What's the Big Idea?

When you're worried and you can't sleep
Count your blessings instead of sheep.

When your focus is on every day, menial tasks, it is easy to get overwhelmed and restless. Taking the time to refocus on your personal mission, vision and goals will recenter your thoughts and efforts and make the menial tasks meaningful again.

Yesterday I got stuck in the menial. I was working feverishly to build a course for an instructor, very much involved on an application level to create documents and upload files and construct an attractive look and feel. On occasion, this is refreshing, yesterday it was exhausting.

I only felt refreshed when my boss began discussing the mission, vision and goals of our department, and creating a big picture of my purpose in the organization again. :D He didn't know he was doing this. He was just working on some of his own work projects, but by including me in his thought processes and asking my feedback, it expanded my view from the everyday menial tasks to that of the bigger picture.

A good friend helped me learn this concept. We used to work together, and one or the other of us would get restless, and we'd go for a walk. Just spending a few minutes looking at the mountains or a large building-- anything with space, would help to bring the focus back to my work so that I could get those things done that were imperitive to the success of my work.

Funny how I have to get "stuck" to remember the concept and put it into practice.