Pick the one.
After a couple days of things coming undone, I was outside playing ping pong with my son thinking about tomorrow.. I have extra help so in theory, things should be easier. Theories are a lot like bullshit. You don’t know if it’s good or bad until you’re saying it out loud, which is usually when it’s too late to turn back.
Full Louisiana May has arrived, and even though it’s 7pm, ping pong is making me sweat. My son is hard to beat so I must focus. At the same time, I’m thinking of the things that need to happen tomorrow as well as the ever present “to-dos”. There comes a point in everyone’s life where the to-dos are far greater than the “to-time”. When this happens, I always revert to “fuck it”. Seriously. It’s too much.
Back in day something or other when I was green with the joy of writing, I talked about “the next first step”. The first thing on the first item of to-dos that would let you get started. I still believe in this. Tonight though I didn’t think of the first step at all. I thought “What’s the one thing you could accomplish to make a difference in your well being? The one thing that would lower your stress level or create the possibility of momentum for the rest of the day.”
For most of us, there is so much shit to do, that we end up chasing around all damn day and getting a bunch of meaningless “things” done. Nothing of impact. Nothing that matters. The other day I spent 3 hours in my van driving around doing shit. Meaningless shit. That’s three shits in one paragraph if you’re scoring at home.
But I do this all the damn time and it’s infuriating. I’m sure you do too. So how do we stop it? Can we?
Of course we can. First you have to identify the “thing” to do that matters. To me, I think you pick it regardless of what else you are “supposed” to do that day, as all those things will likely get done anyhow. I know this because usually a big part of the frustration of the “thing” we put off is the realization of how easy it is to do.
If the “thing” is an all day affair, pick something that moves it forward. Something that will make you feel. Something that will remove a layer of the anxiety onion that’s everyday life. Pick it out first thing in the morning or the night before and do it first. Even if it means getting to work early or going in late.
I 100% promise your day will be better if you do.
#hugsandhi5s
