June is a great month to check in with how your year is going and make changes if you need to.  To set the stage, start clearing your mind and your to-do list of all of the little things that are bothering you. Coaching programs have long called these ”tolerations”. I see it as an audio stream in your brain; there’s always something playing. Sometimes it’s loud, sometimes you can barely hear it, but it’s always there. And the audio stream uses one kind of energy, organizing & cataloguing items, and it produces another kind of energy, related to worry, frustration and annoyance.

Here’s what to do:

1. Make a list of all the things that you are tolerating. (see the end of the post for ideas) Yes, actually make a numbered list.
2. Keep the list where you will see it DAILY. (very important, don’t mess with this one)
3. Work the list. Stop tolerating. Take action. You can either resolve a toleration, or you can decide that it’s not worth dealing with- reduce your list either way. (if you decide to kill a toleration by dropping it, you MUST stop thinking about it- if it’s still bugging you, add it back to the list)
4. Depending on the number and nature of the tolerations, set a target of eliminating a specific number each week. (10)
5. Celebrate progress, you should feel lighter and less stressed!
6. Become a Toleration Free Zone - prevent tolerations from occurring or deal with them immediately.

My personal favorite tolerations are my blog posting gaps, broken sprinkler heads, the dentist appointment I need to make, my daughter’s unwritten thank you notes, the way my neighbor’s tree is taking over my only sunny space and not calling my dad often enough.  Other ideas include not returning phone msgs and emails timely, getting a pet to the vet, fixing a non-functional shower, etc. Tolerations can be business or personal. They deal with things you do (or don’t do), conversations you need to have, steps you know you should take.  Tolerations are not projects. They should be issues or opportunities to tackle now and resolve in a short period of time.

Cleaning up the tolerations in your life will have a huge impact on your physical and mental environment. Silence the audio stream. Make room for more productive thinking and doing.  Try it. It works.

Note: Tolerations are a time management technique. I’m offering a time management teleclass starting June 16th. If you could use a jump start, check it out on the courses page!