With Halloween just over two weeks away and the holidays of November and December soon to follow, it is time to focus on our priorities in this last quarter of 2022. It is hard to believe that we have another year about to end. If I asked you to go back to January of 2022 and review your resolutions for this year, what would you find? How successful have you been with what you had planned for this year? Perhaps you should review those, and see what is feasible to accomplish in this last quarter.

October, November, and December are busy months. The holidays of these three months add to the frenzy of our normally busy lives. Before we get caught up in the frenzy, it is good to take stock of where we are, and then to decide where we want to be at the end of the year. With only two and a half months to go in 2022, there isn’t much time. But time will pass whether we are productive with it or not. Let’s determine to not just be productive, but effective.

We all know that time is our most valuable resource. Time is the one resource that is finite. We may think that other resources are also finite, and they are, but not to the degree that time is. Take money for example. If we want or need more money and have time to do so, we can make more money. But not when there is no more time. Knowing this, we should guard and protect our time as the valuable resource that it is.

Many of my readers will recall my Three-Part-Process for Effectiveness. The main points of this are the three areas of Plan, Purge, and Perform. Perhaps a review is in order. Thinking of the end of 2022 as our focus, let’s use the Three-Part-Process for Effectiveness to structure our priorities.

Plan relates to identifying our priorities, and putting structure to them. Let’s use a simple example to best understand this. If my Plan includes being healthier at the end of 2022, I will want to be specific about what that means. One thing it can mean is exercising consistently. “Consistently” needs to have some structure. It might mean walking at least two miles a day five times a week. Healthier may also mean losing ten pounds, and maintaining that weight loss. It may also mean sleeping more and better, such as seven hours a night without interruption.

Purge refers to what we will eliminate. Using the “being healthier” plan, if we want to lose 10 pounds in two and a half months, we will need to reduce calories. We need to establish a number of calories consistent with our plan. We may also need to eliminate fried foods, sugar, and excess carbohydrates. You can add some specifics to this plan in the other areas mentioned, specifically exercise and sleep.

Perform is about operationalizing our plan. An example of Performing is “To consistently walk a minimum of five times a week at least two miles each time.” Another example is to establish a set time for going to bed and rising, consistent with being able to sleep at least seven hours a night. Performing related to our dietary changes may include becoming a Weight Watchers member and managing our weight within the identified parameters.

I chose “Being Healthier” as my plan to provide structure to the Three-Part-Process for Effectiveness for a reason related to this last quarter of the year. If we are healthy we are better able to manage the stress of this time of the year. Not only will we feel better, we will be able to accomplish more of what is important to us.

Being productive for productivity’s sake is not enough. We need to be effective, not just productive.