There’s a very good chance that you’re a busy person. I know this, because you have a pulse. We all have more to do in the average day than we have hours available, and (despite wishful thinking), there’s no real indication that that’s going to change. We have work demands, family needs and the inevitable fires that crop up when they’re least appreciated.
So what do we do?
I see there being two options for us to consider.
1. We keep on keeping on. We do what we’ve done. We write to-do lists, do our best to prioritize our days and keep looking forward to Friday. We stay on the treadmill and take some satisfaction in doing, even if said isn’t necessarily advancing our life’s objectives in any meaningful way.
2. We pursue, find and capitalize on the eye(s) of the storm(s). When you have “down time” – ie. time away from the doing, how do you spend it? The most successful people I’ve met leverage that time to plan. To be deliberate. To review their “to dos” with discernment and high standards. They take proactive control of their schedules and the precious time they have at their disposal to concentrate on those few things that fill their stomachs with butterflies and their minds with self doubt. They lean in to the fears, insist on defining a course that resonates with them on a deep level and then step back into the maelstrom of emails, meetings and phone calls.
Version 2.0 of this is to create those reflection points. Holding a weekly meeting in your calendar for reflection and planning. Taking a weekend a quarter to get away. To unplug. To rejuvenate and create deliberate action moving forward. To make your days count for something. Something that matters to you. Or you can keep on keeping on. As always, the choice is yours.
