The Saturday Morning Post - Forget Getting It All Done

Back in the fast times of the  1980's early 1990's I came the realization one day that I would probably die with a long list of things that needed doing.  Things have changed over the years.  Work has ebbed and flowed, and ebbed again.  Almost always if I stop and think for a minute there is a project I meant to do, that just didn't get done.  Great ideas die for lack of getting started.  At home there is always cleaning, laundry, cooking, reading, painting, photos, and writing to do.  I have been collecting pennies for years.  At one time they were all neatly sorted by year and mint mark, the last time that was current was about 45 years ago.  The box with Jay's slides sits next to my desk at home, a reminder that I want to scan them all and create an archive of the formative years of his academic career.  Much to do, all with the best of intentions of getting it done. 

Yet I know I will never get it all done.  

I try to focus on priorities.  At work that is what is funded, or likely to keep us in the good graces of the powers to be gets done first.  What have I promised others I would do needs doing.  My personal passion projects tend to sink to the bottom of the pile.  At home, what is essential?  I stopped making my bed decades ago. Why bother?  I don't care if it looks neat, it is my space.  

I set aside at least half of every weekend, to do whatever I feel like doing.  Take a long walk, write for the blog, take photos, read, lay on the bed. I have returned to the office 2 or 3 days a week.  Traffic and parking are nuts, so I am back riding the subway.  That give me an hour a day of reading time, my time, on the trains, immersed in whatever I am reading.  I LOVE IT.  I missed it.  

I know when I am reading, I could be reading office emails, or drafting the press release that I am a couple of weeks behind on.  What is important will get done, and forget the rest.  My epitaph should read, "he did what was most important, but he still had things he wanted to do."  

Tom Hopkins was a sales and motivational trainer in the 1980's.  He taught that your should be thinking, "I must do the most productive thing possible at every given moment." And "Sometimes the most productive thing to do, is sit on the beach drinking a fruity drink." Why because we all need recharge time.  Time for our brains to shift into neutral, time for our bodies to do something different. At times he struggled for balance in his life, as he was training others to be more productive professionals, he tried to teach us to seek balance.  

Forget about getting it all done, and take time this weekend to do nothing, or do only things you are passionate about.  And be honest, house cleaning and laundry are not really your passions.