Breathe…and Breathe…and Breathe…
Just Breathe by newbeautiful.
There is just oh so much I want to be doing.
I have a dozen BIG projects in my mind that will not only help me grow my business, but that really excite me. I have friends & family that I want to reach out to & spend some time with. I have a yoga DVD & running shoes & a bubble bath & a new book club book, all calling my name. I have this blog & my clients & my twiends & my Facebook fans all tugging on my sleeve, requesting some attention.
And I want to do it all.
Now.
Actually, not now. Yesterday.
And I feel like I’m back at Square 1. The focus is by the wayside (ooh! 1 unread message just popped up!), the balance has been thrown out of my life/balance despite the Me Time I’m carving out for myself, I’m not becoming the tortoise to smell the roses, my blood pressure is rising because I’m focusing on what I’m not doing as opposed to what I’m doing, and I can’t figure out what to do next! What’s the most important? When should this happen? How can I get out of my mind all the things I’m not doing and want to do/feel guilty about not doing?
If you’re a creative type like me, someone that’s balancing Life (a desk job, social needs, a family) with Passion (a new business you’re building, your art, rehearsals), you need to map out what’s realistic in terms of your time & let everything else go. It’s not easy, especially when your Passion is of the utmost importance!
So, I’m starting now by making a choice. OK, two. First choice: realistically figuring out how much time I have to build my business. I want to say 20 hours, but I know that will lead to burnout & more craziness. So….let’s say….(minus the commute time minus the work time minus the sleep time and the social & me time)…10 hours.
(Taking a Deep Breath)
I can do 10 hours.
(Taking a Deep Breath again)
OK, Choice number two: My Top 3 Goals. Because really, once you do more than that the craziness creeps back in. OK, Top 3 Goals right now:
- Finishing my action items from the BYW class
- Launching my newsletter
- Finishing my business plan
(Another Deep Breath)
I feel better already.
May 6th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
I feel like I wrote this post, it's so true to what is going on for me! I will be taking some time tonight to reassess my path – I keep getting lost in the have-to's of my day job, life and responsiblities…losing site of that WANT-to's!
May 6th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Thanks for the comraderie, Tara! It helps me, um, breathe knowing that there are others out there like me – especially other life coaches!
Yeah, sure, sometimes you do need to do the "shoulds" or the "have tos" (otherwise my landlord would have kicked me out long ago), but prioritizing the "want tos" are killer! One thing at a time….
May 6th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Well I can definitely relate to this post as I am also juggling too much at the moment and trying to get rid of something. I have tried two things recently, I have no idea if they work as I am still in the process of trying them out, but:
1. I drew a picture of myself (ok a stick figure, I can't draw) then drew arrows to all of the different things I am currently committed to. Then I colored in the thickness of the arrows to show how much of my time each of these tasks was taking. Then I checked if the ones taking up the most time matched the ones that made me happiest. After that I tried to lower my time commitment to those tasks whose arrows were far too thick. I am still working on this one.
2. Add a goal theme to my week: instead of trying to focus on too many different goals/ideas this week I decided to choose a theme for the week and try to tailor the majority of my goals around that theme (improving my blog for this week). I am hoping that this will help me move forward with a big step on this one area instead of a bunch of tiny steps in many areas. Again, I am in the process, so I have no idea if it will work.
Please let me know what works for you in the coming weeks as I can use all the help I can get.
Good luck on your 10 hours this week!
May 8th, 2009 at 4:35 am
Aaahhh overload! We have to draw some lines, Jeremie! For you, literally
I like the stick figure idea & coloring the lines in depending on the time given, but I have to throw it out there – are you making things too complicated? I know I do that ALL the time, & so I had to ask you.
How's the theme stuff going? I've tried that but "stuff" just got in the way. Let me know how that goes for ya – would love to hear your thoughts!
May 8th, 2009 at 7:28 am
I am a very visual person. I was trying to write a list of my commitments so that I could start trying to get everything under control, but the lists weren't allowing me to get it all in my brain at once, the list didn't mean anything to me.
By drawing it out I turned my time (something I can't see) into lines (something I can see). This allowed me to quickly determine what I was spending the right amount of time on, and what I was spending way too much time on. I then ended up looking over my visual drawing while doing a coaching session in one of my ICA classes. I played the client and the coach asked me about the drawing, and while we talked, I erased the thickness of some lines and thickened others. By the end I had a clearer idea of what I was doing.
So, for some, as we all learn differently, it may be complicating things. For me the visualization helped me to organize it all. The entire drawing process took me about 5 minutes so I don't think it is overly complicated.
I will keep you updated, I plan on doing a drawing a month as a check up for myself, the next one will be next week.
May 8th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Totally makes sense. I'm visual, too, and recently tried mind mapping – but quickly realized that all the circles and the lines in blue or black ink ended up being just a blur! I recently expanded onto bigger paper, using a different color marker for each project (ie for my Marketing Mind Map I used purple from my Newsletter tasks/ideas, green for Party ideas, etc) – and lo and behold, I can see! It might be "complicated" to others, but it's been working well for me.
May 8th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
I felt like you just put into words what I'm feeling when I read this post. I constantly feel like time is never enough, physically time, yet I have all these creative ideas swimming in my head, dying to be executed. On a daily basis, a simple list in which prioritise the items and then strike them off slowly helps for me. For the long term, I find having specific goals and breaking them down into action items works. Of course, there are still days when I'm just really off though. Haha.
May 9th, 2009 at 6:15 am
That's always the case, it seems! Some days I'm spot on with my goals and my execution, and other times I tend to get off track. The key is not to be too tough on yourself during "the off days", and to not let those days get you off course in general (as in, "I messed up today, so what's the point of doing this at all?").