My Friday morning Write on Site class always fills my mind with wonderful thoughts and reflections.
We reconnect during the first few minutes and then we write – or do whatever, I guess – until we regroup 105 minutes later when we debrief.
During writing time attendees may pose questions or ideas in Chat; at other times these remarkable remarks come at the end. The title of this article arrived during class and is a quote from my mentor and class instructor Meggin McIntosh.
I felt it answered some of the anxiety I drag my mind into when I realize that I have not accomplished everything I had planned – whether monthly, weekly, daily, or within the hour. I whirl to complete my self-appointed tasks, but sometimes these overwhelm me. Even though I am “retired” with few demands on my life other than those that are self-inflicted, I like to undertake a job and see it through to fruition.
With this new mantra, no more sense of failure can prevail; structure and organization will be attended to with relish
Examples: every morning starts with either a run or a swim. Getting out the door and to the pool is simple. If I appear at the Bode Memorial door at 5:15, I know I’ll be able to claim my favorite lane.
To infrequent swimmers this may sound silly, however, hardened lap-swimmers will nod in agreement. “Lappers” are territorial and we like our lane during our time and we are a bit ornery about sharing or having a chosen site usurped by a newcomer.
As for running, when I jump out of bed, down my first earthshakingly delicious cup of coffee, grab my gear and dash out the door, iWatch ticking away, I get the job done and have more time to relax after I return home (or to drum up other responsibilities).
If, on the other hand, I dawdle: reading, checking my phone, cleaning, doing laundry, or attacking other vital chores, my running priority slips. While I know it will get done, later means school traffic and more cars all along the route. See how the structure of fiddling leads to mounting failure? I can solve this without guilt as every item falls into place through pinpoint design.
My next “put it off until the last minute” gig goes by the name errands. During warm months I save these and then clump them together and either walk or ride off on my bike to complete them in a single swoop. Distance as well as having adequate space in my saddle bags nicely limits purchases and the number of stops.
As the weather cools, however, my bike seeks storage as I resort to the car. This means more can get done, but is accompanied by the remorse created by wasting gas, over buying, or allotting too many valuable minutes to the assorted missions.
Experience proves that any errand requires the double the time I expect it to and so once again I recognize even that the most organized structure may also lead to distress. One a day?
Assigning Lynn more jobs? Ordering online? Each a possibility, but not necessarily a solution.
An outstanding technique for reaching goals has been a checklist. Seeing the expectations on paper and then hastily crossing them out when finished, empower me. Just looking at the stated goals now achieved makes me happy – even elated. There are only two problems that might arise here: misplacing or mismanaging the list or getting things done that are not on today’s list. These may seem frivolous, but let me tell you, both are important. To remedy the first I have a planner.
There is a double-page spread for each month plus individual daily spaces for each week. I love this tool, but as you may have guessed, there is a tangle – sometimes the daily space is too small and so gets crammed with desired outcomes which can be confusing.
And the handy spaces, habit has prevented me from utilizing these slots so perhaps that is an excellent focus for the coming year.
The second challenge, completing something that is not on the list is solved by writing it down as an afterthought (actually after completion), and then crossing it out. You naturally appreciate the significance of this move: success and over-accomplishment in a calculated plunge.
A visualization such as a totally checked off checklist provides realization that I have not failed, but instead I have gone above and beyond.
