I read a great post by Seth Godin earlier this year; in it he said if something is important, you create a system for it.
Right after I read that blog post, there was a morning when I got my son to school late. I realized we didn’t really have a good system for getting to school on time—or we had one, but we’d stopped following it. I think it all fell apart after winter break.
I decided I wanted our school mornings to go smoother, and I definitely wanted my son to be on time for school, so my son and I brainstormed ways to make the mornings easier and we came up with a list of things we were both willing to do. One of the best ideas we came up with was to make a list that is taped to the door where my son will see it before he leaves the house every morning.
The list says: Did you do? And there’s a list with check-boxes (eat breakfast, brush your teeth, etc.) After that, there’s a section that says: Do you have? With more check boxes (your lunch, your gear bag, etc.)
We also decided he’d make his lunch the night before but that never really happened. So we tweaked the system. We are usually both up early—our problem is not having enough time in the morning, it’s deciding to put down the book or the toy in time to get the lunch made (the beds made, the dishwasher emptied, etc.)
I made the commitment to get myself ready and do all the things I need to do before picking up a book or doing something else that is a distraction when we are trying to get out the door. My son likes to do things he can do with one hand, like brush his teeth, with a book in his hand. I know where he got this habit—from me. So I had to stop doing it, at least on school mornings! Then I can say to him, “What else do you need to do to get ready?”
This question, which my husband started asking my son, has been a key to the system. My son doesn’t respond well to commands (Who does?) but he is generally happy to answer questions. Once he answers the question, he usually heads off to do whatever he said he needs to do.
The “system” we implemented got us through the rest of the school year on time and with little stress and it helped me see how important systems are in our day-to-day lives.
This particular system includes behaviors, a list, and a question. And it works.
It’s expanded my idea of what a system is. Now whenever something important isn’t going well, I ask myself what the system is for this important thing. Often, the answer is: “There is no system.”
Good to know. Now I can begin to create a system that will help this important thing happen.
What’s important to you? Do you have a system in place that supports your priorities?