Sharpening the saw means I take care of myself through quadrant two activities that support me in self-renewal practices such as recreation, relationship building, reading for enjoyment, spending time with my nephew, family and friends, planning my week out to reduce stress and anxiety in the long run, taking time to relax and visualize my goals and desired outcomes. Engaging in activities that make me stronger as a leader, as a teacher, as an aunt, as a sister, as a daughter, as a friend, as a colleague, as a mentor, etc. so that I am that much more empowered to serve effectively in whatever role I find myself at the moment. Taking time to sharpen the saw helps me deposit into people's emotional bank accounts, rather than dip into them, resulting in my ability to expand my sphere of influence. Sharpening the saw allows me to to focus on what is important so that I don't spend valuable time on quadrant 1, 3 or 4. Sharpening the saw should be in alignment to my personal mission statement and bring me closer to my goals and not interfere with my ability to continue working towards them.
A behavioral change I intend to make involves sharpening the saw with a purpose so that I do remain in quadrant 2 while sharpening the saw and I don't accidentally somehow end up in quadrant 4, which is so easy to do during winter and summer breaks. It does not happen as often now that I have a lot more responsibilities because it just would not be responsible of me, however, reflecting on my younger years, it is possible I may have spent lots of time in quadrant 4, but I enjoyed it! Now that I am aware of habit 7 and how to apply it to my life, I intend to pay more attention to how I sharpen the saw by asking myself, "Is it helping me relax? Is it in alignment with my personal mission statement and my goals? Is it helping make me a better person? If not, then I will not engage in such activities that will only take me away from what I am trying to accomplish. Sharpening the saw should inspire, renew, and refresh me!
I intend to teach my students how to purposefully sharpen the saw by having them create a list of things they like to do for fun. Then I will have them reread their personal mission statement that they created in the last few weeks. After they have reread their personal mission statement, I will ask them to circle those things from their list that are in direct alignment with their personal mission statement. They will examine and reflect on how the circled activities are different from the activities they did not circle. I will explain to them that since the circled activities are in direct alignment with their personal mission statement, those are probably activities that help them stay in quadrant 2. We will also write on post-it notes some activities that actually help us sharpen the saw and some activities that sometimes get confused with sharpening the saw, but in reality are time-wasting, or task-avoidance, activities. We will create a t-chart which will include two columns: Sharpening the Saw and Time-Wasting Activities. Then we will post the post-it notes under the correct heading. This activity will help me teach my students the difference between sharpening the saw and just wasting time.
A behavioral change I intend to make involves sharpening the saw with a purpose so that I do remain in quadrant 2 while sharpening the saw and I don't accidentally somehow end up in quadrant 4, which is so easy to do during winter and summer breaks. It does not happen as often now that I have a lot more responsibilities because it just would not be responsible of me, however, reflecting on my younger years, it is possible I may have spent lots of time in quadrant 4, but I enjoyed it! Now that I am aware of habit 7 and how to apply it to my life, I intend to pay more attention to how I sharpen the saw by asking myself, "Is it helping me relax? Is it in alignment with my personal mission statement and my goals? Is it helping make me a better person? If not, then I will not engage in such activities that will only take me away from what I am trying to accomplish. Sharpening the saw should inspire, renew, and refresh me!
I intend to teach my students how to purposefully sharpen the saw by having them create a list of things they like to do for fun. Then I will have them reread their personal mission statement that they created in the last few weeks. After they have reread their personal mission statement, I will ask them to circle those things from their list that are in direct alignment with their personal mission statement. They will examine and reflect on how the circled activities are different from the activities they did not circle. I will explain to them that since the circled activities are in direct alignment with their personal mission statement, those are probably activities that help them stay in quadrant 2. We will also write on post-it notes some activities that actually help us sharpen the saw and some activities that sometimes get confused with sharpening the saw, but in reality are time-wasting, or task-avoidance, activities. We will create a t-chart which will include two columns: Sharpening the Saw and Time-Wasting Activities. Then we will post the post-it notes under the correct heading. This activity will help me teach my students the difference between sharpening the saw and just wasting time.