A Task or a Tool?

I grew up in a home where each family member had an assigned list of daily chores. Maybe you had the same experience? I was one of four children and we all had our assigned responsibilities. Whether it was taking out the trash, cleaning my room, weeding the ground cover in the front yard or washing the cars on Saturday, there were always tasks to be accomplished.

We lived in a rural, country home in a sleepy little area of Southern California. Our home was surrounded by seven acres of land. As you might imagine, there was always something to be done. I remember a summer garden that demanded constant attention and various farm animals that needed to be fed and watered as well. Surrounding the home was a variety of fruit trees that provided a refreshing treat in the warm summer months. We had a private, quarter mile private road that led up to our home. Due to the size of the property, our evenings and weekends were often spent working on and around the property.

My parents tell the story that as a young child I would often hide from them on Saturday mornings, hoping to avoid the day’s line up of work projects. Clearly, the myriad of chores and other tasks were not something I was excited about. During the summer as a teenager, it was not uncommon to wake up and find a list of tasks on my bed covers. My Dad, having left early for the office, had left a list of important items for me to accomplish during the day. It was my charge to complete these tasks and then report my progress upon his return. I guess it goes without saying, but I had a far different vision of how I wanted to spend my lazy summer afternoons that he did.

I am not sure when it happen, but as I grew up I came to realize the importance of the seemingly endless supply of tasks that needed to be accomplished around our home. If the garden didn’t get watered the delicious squash and vine ripe tomatoes would never be relished. Without careful pruning, our fruit trees would not produce the apples, plums and beautiful peaches that graced our kitchen table. Of course, we couldn’t swim until the pool had been cleaned and unless the lawns were mowed, edged and planter beds weeded, hosting an evening BBQ was slim.

As an older teenager, I realized that a clean car was a fast car, so I never missed the chance to put another wax job on my latest weekend cruiser. It made the date to the movies all the more enjoyable. I began to see that all of these tasks were not really tasks at all, but helpful tools to bring about an array of enjoyable results in my life. I slowly shifted my attitude and perspective and began viewing them, not as a lengthy list of agonizing tasks, but as useful tools that could bring about pleasurable outcomes.

Suddenly the work wasn’t really work at all, but a chance to obtain a more satisfying result! When I began to shift my perspective from “task to tool” it was amazing how differently I began to view the work product in my life.

Think of all the tasks we engage each day in our professional careers, home life and in the communities we serve. It’s an amazing list of items, and yet how do most view the tasks in their lives? Consider the tremendous amount of time and effort to keep track and manage all of these pressing items. Some use simple scratch paper or post-it notes, others grease pencil scribbles on bathroom windows or for the more sophisticated we have personal electronic devices. Computers provide even more complexity with their sorting and categorizing of what matters most! But for most, the infamous yellow pad will do!

Why are we doing all this?

For what purpose do we engage all of these tasks anyway?

From my observation, most simply drone on each day with the same ole boring daily cadence and that familiar scowl that often says, “Oh, how I wish I were doing something else!” Very few have clear objectives and are often in conflict regarding the purpose and meaning for the tasks that seem to burden their lives. Most do not see the connection of how their open items relate to the big picture.

Professionally, I am a District Manager for a national insurance company. I have observed what seems to be an attitudinal disconnect with many agents between feeling forced to do a task, for example daily prospecting or marketing, with an understanding that these activities, if effectively executed, are the essential tools for producing an on-going stream of client appointments and presentations. Engaging clients is a key to practice growth and development. Without the former you do not have the latter! I have often inquired, "Are the prospecting activities begrudgingly checked off like the task to take out the trash, or are they gladly embraced tools, executed with the vision and belief that through their repetitive use, meaningful business goals can be achieved?"

I see this "task vs. tool" perspective struggle in other facets of our lives. My son Austin is an avid runner. That's him running to the left. He runs nearly 65 to 70 miles a week during cross country season. He wears out a pair of shoes every 45 days. As a high school senior and member of the varsity Cross Country and Track team, Austin runs what are called “two-a-days”. “Two a days” comprise an early 6am workout before school matched with a challenging 3pm practice after school. He is often exhausted when he returns home in the evening. I wonder sometimes how he makes it to Fridays.

Why would anyone put themselves through this exhausting and grueling process?

No one, unless of course a person had linked up the grueling schedule with a greater desire, dream or goal. A shift in attitude or perspective would be the key!

Here's the rest of the story! Austin is focused on shaving five seconds off his 800 meter time to be considered for a college athletic scholarship. He recently broke a 2002 school record for the 800 and ran the race, two times around the track, with a time of 1:59. If he can improve his time by just a few seconds, any Division One College in the country would be happy to have him. His objective is a chance to run track for his childhood dream school, Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Suddenly, with the end in mind, a BYU scholarship, a “two-a-day” mindset becomes a meaningful tool to an exciting, rewarding future rather than a meaningless, exhausting task!

The same concept can apply to other areas of our lives. Susan and I have worked to make evening family prayer a part of our routine with the kids. I grew up in a home where this practice was observed and it has blessed my life with an increased sense of meaning and accountability to a higher power. We have struggled to be consistent, but have always worked to make this a priority. I was reflecting a few days ago, “Has this been a spiritual task or a tool all these years?” There were days I probably saw it as a task, but as the kids have grown and I have seen them grow spiritually, I have realized the importance of this tool in bringing about a greater good.

So, I ask you some inquisitive questions,

• What do you want?
• What are you trying to accomplish and what ends are you trying to reach?What tools have you selected in your life to bring about these ends?
• Do you see them as meaningful tools or as begrudging tasks?
• Is an attitude adjustment or change in perspective in order?

As we pour through our endless list of tasks, let us choose wisely and select those tools that move us closer to our highest aims. As we lay hold onto an increased level of meaning and purpose in our lives and focus on what matters most, we will claim inner peace. Of this I am certain!

Down with tasks, up with tools!