|
|
This analogy was inspired by imagining a conversation with the fictional character "Monk",
from the T.V. show of that name. How could one convey to that obsessive compulsive, a better method
of managing his resources? What I came up with was the following:
Imagine that you have a bucket. Now, we're going to fill that bucket with water. The water represents
all the effort you're capable of putting out in one day's time. Forget all the motivational propaganda
about "110%", diggging down into your hidden strengths and resources, and all that garbage.
If you had more to devote, then you didn't have 100% to begin with; i.e., your estimate of your available
energy and resources was wrong. So, the water in the bucket represents all the efforts you're
capable of putting out in one day's time.
Now, imagine there's a spout near the bottom of the bucket, on the outer side of the bucket, and a
valve you can turn by hand (like a spigot handle or knob; it doesn't matter which). When you open that
valve, the water flows out. When you close that valve, the water stops. If you're not careful closing it,
it might continue releasing water in a trickle, or perhaps just a drip. If you don't open it far enough,
then you might not get enough water coming out to do what you intended.
Imagine a second device. This device will be like a little waterwheel; like the wheel they put on the sides
of mills to gather power from a flowing stream for the sake of grinding wheat. The axle is connected to a
pulley system that converts the power for doing some useful task (yes, like grinding wheat, for example).
The waterwheel represents all your learned skills, regarding applying your energies.
Now, imagine that you've got a box. Inside the box are a huge variety of accessories you can attach to the
axle of the waterwheel. (An example, might be a drill accessory, or a grinding wheel. )The accessories
represent all the things you've learned how to do; all the tasks you've learned the procedures for performing.
Okay - you've got your bucket, filled with water. You've got your little waterwheel for converting the
flow of water into useful force. You've got your box of accessories you can attach to the waterwheel's
axle, for adapting the useful force to achieve some particular task. Now, imagine that you're in a room.
The room is a type of workshop. On the walls of the room are shelves. On the shelves, are supplies for
making stuff. There are small unfinished projects on the shelves also, and some larger ones on the floor.
There's a large table. You can adjust the legs, to make the surface level higher or lower to get a good
height for doing work on. Any time you work on something, it has to be on the table. You only have this
one room for working in. When a project is finished, you're supposed to send it out through the door;
after that, the finished project is gone. The projects represent the possible tasks you can perform.
Examples might be taking out the garbage when the bag gets full, making the bed, studying math,
practicing your guitar, or watching the leaves drift down off the trees. Each of those examples is an
endeavor; a task your time and effort could possibly be applied toward achieving. So, the projects in the
workshop room represent all the tasks you've decided to apply your time and effort; your energies, toward
achieving.
Now, the stage is set. You're standing in your workshop with your bucket, your waterwheel, your box of
accessories, your table, your shelves, your supplies, your unfinished projects - and, what are you going
to do? It's your choice. You're the person in charge of designing the specifications for each of the
projects; i.e., how big, what shape, what materials, etc. You're also the person in charge of scheduling
the work, saying what gets done and when. You're in charge, despite the fact that there are bossy people
who show up now and then to try to tell you what to do. You're the real boss - what gets done, in
what manner, and when is what you decide.
Each morning, when you wake up and go into the workshop, you find that the bucket has been refilled by
the brownies. Unfortunately, these are rather lazy brownies that rarely do any useful work for the sake
of completing your unfinished projects - but, they do fill the bucket without fail. At least, in that,
they're completely reliable. They only show up at night, while you're sleeping, and there's absolutely
no way to catch them at it; if you try, they don't show up, and the bucket doesn't get refilled - which
results in your not being able to do the work you would have otherwise been able to do during the next
work day - so, you just accept it. Some days, there's more water in the bucket than others. Some days,
there's less. You work with what you get, and try to guess how much you can do with your future buckets;
one bucket per day, for each of the 365 days in a year.
And, for the moment, that's all I have available for saying about "Yer Daily Bucket".
IN CONCLUSION
I hope you've enjoyed my little discussion about "Yer Daily Bucket".
If I discover at some point that I've got more to say about it, I'll add it onto this page.
~~~
Scruffy Eagle
~~~
|
|
|
|
|
|