Dean Rich: Setting priorities

By Dean C. Rich

A year ago I started to blog.  I met T.W. Fendley through a common online friend where we started a blog ring.  I remember replying to our friend's request with “So who all has a blog ring of power?”  The name stuck, so Teresa is a member of our Blog Ring of Power, where we interview Speculative Fiction Authors over five days on each of our blogs.

My blog, The Write Time, where I blog about writing, and Time Management with a dash of motivational thoughts. Teresa recently hosted her ZERO TIME book tour on several blogs.  I hosted part of her party. She asked if I would be willing to do a guest post on another of her many endeavors.  So I accept her gracious offer to do a guest post.

Several years ago, I started a new job as a manager. This was a huge life change for me.  Up to this point I had worked in industry as a line worker, and then moved into planning and database work. The new job took me to a new state. I found myself in a plant as a new maintenance control manager. After two weeks of working with the outgoing manager, I was running solo. I did a morning walk, and the plant manager wanted some things from me, the maintenance manager wanted something, the plant engineer wanted something, the warehouse manager had a list of issues, and my new planners needed directions. I stepped into my new office and sat down at my desk with my first list of things to do. 

However, I was feeling overwhelmed. Everyone of the aforementioned managers were important.  All were in one way or another my customers, and my bosses. I was alone, my family was back in another state, my mentor was gone, and my planners were looking to me for direction. I wasn’t sure what to do next. 

However my moment of truth was when I walked into my new office with my new job with my first list of expected things to be done. I remember standing in the doorway of my office, looking at my new desk and thinking, “Where do I start?”  “I can’t do this!”  I took a deep breath and thought, “I need a prioritized list.”

That launched me into action. I walked around and sat at my desk, opened my planner and started to write what everyone wanted. Everyone wanted something from me, and on the surface everything needed to be done now. At this point in my life I had been building lists and setting priorities. So I opened my planner and wrote down everything that everyone asked for during my walk around. Next I gave each item on the list a letter priority. A for right away, B for a bit later and C it can wait a while. Then I took all the A items and numbered them in the order they would need to be completed. Then the B list and last the C list.

I then took on A1, and began to work on that. Little by little I got things going, and was able to meet everyone’s expectations. 

Priorities, those are the most important part of managing your time and being productive.  If you spend your time on the trivial, unimportant things in life, you will always wonder why you can’t seem to get things done.  Important things are never easy.  Other things seem to crowd them out of your life.  So set your priorities, and work on the important things first.

I strive to maintain a work/life balance. I must work to earn an income, to sustain my family. However, if all I do is work, I don’t get to see my family. But that is another topic for another blog post…

Remember, what matters most? Ask that question each day and set your priorities to match that. 

Thanks for having me Teresa. I enjoyed my time here. 

Dean C. Rich is a father of five, grandfather of one. He is a General Manager of a National Quick Service Food Chain. He writes fantasy, and is currently trying to make sense out of his MS that is over in word count and in dire need of major cutting and rework. Once that is figured out, he will pursue publication in one form or another. Besides writing he enjoys his children, camping, outdoors, photography, and model building. 
  
Leave a comment to enter this week's giveaway contest for a copy of Steve Wiegenstein's SLANT OF LIGHT...and thanks for visiting The Writers' Lens.

This is T.W. Fendley--you can find me at www.twfendley.com (where I host the Blog Ring of Power interviews) and on Twitter @twfendley.