Everybody is busy. Sometimes that whirl of responsibilities and deadlines we all face is like a tornado roaring through our daily life, sucking up all the good things and leaving behind only huge piles of half-done to do lists, overstuffed email boxes, and a feeling that the only way to get things done is work harder and harder with less and less time off for good behavior. That’s not a good way to live but it’s easy to fall into the all work and no play pattern without realizing it.
I have a great job but if I let it, it will relentlessly absorb large portions of my free time, leaving me only a few hours here and there for miscellaneous chores like doing the laundry, paying the bills, buying the groceries. And writing - where’s the time for that? Lately, it seems that life balance is an unattainable goal.
That life balance thing is a killer.
The demands of life are not going to subside. What can change is our willingness to set aside the things that give us the greatest joy in an effort to respond to those other demands.
How to do it?
- Stop and think before plunging into the urgent task. Is it really urgent or can it take a number? The urgent task is a bully. It shoves aside everything else and screams to get done. I notice that more and more tasks are coming to me these days as urgent. I think I’m getting scammed. I’m going to try not to buy into the everything-that-seems-urgent-is-urgent mindset anymore.
- Be honest with yourself. It’s disturbing to realize that some tasks would label themselves as Do Whenever but I’m not happy until I’ve relabeled them Imperative. I believe sometimes I scam myself. I have to cut that out.
- Don't forget what's important. I'm going to keep reminding myself that the truly urgent task for me is writing. It’s the key to my immediate happiness and my long-term goals. It can't fall off the list and if it does, I need to stick it right back on again.
- Enlist the aid of others. If I can’t always remember what's truly important in the midst of the fray, I have friends and family to help me along the way. I must grab hold of that encouragement.
Every day my son asks me, “Are you writing today?” I answer no more than yes. I am beginning to realize that I will do everything better if I change that answer up - if the answer is yes more often than no; if maybe the answer is yes every single day.
I think I can make that happen. I think I have to make it happen. I think you should too - with whatever it is that you've been letting slide in the name of getting things done.
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