Things That Matter Most

So I've noticed for quite some time that at work, I'm getting more and more to the point where I spend my time working on the little things.  I pretty much just manage bigger projects, not actually do them.  So I spend my time either helping my team understand and work through how to do their part, or taking on some of the smaller things that I can take off of their plates so they can keep working on the big things.  In fact, I have a quote on my wall at work:

You can't motivate people to do things, you can only demotivate them.  The primary job of the manager is not to empower but to remove obstacles.  -Scott Adams

And so I spend my time removing obstacles.

Sometimes it feels unproductive.  Sometimes I still try to get work on other bigger projects done, all to no avail because I spend my time working with others on their stuff.

So I have to go back to the title of the post.  What are the things that matter most?  Am I spending my time doing the things that make the biggest difference?  Sometimes doing the small things, and removing those seemingly small obstacles is pretty important.

There are also different spheres for this discussion.  This post started out thinking about work, but the same concept applies to other areas, such as family life and spiritual things as well.  Obviously some of those spheres cross over each other.

It's an interesting exercise to take some time and consider each of those categories and prioritize your time.  Doing this will help you make sure that you're always spending your time on the things that matter most.

While I was writing this, I thought of a conference talk by President Uchtdorf a couple of years ago, "Of Things That Matter Most".  It's a fantastic talk about making sure that with all the things we have to do, we need to refocus our lives and center our attention on those things that matter most.  His conclusion, and I agree with him, is that the more we refocus our attention to these things, and just get back to the basics, the more joy we will find.

Realistically, this thought exercise makes me think I have a long ways to go before I can honestly say that I spend all my time doing the things that matter most.  Something to work on.

What do I not know?

So I was helping someone at work today. He had a process that took hours to run. I helped him trim it down to taking a matter of about 15 minutes.

Without going into any detail (because it doesn't matter), I basically showed him a feature that he wasn't aware of in the system he was using to build the process. He was happily surprised that it existed.

But it made me think...what don't I know about? What aspects of my life, job, or anything that I do, could be either easier, faster, more enjoyable, or whatever, if only I knew that [insert unknown thing here] existed? Essentially, the question is "What am I missing?"

I know that there's tons of stuff out there that I don't know. But how do I go about seeking that information without inundating myself with just that much more stuff that doesn't do anything to improve my situation?

Any thoughts? If anyone out there knows something that I'm missing, let me know.

I don't know. But at least I know that there are things that I don't know. It's a start.

Write Something!

So I was thinking about my blog.

What's that?  You forgot that I have a blog?  Yeah, me too (pretty much).  I pulled it up and noticed that the last post I published was posted on 11/15/11.  Um...so...that was a long time ago.

I have had a lot to think about over the last 14 or so months, so I thought to myself "Self, you should just write something!".  It's not like I have any excuses.  Posting to a blog is SO easy.

Anyway, so here goes.  Just a quick little glimpse into that mysterious place called "my mind".  Most recently, what's on my mind is expectations.  More specifically, expecting. Yep, you guessed it.  Although probably most people who would even read this blog already know, but we are expecting child #5 sometime around the end of June.  We don't know what gender yet.  But we can confirm, it is indeed a...baby (whew).

I'm pretty excited.  I'm not generally one to show a ton of emotion, but I am EXCITED!  It's been a while since we've had a baby around the house (5 years!!!!).  Occasionally I find myself in the company of a family member with a small baby, and although I've never really admitted it, I find that I really enjoy holding those tiny little things.  I know I can expect difficult times, too (like when the baby really doesn't like me very much, if it's anything like the other 4), but really, that stuff is so insignificant when compared to the good parts. :)

I'm sure there will be more about that in the coming months. But yeah.  SO looking forward to it.  Lots to do before that little one arrives (i.e., we haven't baby-proofed in years!).