Self-ORGANIZATION

    

 Chapter 8

Self-ORGANIZATION

Construction Stage 1.4   Obtaining Approvals and Permits

SAL Model Stage 1.2   Self-Organization

Benjamin Franklin
1706-1790

"For every minute spent in organizing,

an hour is earned."

—Benjamin Franklin

Self-organization is the SAL equivalent of a construction company obtaining approvals and permits in the building process. Without proper municipal and other civic permissions, a skyscraper cannot legally be built.

Disorganized construction companies who fail to get their proverbial "ducks-in-a-row" with regards to these approvals and permits, may incur scheduling delays, lawsuits, tickets, fines, penalties, and other preventable obstacles. 

These approvals and permits are obtained from governing bodies, regulatory agencies, zoning boards, and other municipal and civic organizations. In preparation to secure these permits and approvals, information must be gathered about laws, regulations, permitting requirements, points of contact, and deadlines. 

Oftentimes, this process can be complicated and time-consuming. Completing it requires a high level of corporate cooperation and individual ORGANIZATION. Similarly, every other element of the construction process requires a high degree of organizational skills if the work is to be completed both effectively and efficiently.  

Likewise, an important part of building YOUR life as a self-action leader involves organizing your thoughts, speech, actions, personal space, relationships, values, vision, goals, etc. The more organized you are, the more efficient, effective, and focused you will be. 

With Benjamin Franklin's above-mentioned quote in mind, and despite any hyperbole involved in a literal interpretation of that quote, Franklin makes the important point that reserving time up-front to get organized can save you time—and by extension, effort, hassles, and headaches—later on. 

A key component of self-organization involves striving to develop the habits and patterns of thought, speech, and behavior that will bring about the positive, long-term benefits you are aiming at and striving toward in your life and career. 

It's relatively easy to brainstorm what you'd like to accomplish and who you'd like to eventually become. It's NOT so easy to actually realize those visions and goals. In coming chapters, we will provide you with some concrete tools that will assist and empower you in these brainstorming and self-organizing processes.

Organizing through Simplifying

Organizing your life as a self-action leader involves more than ridding your desktop (literal and virtual) and environment of clutter and disorder. It also goes beyond collating files, number- or color-coding records, and aligning other materials. Lastly, it extends past conscientious calendaring, task-list making, and note-taking.

While all of these exercises are beneficial and useful organizing techniques, organization as a self-action leader is a deeper and more holistic exercise that involves simplifying your life and career as a whole.

The purpose of this Life Leadership textbook is not so much to provide you with specific time management techniques or life organization tips. Our primary purpose, rather, is to teach sound principles that can serve as guides and touchstones to which you can then add specific organizational tools on your own, based on your unique individual needs.  

The idea of simplifying your life may sound simple; and in theory it is. But that does not necessarily make it easy in actual practice. The "Big Rocks" (1) involved in self-organization have little to do with tools and techniques and much more to do with direction, habits, patterns, relationships, standards, vision—and most importantly, True Principles rooted in Universal Laws. 

Simplifying all begins with gaining clarity of your long-term direction and pathway in life. 

We will provide you with some concrete tools to achieve this clarity and simplification in later chapters that discuss the drawing up of existential blueprints. 

The relationship component of the SAL Model was covered in Chapter 5, but it's worth adding here that simplifying your relationships involves knowing when to say "No"—and then doing so with courage and confidence. In more serious or toxic situations, you may need to cut off a relationship entirely and terminate it for good. 

Another element of getting personally organized through simplifying involves getting rid of unnecessary material things (aka: stuff). We live in a highly materialistic world where the acquisition of things can easily become a burden and induce preventable stress. Self-action leaders continually look for ways to simplify their lives by unburdening themselves of unnecessary stuff (literal and metaphorical). 

Don't get the wrong idea here...

Freedom Focused is not asking you to become an ascetic monk or hermit, move away to the mountains, and live off the land. Quite to the contrary, we encourage all self-action leaders to live in society where they can both benefit from and bless other people through mutual service and sociality.  

We simply encourage you seek to simplify your life in practical and reasonable ways by honestly evaluating what you currently have and balancing it with what you genuinely need and/or authentically want. As you do so, you may discover a variety of ways in which you could simplify your life that will actually enrich your life and relationships.

In the midst of this simplification process, you may even discover that less is often more when it comes to material possessions.

There are few better feelings in life or work than the feeling of being ORGANIZED.

Self-action leaders are organized people.   

So, start organizing your own relationships, schedule, and life today!

In Your Journal

• How organized are you in terms of your life's overall direction and pathway?

