Considering the Return of the VAP

I admit that I am both a list person and NOT a list person at the same time.  Tammy might initially laugh at this statement - until she thinks about it a bit.  I'm the kind of person that starts to bog down if I am carrying too much of a list in my head.  So, I find a "big idea" list session to be a way to do two things.

1. get stuff OUT of my head so I have space to work

and, 2. rapidly become dismayed by how much isn't getting done - which fills my head-space right back up.

The hope is that it is a little less full than it was before I started.  The alternative is to keep growing my hair out longer to make more room for my brain.

When we had more workers on the farm, a daily list or plan was important and we would often put it on the "Chalk Door."  I would also create a daily VAP (Very Ambitious Plan) on a designated note pad so I could prioritize what was going to happen each day.  It was a big enough deal that I actually have multiple VAP related blogs!  This would also serve as a good way to do some record keeping.  A simple check mark next to an item made it clear that the task was done on that day.  And, I could use the margins for other notes if I needed to.

A daily list is completely different from a "big ideas" list because you have to try to keep that list to what could OPTIMISTICALLY be done.  And, when I had more people to manage, that might include alternative items if weather or some other factor prevented us from doing some of the planned activities.  So, in practice, there were always things left over that did not get done.  I don't think I ever completed a VAP over many years creating them.

I will admit that a VAP was quite useful, and it was often motivating.  However, it took time and energy to make them.  That meant, when the workers left for school or jobs in the Fall, I typically would fall off of the VAP-making wagon, so to speak.

I wonder if a VAP wagon would look like this?

Anyway, the difficult thing about VAPs is that I need to find time at the beginning and/or end of the day to make them.  The beginning of the day can be difficult because there are daily things you just want to get done.  Things like... waking up.  Feeding the birds.  Walking through the shower.  Going back because you forgot to rinse off.  You know.  The important stuff.

The end of the day is an energy issue.  I survived the day that was.... am I sure I want to spend time before I try to go to sleep thinking about all of the things I should do tomorrow?

Sadly, the answer is typically "no."  But, the production of daily VAPs (or maybe a two-day VAP as a compromise) might be the solution I need to unbury from the long mental list of responsibilities and tasks that I need to do.  

Yep.  Solve the problem by adding "make VAP" to the list.  It's just one more thing.  Why not?

Have a great day everyone!  And good look with your own, personal, VAP.