I could use one, if you happen to have one lying about — yesterday I sat down and wrote out A List of the major projects I happen to have going on these days. The result was daunting, and I found myself annoyed. Am I supposed to be a nearly-expert in this time/task management/workflow stuff or what? Project manager, manage thyself. Because trying to slice your days into ever-thinner bits in order to make Zeno-like progress on everything at the same time is not the way.
Remember last year, when I was all about leaving space for things to happen in? Well, things have certainly happened. It might be just about time to do some weeding. Job hunting in particular takes up a fair amount of energy, and it might be sensible to push off a few other things until something there lands. I could be making better use of my bullet journal, too, in order to keep on top of the major projects while still pecking away at daily habits.
And I ought to celebrate more — when there’s so much going on, it’s easy for wins to get swamped in “that’s great, but what about all of this other stuff,” which is no way to treat a win. In that spirit, a few of the week’s wins:
- The novel draft is at 54,000 words.
- I increased my run speed by 1/10 of a MPH.
- I finished reading a book that has taken me a while to get through, bringing my total to six for the year.
- A meeting of the professional group I co-organize went so well last week that I had to gently evict a couple of people 45 minutes after it was supposed to end.
Not too shabby. The week ahead is packed with activities, so I’m not going to beat myself up about missing Duolingo a few times.
R Jean Stevenson 