Day #73 - Interest

The 2nd part of Wednesday's presentation was about being interested in your life and how important it is to be curious about people in the sales environment. The more I think about the presentation the more I think the "maybe syndrome" is just another part of the "interest issue". It all has to do with really living in present time and not allowing your mind to be engaged elsewhere when talking/interacting with others.

We live in a time where there are so many distractions. Since my husband and I got the new Samsung 3G phones it is impossible not to feel dismissed when that light blinks on the phone and an "important" alert is blinking at your loved one...OMG, someone posted a new photo on facebook...must...look...now. We both do it to each other and it is SUPER irritating. We are not alone...this is the new world; total distraction, but only 100% of the time.

We were asked to make a list of everything we do in our lives that do NOT interest us. My list looks something like this:

* Cleaning
* Paying bills, or more specifically writing checks for bills
* Preparing taxes
* Data Entry (certain kinds)
* Invoicing

I'm sure there are more, but this was what I came up with quickly. The next step in the project is to get rid of the things in our lives that do not interest us. The first thing I see I can take off the list right away is 'paying bills'. If I engage a little time and effort into setting up the last 3 or 4 bills I pay with checks each month on an automatic bill pay system through my bank, this item disappears and I will no longer need to take the time to do something that does not interest me and, instead, focus on those things that do.

Another item, 'cleaning', has been on my list for years. I work full time and it takes me about 4 hours on the weekend to pick-up, dust, vacuum, scrub bathrooms, deep clean the kitchen, and an additional hour or more to do the floors, add to that the laundry and just about 1 full day of my weekend is gone. When we first moved to this house I made a serious effort to do everything once per week - that only lasted a few months.

Now I skip the floors more than I should and I wash the clothes, but don't fold them or I just do a 'pretty good' wipe down of the oven when I should take the thing apart and degrease the burners. I very rarely do the deep cleaning I want to do (blinds, ceiling fans, windows, grout, shower) because I am beat by the time the weekly stuff gets done. I change my sheets every other week (probably should change them weekly, but this is something I loathe doing even though it only takes a few minutes). Recently I missed the 'other' week and I thought almost every morning, "ok, tonight when I get home I will change my sheets" - it didn't happen, but it was on the periphery of my mind all week long. This is a distraction that clutters my ability to really focus in present time. 

So, to get 'rid' of this overwhelming weekly chore I want to look at hiring a service to tackle some of the deep cleaning stuff I can't seem to get to. Wouldn't it be great if someone came in twice a month and did the things I don't have time to do? The trick is - can I afford it and, if I can't, what can I do to make it so I CAN afford it? I think the whole idea is, if we spend the bulk of our time on the things that interest us, instead of worrying about the things that don't interest us, we will be more fruitful in all aspects of our lives because we will be fully present in our business and personal dealings.

I don't know if I have been able to convey the concept clearly or if I am just talking in circles, but I can see the value in considering the idea and at least experimenting with it.

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "Dreaming. -- Either one does not dream at all, or one dreams in an interesting manner. One must learn to be awake in the same fashion: -- either not at all, or in an interesting manner.” --Friedrich Nietzsche