I’m not a liesurely waker upper. Whether by alarm or naturally, I go from sleep to awake faster than a Lambourghini on the Autobahn in Germany.
And then my mind goes out into the day way before my body does. I could be awake for 2 minutes and my mind has already time blocked the day in hourly increments for what that has yet to come. The next 16 hours accounted for and filled with productive tasks and oozing organization to be sure I can accomplish all that’s needed to be done as a successful entrepreneur (who wears several hats as a graphic designer, coach and plexus ambassador) and work from home mama.
I’ll tell myself that there’s too much on the list. Rationally, I’ll know this, but I’ve come to the conclusion that I get some kind of energetic high of setting unreasonable expectations, over-focusing on how productive the day should be ~ sacrificing joy and laughter.
My motto: “We do what we’re supposed to do first before we have fun.”
I have time slots for fun, for silliness. It doesn’t occur between 8:35 am and 4:35 pm. It’s like when my children leave for school, that having fun is somehow not productive, thus has no use. It’s time to get to work and the two — lightness and work — don’t meet.
My clients need me to focus and produce, promptly, efficiently and pleasantly. I pride myself on being responsive and taking care of things before there’s a reason to ask for a status update.
And then there’s my timer.
Like all good vices, I have a love/hate relationship with the timer. In order for me to get paid, I need the timer because I’m billable by the hour for my design and website development projects.
The timer times me. And rules me. And has completely warped my perspective. Because I need it for sending invoices to clients, so the minutes and seconds are tracked. I can’t live without it, like some kind of productivity crack.
So, there’s not joy or fun or sillingess or possible movement or human interaction unless the time has been on, items crossed off and I’ve been productive. My internal voice will rattle up a “slacker,” if I’m not moving through the list efficiently enough.
How do you measure value in your career or life?
What do you do when you’ve come to realize that every decision you make revolves around the question of “return on investment?” When you realize that you make decisions based on some arbitrary rule? For me, it is that if there’s no quantifiable reason for the action, then why bother? There must be a clear benefit, that usually revolves around being able to check it off a list.
Just turn on the timer and work. Produce. Justifying my existance with each passing second because “voilá,” I’ve made something and people can see it.
Maybe you’re not using a timer, but what are the self-imposed rules that you have that might be keeping you from being happier?
Ironically, I had to resist the urge to turn on the timer so I could be sure to finish writing this within in a constrained time period. How freaking crazy is that?!?
But from now on, my goals are going to be less list-based and quantifiable. They will be oriented around my internal compass that is guided by joy and fulfillment and doing the best I can for myself, my clients (whether creative or coaching) and my Plexus people.
I put my heart and soul and so much conscientiousness into my work, but that can’t be measured in minutes and seconds. It’s a return on investment that goes beyond dollars and cents.
My true value — and yours, too — is the special magic that you bring, whether in your work, your church, or your personal life with your family. What I’ve come to see is that if you wake up measuring your success of the day based on how many things you’ve checked off the list and how long the timer was on, no day will ever feel like a “success” (whatever that even means).
What are your personal, life-affirming goals?
Mine:
- to reconnect with my creative side
- to laugh at work
- to get a little more fresh air each day through the day
- to redefine my relationship with TIME
- to use my timer as the tool that it is, but not let it be my master
- productivity as a necessary part of the day, but not my guiding principle
- when I wake up, think about what I’m NOT going to accomplish
These “goals” are just something I will feel and know. I will not be doing a “laughter chart” or tracking how many times I go outside. I’ll do this through awareness and daily practice… it is incremental and sometimes painful, like how all growth is.
But I know what I want, and I’m voting overhelm off the island ~ confidently replacing it with what feels truer to me ~ creativity, joy and flow.
Think about your own relationship with time and to do lists, cause your *healthy* dose of reality is that we probably all need more a little more laughter and lightness and a little less overwhelm.
P.S. So, here’s some corny jokes ~ https://www.rd.com/funny/funny-jokes-national-tell-joke-day/
