Are you more "big picture" or "present moment"?

Video -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ULlh-B35uY



Determine this to help you become more efficient during your day.

1. Your strength is one of the two.

  • Big picture focused
You enjoy themes, theory, the meaning behind things, forecasting the future, possibilities, brainstorming, likelihoods, what could be, concepts. You might not even notice the color on the walls or how food tastes in a restaurant, as you're absorbed in noticing the overall gist. Tend to talk about concepts or overall big pictures, "Their house was upscale, with a spacious layout." Stressed when have to focus on needed daily practical tasks.
  • Present moment focused
You enjoy working with tangibles, things happening today, action-oriented, detail-focused, right now, the five senses, good memory for detail and facts. Practical. Notice the detail of a restaurant -- the color of the walls, the material of the table, etc. Tends to discuss "real" things, or to mention the layout of a room "Their kitchen was here, the table here, the cupboards were just above, etc." Stressed when have to plan for the distant future.

2. Craft your work day to include as many tasks as possible that fall into your strength category.

Example:

Big picture tasks -- forecasting what may happen/is likely to happen with a business, brainstorming new marketing ideas, looking at big picture objectives, deciding which tasks are most important, thinking about what types of objects may need to be moved around, getting a quick, general feel for data, thinking about what went wrong last year and how to improve that this year, deciding what fire fighters need to be most focused on this year.

Present-moment tasks -- action, preparing a report, stock market trading, actually completing tasks, moving objects around, organizing, plowing through data and detail, implementing changes, filling out tax forms, working to get it done today, doing things one step at a time, fighting a fire.

3. Outsource the rest if possible. Or, if you must do tasks that don't fall into your strength area (as most of us do), then realize you will need to suck it up and just get it done. This is an exercise in discipline.

4. The goal? How can you change your work life to use MORE of your strengths? And LESS of your weakness?

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