad had his cap on backwards with the brim in the back. This was a long time before kids started wearing their caps this way and I asked him why he had his hat on backward. And he explained.
One of the many tasks he had to do each evening was fill the watering tubs that were for the bull and another for the two horses we had. These were quite large and took some time to fill with a hose. When my father would turn on the water he would turn his cap around and turn it back the right way when he later turned the water off.
That way, if he were to forget to turn off the water, when he got back to the house and reached for his cap brim, he would know the water was still running. If so, he would go back to the barn, turn the water off and prevent a small flood.
I now look back on that small and simple habit as being my introduction to having a SYSTEM for things. And about 20 years ago, I came up with an acronym for systems because I realized how important they are in making our lives, our homes and our business run more smoothly.
That acronym is . . .
Save
Yourself
Substantial
Time
Energy
Money and
Stress
And they don’t need to be elaborate. A checklist is a system. A recipe or an owner’s manual can be part of a system. The important thing is to have them. And that way our minds can be used more creatively rather than memorizing things or re-inventing a new way each time we do things.
What are your systems? What can you set up to make things easier? What reminders can you set up in your phone or calendar that will keep you from missing things?
We all have tools to make life easier, better and more convenient. Are we using them as well as we could? I urge you to look for things you can systematize, organize, delegate or automate to make your life run more smoothly and with less effort. That’s another of my acronyms: SODA.
Systematize
Organize
Delegate or
Automate
If you make just one thing better every day, you’ll see a substantial improvement in your efficiency and efficacy. Even one a week can be life-changing.
Best Life Strategy: SYSTEMS – Save Yourself Substantial Time, Energy, Money and Stress.
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This article was originally published on SuccessNet.org in July of 2019.
