“Confidence & Success”
Hi! My name is Robert West. I’m “The Quiet Time Planner Guy”.
I’m the guy who helps busy, goal-oriented people schedule daily quiet time to meet with God so they can experience the joy and rest of His presence in their daily lives.
I achieve this objective with the help of an award-winning “right brain” calendar system I designed called (you guessed it), “The Quiet Time Planner™”.
The system was inspired by the response I received from a whispered prayer I offered to God for healing from a serious case of chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS) with which I was suffering.
In Part 2 of this series of posts, I shared the Eisenhower Matrix and provided a general description of the types of work that are compartmentalized and managed in each of the four quadrants.
In this post, I will examine quadrant four (Q4) of the matrix in greater detail and discuss specific types of work and priorities that fit into it.
I will also demonstrate how The Quiet Time Planner™ Matrix helps transform this quadrant into an area that can help you experience a higher level of confidence and success.
Q4: Not Urgent / Not Important
I am starting with Q4 because it is “low-hanging fruit.” It is comprised of time wasting tasks and distractions that don’t add measurable value to work and life.
Items on the list to “Delete” include:
- Busy work
- Gossip
- Excessive entertainment (e.g., watching television, playing video games, checking social media, looking at cute cat photos)
- Procrastination
- Trivia
- Eating junk food
- Multitasking
- Other miscellaneous activities that don’t help you achieve your goals
Affect Regulation / Decision Making
During my years of recovery from CFIDS and PTSD, one thing I have observed about items in the “Delete” quadrant is that I experienced some level of pleasure by doing them (except looking at cute cat photos. I am more of a dog person).
The challenges I faced in deciding to DELETE items involved some new iteration of a distraction popping up, or my battling a series of relapses. Long story short, the issue for me was more about “right brain” affect regulation than “left brain” cognitive decision making (whew!…that sure is a mouthful of words).
The brain chemistry and neural pathways behind these behaviors were challenging for me to regulate and rewire because at the time I was unaware of how they worked to hijack my brain to reward my progressive pursuit of “unworthy” goals or ideals.
Transformation: Confidence / Success
Over time, in designing The Quiet Time Planner™ Matrix, I came to realize that positioning “Goals” into Q4 helped my brain learn how to rewire itself away from its cravings for the artificial flavor and ingredients of goals substitutes.
Items on the list that are prioritized in the transformed Q4 include:
- Exercise
- Learning
- Creative thinking
- Self-Care
- Recreation
- Spiritual formation
- Healthy relationships
- Professional Development
Practical Application
When I “feel like” watching television, I recognize from where the impulse is coming and redirect the energy toward the pursuit of a “worthy” goal or ideal.
Eliminating distractions and time-wasting activities by transforming Q4 has resulted in my experiencing a higher level of confidence and success, and an improved ability to:
- Plan, prioritize, and utilize my time to achieve maximum productivity
- Increase focus and confidence
- Minimize interruptions and procrastination
- Improve self-discipline
- Reduce stress
In future posts, I will continue to examine each individual quadrant of the matrix in detail and discuss specific types of work and priorities that best fit into each.
I will also demonstrate how to use The Quiet Time Planner™ calendar system as a “right brain” scheduling tool to help you plan, prioritize, and utilize your time to achieve maximum productivity.
Robert West, The Quiet Time Planner Guy
rwest.org 