Time Management Tips – Setting Priorities to Change Your Life
By Peter Turla, timeman.com
As a former rocket scientist, I find this quote to be very inspiring: “If humankind could spend just a fraction of the countless millions of dollars and millions of hours we spend trying to predict the future, instead on imagining preferred future options together, we’d be living in a different world.” – Ed Lindaman, Director of Program Planning, Apollo Spacecraft Project.
Lindaman is referring to a technique called “Backcasting.” It can be a useful way to gain insight into what your top priorities should be today.
Try it out right now. Think of some important aspect of your future where you’d like to gain a better sense of direction. Rather than forecasting from today’s trends, picture what your ideal situation would look like if you could have it any way that you wanted, in other words, imagine a preferred future option.
Now pretend you’re in that ideal situation. Where are you, what is going on, what are you doing?
Look back to the present from that preferred future point of view and ask, “What significant steps would have to have happened to get from there to where I am now in my ideal future?”
When you write those steps down and set priorities on them, you’ll have your action plan for building a successful future for yourself.
Which priorities will have been the most significant for you to have accomplished to achieve your ideal week, month, year, and life?
“Backcasting” one week from now? ………………………………………………..
“Backcasting” one month from now? ………………………………………………..
“Backcasting” one year from now? ………………………………………………..
“Backcasting” five years from now? ………………………………………………..
“Backcasting” from near the end of your life? …………………………………….
“First say to yourself what you would be; and then what you would have to do.” – Epictetus
You may copy, reprint or forward all or part of this Time Tips article to friends, colleagues or customers,
as long as you credit the information to Peter “The Time Man” Turla, TimeMan.com