• What is something you could do TODAY to be more organized in this area of your life?

• How organized are you in terms of simplifying your schedule and acquisition of material things?

• What is something you could do TODAY to be more organized in this area of your life?

• How organized are you in terms of keeping a tidy and uncluttered work and living space and environment? 

• What is something you could do TODAY to be more organized in this area of your life?  

 

—Dr. JJ

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 434th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013 and the 240th consecutive weekly blog published since August 31, 2020.   

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 433 FF Blog Articles 

Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL QUOTES  

Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL POEMS   

Click HERE to access the FULL TEXT of Dr. JJ's Psalms of Life: A Poetry Collection

Click HERE for a complete listing of Self-Action Leadership Articles

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Click HERE for a complete listing of Biographical & Historical Articles

Click HERE for a complete listing of Current Events, Cultural, Philosophical, & Miscellaneous Articles

Click HERE for a complete listing of Dr. JJ's Autobiographical Articles

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Tune in NEXT Wednesday for another article on a Self-Action Leadership related topic.  

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Chapter 8 Notes

1.  “Big Rocks” refer to the most important activities or objectives in your life, career, etc. The metaphor comes from a famous FrankinCovey object lesson where one attempts to fit as many rocks, gravel, pebbles, sand, and water into a jar as possible. The way to maximize the total capacity of the jar is to put the big rocks in first, followed by the gravel, pebbles, sand, and water. If you try to accomplish the same objective by reversing or otherwise reordering the steps, you won’t have enough room to fit all of your “Big Rocks” (main priorities).

Covey, S. R., Merrill, A. R., and Merrill, R.R. (1994). First Things First. New York, NY: Fireside. Page 88-90.

Dr. JJ's Rule #12: The Wise Use of Time & Money

Your use of time & money
determines your CHARACTER

In a previous article, Dr. JJ's 13 Rules for Living were shared.

Click HERE to access JJ's 13 Rules.

This week's blog post addresses Dr. JJ's RULE #12, which states:

Spend all my TIME and MONEY on things that will either directly or indirectly contribute to the acquisition of wisdom and Existential Growth, the accumulation of worthy experiences, memories and relationships, and the proactive pursuit of meaningful service to others.  

Wisdom is the intelligent application of knowledge

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.  

—Proverbs 4:7

In the Good Book, it reads: "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Another way to posture this principle is: "Where your treasure is, there will your time (and expenditures) be also."

The way you spend and/or save money speaks volumes about what and who is most important to YOU. It also says a lot about the value you place on the short-run versus the long-run of your life and career.  

You cannot save time. It is always on the move
You must constantly choose how you will spend it.

The same can be said about how you spend your TIME.  

Time is arguably the most valuable commodity to which any of us has access in this life. Time is also a great equalizer in the sense that each of us is allotted the exact same amount of time each day—24 hours—not a second more and not a second less. It doesn't matter who you are (or aren't), how much money you have (or don't have), or what other privileges you are blessed with (or not), EVERYONE gets the same amount of time to spend each day.

The question is not whether you have time; we all do. The question is: how are you choosing to spend your time?

America's first great time management expert—Benjamin Franklin—famously wrote: "Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that's the stuff life is made of."

Benjamin Franklin—and Founding Father—of the United States
had many wise things to say about how to spend both time & money.

"Dost thou love life? 

Then do not squander time; for that's the stuff life is made of." 

—Benjamin Franklin

To illustrate and illuminate the power and value of time, consider the following...

Everyone who has ever lived in this world has accomplished what they did and became who they were because of the way in which they chose to use their time. And while time expenditure alone is not the only variable impacting the results we obtain in life, it is, without any doubt or question, a key component and driving impetus for all RESULTS. Moreover, an argument can be made that it is, without any doubt or question, the most important variable in the sense that it is the only variable over which we have direct, significant, and lasting control.  

The use of time is akin to the use of money. The ways in which you choose to spend and invest money will determine the proliferation or atrophy of your financial portfolio over time. Similarly, the ways in which you choose to spend and invest your time will determine the proliferation or atrophy of your personal and professional happiness, peace, success, and growth over time. 

Consequently, self-action leaders are as careful and conscientious with their time as they are with their money—if not more so. They further recognize that their allotments of time in this life and world are finite—and that unlike money or other material possessions, lost (wasted) time can never be retrieved. As such, each moment really is precious.

Rule #12 is designed to serve as a personal cue to use my own time wisely. It further serves as a reminder of what matters most to me in my life, namely: the continual nurturance of positive interpersonal relationship and the never-ending quest after personal knowledge, wisdom, capacity, growth, and inner peace. Staying laser-focused on these life objectives empowers me to go where I want to go and become who and what I most desire in the long run.

