Need Me? I'll Be In A Meeting

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I went on a purge last year where I backed off, backed away, and backed down from a majority of professional and personal commitments. At the time, I had the distinct feeling my life ran me versus the other way around. 

Backing off helped and I feel my time is more my own. Life, however, is creeping back in. This is not necessarily unwelcome. But looking at the ol' calendar I'm realizing I need to be careful or I'll again quickly be overwhelmed. So far, I have the following weekly and monthly commitments:

Monthly

Weekly

  •  Monday - Hill runs
  • Tuesday- Trainer
  • Thursday - Trail Run
  • Saturday - Long Run
  • Yoga - 2x
  • Allergy shot

Looking at it now, the schedule doesn't seem so bad. And after all, all the weekly commitments are "fun" stuff I do for personal enhancement. But when I add in drive time to each event plus client meetings and "life" appointments (hair cut, vet, occasional coffee or lunch with friends) I feel like I'm grasping at spare moments to do actual work. Plus, the meetings are just the start. Then there's the work to be done as a result of meeting.

Blair and I have decided to start reserving as much of Sundays as possible for our time together. Hate to have to schedule "us" time but I'd rather schedule and have it versus leaving it to chance. 

How's everyone else faring? Finding decent work/life balance or is the scale stacked against you?

Elizabeth Gilbert: A different way to think about creative genius

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A friend sent me this link to a talk by author Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the international bestseller, Eat Pray Love. She's an engaging speaker and I love the new (or old, as it turns out) framework she gives to "genius."

From the website:

Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses -- and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person "being" a genius, all of us "have" a genius. It's a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk.

What's Your One Thing?

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Spring fever has hit and I have the urge to clean... not just the house, but clean the body, mind, and spirit. Start over! Begin anew! Climb those mountains with a can-do attitude and become the self-actualized person I was put on this planet to be!

Okay... coffee just wore off. I'm back now. 

But I am in the mood for a little "get things done" attitude. Blair and I were going over a wish-list for the money-pit (aka, "the house") and we decided we want to build a deck and screened-in porch on the back of the house. For those new to this blog, a little heads up that we've been talking about building a deck and screened in porch on the back of the house for almost 8 years now. Something in the process seems stalled, yes?

So we decided to apply the "What's the One Thing That Must Be Done" strategy to our work and home lives. The "One Thing" method is where at the beginning of each day you ask yourself what is the ONE thing I must accomplish today? If it's something that takes 8 hours and you must ignore everything else, so be it. If it's something that takes 20 minutes and you do it and blow off the rest of your day, good enough. You got your ONE IMPORTANT THING done for the day. Blair and I just started using this in our work days and I must say, I'm finding it effective. Definitely brings into focus where my concentration and effort needs to be.

So in relation to the porch/deck, we asked ourselves, what one thing do we need to do today to move this project forward? The answer is measuring. We need to go outside and figure out how big/small we want these additions to be.  So tonight we will walk outside with a tape measure and check our ONE THING off the list.

As for today's goal, I need to spend 3 hours novel writing. I have a two-page list of tasks that need addressed, but for me to feel good about my day, I need to do this creative writing. 

How about you? What's your ONE THING for the day?

 

Winning the Lotto

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What would you do with the money if you won the lotto? This was the question posed by someone on Saturday in our group of runners. We were munching on bagels and sipping hot coffee after a particularly chilly run. I don't play the lotto but the question still intrigued me. What would I do?

 It took me a few minutes to come up with an answer. "Build the animal shelter in Rockingham County," is the first thing that came to mind. And build it right - full spay/neuter clinic, huge dog runs, cat room with toys, window, sun and climbing spaces. Free clinic, meet and greet room for potential adoptees to bond with pets... I could go on.

After that I came up with pay for college for all nieces and nephews, hire a personal trainer (every runner in the group came up with that one), and do a few upgrades to the house. But I was pleased at how I struggled to find an answer. There's isn't much I would actually change in my life. I wouldn't move, wouldn't stop writing, wouldn't suddenly abandon this life for a new one. That tells me I'm on track with where I need to be. 

As we discussed it, everyone said that while they might leave their current job, they wouldn't want to sit around and do nothing. Instead, they would look for work or volunteer positions that fulfilled them - work that made them feel they were making a difference.

This confirms my belief that no one really wants a free ride in life. We all want to feel useful and productive. Laying in bed for 18 hours a day isn't anyone's dream. Meaningful work, interactions with people, and the opportunity to explore and engage in whatever tasks or activities make us happy--that's what people want in life.

My wish is that we all don't have to wait for the lotto to go after it. What is your "dream life?" What one thing can you do today to bring you closer to living it? If you feel like sharing your answers, I'd love to read them.

Dena