Tuesday, June 5, 2012
The Most Important Part of the Work
"The beginning is the most important part of the work."
- Plato
It's also the hardest part of the work - at least for me. Forming new habits requires consistency, discipline and energy - qualities that are sadly lacking in my lifestyle at present. I have spent time in the last couple of weeks re-reading M. Scott Peck's marvelous book "The Road Less Traveled," and have found it very meaningful. I also watched this excellent TED talk by Brené Brown about vulnerability, which really resonated with me. I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about writing, but making the time to sit down and do it has not happened with everything else that seems to be clamoring for my attention - countless tasks at work that have had me working overtime every night, my sweet daughter with a million questions and ideas that need to be heard and responded to, the kitchen sink and countertops overflowing with dirty dishes, the knee-deep piles of laundry, the dirty floors, bathrooms, the unpaid bills, the things I've been meaning to look into but haven't yet (piano lessons, dance lessons, summer child care options), etc., etc., etc. I am constantly feeling overwhelmed with everything there is to do, and the needs I feel I should be meeting - for my family, my friends, my employer, my church, and my community. After getting my girl into bed, asking my hubby about his day, and making at least a half-hearted attempt to address the dishes and/or laundry, I tend to numb my feelings of helplessness about it all by retreating into a book, a television show, or the internet. Summoning the energy to think and write after a long day of work seems an impossible, futile task. A dear friend has been hinting that another post is long overdue, and I've spent the past two weeks feeling guilty about it, knowing I should be giving this more of my attention - but just getting through each day has seemed like such an enormous task that I haven't had any energy leftover to devote to this blog, and have not even spent the time each day on something for me that I intended. I know I need to make this process a priority if I'm going to be successful, but I don't know how to acquire the energy and will to focus on it. Any ideas, dear readers? I'm floundering here!
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Thank you for posting again, Lori!
ReplyDeleteI don't know if this will chime at all, but I've been having some success with doing some important-but-hard-to-get-to activities by using what I'll cheesily call "The Paradigm of the Blessed Increment."
Basically, what this is is believing that small amounts of time doing something really do add up. For example, If I meditate five minutes a day, over time, that's going to make a difference. If I believe this (and I do) then it becomes just a matter of keeping myself accountable. (I schedule my increments and then reminders go into my inbox. I get to delete them when I do them. I like deleting things. : ) ) The increments are small enough so that if I miss a day, it's not overwhelming to catch up.
I know I don't have a life as hectic as yours, so perhaps my assumption that there are five- or 10-minute chunks of time that you can reserve for yourself is not a good one. In that case, I'm hoping some of your other friends who have similarly fast-paced lives have some good ideas for you!
I love your paradigm, Candace (and its catchy name, too!)! I can make 5-10 minutes available each day - I just need to plan when that will be and stick to the plan. The most difficult part is not so much finding the time as finding the energy to do the work. I'll approach this week with the PoBI mindset and see how it goes. Thanks so much for the wonderful suggestion!
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