Life and Career Management begin with Time Management

I invite you to read the following questions and then thoughtfully reflect on the answers as they relate to your own life and career.  

• How are you currently spending your time (and money)?

• Are your present expenditures of time (and money) consistently aligned with your deepest-held values and goals?

• In what ways is your current use of time (and money) contributing to future growth and happiness?

• In what ways is your current use of time (and money) contributing to preventable illness, calamity, and pain down the road?

• How is your current use of time (and money) helping your relationships?

• How is your current use of time (and money) hindering your relationships?

• In what ways do you waste time (and money)?

• What could you do beginning TODAY to start using your precious allotment of time (and money) more wisely?

NOTE: This article is the 14th in a series of 22 articles on the subject of LIFE RULES.

Click HERE to access quick links to the other 21 articles.   

—Dr. JJ

December 29, 2021

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 245thBlog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013. 

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 244 FF Blog Articles.  

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Tune in NEXT Wednesday for another article on a Self-Action Leadership related topic.  

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Timely Advice about Social Media Use from the Father of Time Management

What does the FATHER OF TIME MANAGEMENT have to say about social media use and human productivity?

Hyrum W. Smith

"Much of the time we spend on Social Media is incredibly destructive to human productivity."

- Hyrum W. Smith

Hyrum W. Smith, Co-Founder of FranklinCovey, is sometimes referred to as The Father of Time Management.  As an originator of the world famous Franklin Day Planning system, Smith has trained hundreds of thousands of business professionals all over the world to become more productive and effective in an effort to generate professional success, strengthen relationships, and obtain inner peace.

While a LOT has changed about our world in the past 32 years, one thing remains the same, and that is the existence of Natural Laws in our world and Universe.  Some Natural Laws are physical in nature and govern naturally occurring forces (e.g., gravity, torque, entropy, etc.).  Other Natural Laws are metaphysical in nature and govern consequences related to human thoughts and behavior.

Over two decades ago, Hyrum W. Smith published a best-selling book called The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time & Life Management.  The book sold over one million copies and helped countless individuals (including me -- I read the book back in 1998) become more productive and effective human beings and business professionals.

In a recent interview with Hyrum for an academic project I am working on, I asked Hyrum if there was anything he would change about that book based on his experiences and lessons learned over the past 21 years.  His answer: Not really.  Why?  Because according to Hyrum, nothing has changed over the last 6,000 years about metaphysical natural laws of human productivity and effectiveness.

What has changed?  According to Hyrum, the tools with which we plan our day have changed and will continue to do so with increasing speed, but the principles of effective time management and life leadership have not, nor will they ever change.

As such, he has some timely advice for all of us -- and especially the Millennial Generation -- about how we can be more productive and effective at work and at home, and his advice deals with our use of SOCIAL MEDIA.  According to Hyrum:

"I think social media is probably one of the biggest deterrents to human productivity on the Planet right now.  This is not to say it is all bad.  Clearly it is a two-edged sword.  For example, because of the Internet we can get things done faster and communicate better.  The problem lies with the enticement--the seductive nature of social media which pulls us into avenues of activity that have nothing to do with being productive workers, loving family members, or effective human beings.  Because people allow themselves to get pulled into counterproductive activities on social media, they collectively waste billions of hours every single day all over the Planet.  Posting too often on facebook and instagram, et cetera, can be a horrible waste of time.  If I could get Millennials to do one thing, I would reduce the amount of time they fool around with social medial to less than 30 minutes a day.  Right now they spend hours a day and it’s unbelievably destructive to human productivity." 

So there you have it folks...  While social media can be a wonderful enhancer to relationships and productivity (after all, I am utilizing social medial to proliferate this message about productivity), it can also be a great destroyer of the same.  I invite you to join Hyrum and me in carefully evaluating how much time you spend each day on social media, and then determine whether your social media activities are contributing to, or diminishing, your personal and professional productivity.  

To learn more about Hyrum's latest thinking on TIME MANAGEMENT, I encourage you to check out his new book: The 3 Gaps.  In this new book, Hyrum spells out the three gaps we often find in our lives: 1). The Belief Gap  2). The Time Gap  3). The Value Gap.  The reward for closing these three gaps in your life is the priceless treasure of Inner Peace.  Check out this book to learn what you can do beginning today to close the gaps in your own life to achieve Inner Peace. 

Click HERE to buy The 3 Gaps  

Click HERE to learn about 3 Gaps Training