Juggling Under Pressure
Posted on 24 March, 2010 by Sam | 
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Photo by garryknight
To say I’ve been busy lately would be a gross understatement. I’m not going to list out everything I’ve been juggling – at least half of which has been on strict deadlines – but I’m talking about things on the level of starting a new job, doing a major college assignment, planning a 3wk trip to the other side of the world… and I’ve had about 8-9 of these things on the go for a few months now.
What’s got me through day by day has been simply putting one foot in front of the other – taking that next little step that would get me a bit closer to whatever was needed (as well as a simple ‘project plan’ that allowed me to keep track of it all). Not everything has been given equal attention, and I wouldn’t be human if some things hadn’t slipped down the priority list; but what is more interesting is what I noticed today.
I’ve got 2 days left before I fly out, and am at the stage where I can start saying “What doesn’t get done before I get on that plane stays undone until I get back”. Today was a positive one, as I could actually tick off a couple of important milestones including one of the major projects – YAY!!! I finally allowed myself an hour’s grace to meet with a friend (multi-tasking to discuss kitty-sitting), and take a deep breath or two before the next step on the plan when I caught myself with the following shocking thought: “What am I missing? I must have something else urgent to add to my list because I can’t possibly be calm before I go away!”
Whoa! Where the hell did that come from?! It is like I’ve programmed myself to get to a point of exhaustion before I jump onto a long-haul flight; and the remote possibility that I might somehow have all urgent things completed before I leave for the airport seemed too difficult to fathom – so instead my mind went digging for other things to pile onto the pressure gauge.
At least I caught myself – this time. I can choose that I’ll only do what I’ve already planned to do, and anything else can wait. I don’t have to be a wreck physically, emotionally and mentally to be able to sleep on the plane. And I’ve really still got enough to do to keep me out of mischief until I leave anyway!
Would you notice if you were making things harder for yourself?
