We All Do It

We all do it, but it is not sustainable. When we have a project, event to plan, a change in life, or any big task, we push ourselves and focus on that task to the detriment of everything else. Sleep? Who needs sleep? Exercise? Definitely no time for that! Cook? Isn’t that what fast food is for? The weekend tasks get pushed aside. Our house gets messy. Laundry piles up. Our yard looks like an abandoned lot. We all do it, but we know it’s not sustainable. Something has to give.

This past weekend, I sent draft number ten of Finding Joy in the West to my editor. When I sent draft nine to her before my birthday in June, I honestly thought it was almost complete. I figured she would make a few suggestions like “italicize this and capitalize that” and it would be ready for publication. Oh, how naïve! She sent it back to me on August 1^st with what felt like a thousand suggestions and clarification questions.

For seventy days I stressed over details in my manuscript big and small. To have more time for revisions, I pushed aside more and more as the days turned into weeks. Over the last two weeks I rode my bike three times rather than the scheduled twelve. I quit reading before bed, stopped visiting friends, drastically reduced texts and calls, avoided social media, and let email and other things pile up.

Back in 2013 my focus word for the year was balance (see One Word Can Change the World). Though I have tried to add that word to my world for over a decade now, clearly, I have not embraced it to its full extent. This year I chose to focus on getting Finding Joy in the West published. Because I do not always know how much is involved in achieving a goal like writing a book, my world gets out of balance from time to time. I know your world does too. Sometimes it seems that’s just how life goes. But the question is, “what are we going to do about it?”

Unfortunately for you I have no answers. All I have is questions­­­­­­­­—­­­­­­­questions only you can answer. Is what you are doing important enough to put everything else aside? Is it really your big rock (see Focusing on the Big Rocks) and if so, is that in keeping with your personal values? Does it have to be done in the time frame you have given it? Can you cut some corners and call it “good enough?”

Sometimes, like farmers, we must push hard when it’s time to plant or harvest. However, even farmers cannot harvest twelve months out of the year. They complete tasks in the off season to make the harvest go as smoothly as possible. If this is your off-season, what can you do to prepare for your harvest? You may be more driven than most, but even superman has his kryptonite. We must schedule some downtime. Yes, we have to stay focused, but we also need to stay balanced.

Determine what is important, really important and focus on that, but also find that balance. Whether you take an hour to reenergize at the beginning or end of each day, take a day at the end of each week, a week at the end of each quarter, a month at the end of each year, or some combination of all of those, find something that works for you. Find a plan that is sustainable and stick to it. You know you will feel better, and you will have more to give in the long haul. When you find that balance, or if you have already found that balance, let us know what it is for you. Please email me or comment below with your sustainable plan.

Then we can say, “We all do it, and it is sustainable!”