The Power of Now

I don't remember a time in the past dozen years or so when I wasn't busy ... often extremely, excessively, inordinantly busy for extended periods of time.

Thankfully, I have a pretty high capacity for activity and I get to do volunteer work that I truly enjoy and thrive upon. 

This past year has been particularly full-to-overflowing and there have been many days when there is more on the list of things that must be done than there are hours in the day.  But it's been a very rich and rewarding season filled with amazing opportunities to serve, so it hasn't been particularly stressful or overwhelming  ... most of the time.

Last week I made an interesting observation when a number of requests came in and my initial response to each was going to be, "I am in the middle of several big projects right now, can you follow up with me next week?" (There really is a lot happening all at once right now!) I even began to draft several email responses with a "Can we do this later?" reply. 

Then there's the articles I come across that I want to read, so I open them in a new browser tab planning to get back to them when I have a few extra minutes. 

And the blogs that come to my in-box that I save to read later.

And the papers that I set aside until I can file them later.

And the errands I need to run when I have some time to go out later.

And the emails I need to deal with so I flag them to get back to them later.

And the clothes that need to be put away or the household chores that needs to be done later.

And the vegetables I bought at the store that need to be cleaned and cut up later.

Pretty soon, I have so much stacked up waiting for my attention later that I feel overwhelmed, bogged down, and so smothered by it all that I don't even know where to start to get caught up and in control again.

So instead of taking the time to draft an email to ask someone to follow up with me later, I take a few minutes and respond to their request now ... locating that article they are looking for, creating that graphic, providing the information they are looking for, answering their question, pointing them in the right direction. 

It might seem counter-productive and counter-intuitive to say "Yes" more often, taking time away from whatever I'm working on to deal with something new. However, I have found that responding to things quickly helps me feel more liberated and less overwhelmed by the lengthy list of things to do later ... when I'm less busy as if that might happen anytime soon. Ha!

I find that many tasks take less time than I anticipate if I just do them now. 

It's also less taxing mentally and emotionally if I don't have to try to remember to get back to something later.

Instead of saving an article to read later, if I'm really interested I take a few minutes to read it now. And if it's something I want to refer back to later, I pin it to one of my Pinterest boards. It isn't fun to have 25 open browser tabs or windows waiting for me all the time. I'm learning that if I don't have time to read it now, I don't really have time to read it at all and it probably isn't important enough to save for later.  Because the next time I browse through Facebook or Twitter feeds there will be a couple dozen new things vying for my attention. The information tsunami doesn't stop rushing in, so I need to consume what I'm most interested in when I get on social media and ignore the rest. There'll be more tomorrow, after all. 

While I'm on the phone or taking a break from computer work, I can take a few minutes to put away the clean laundry, do some food prep in the kitchen, or wipe down a bathroom.

Instead of saving blogs that come to my email in-box to read later, I need to either read them or delete them now. Thankfully most blogs arrive in my in-box in the morning, so I can scan through them all once a day and tackle them quickly. I've even started unsubscribing from a bunch that I've noticed I delete more often than I read. That has freed up some bandwidth in my mental stores, which I very much appreciate.

This past weekend, I tackled filing the myriad stacks of paper that were waiting for me to deal with them later. I thrive on order, so taking a whole day to get organized again ... even though I didn't really have a whole day to give to getting organized ... has really freed me up to be able to be present and respond quickly to other things as they come in. My brain feels more clear when there's no clutter. Order really does promote peace!

There are some projects that are too big for me to tackle now without causing me to fail to meet other deadlines and responsibilities, so I'm not saying "Yes" to everything right now. But I am finding that I am more productive and less apt to get stressed if I just do many more things as they come in instead of putting them off for later.

What about you? Do you find you're more productive if you tackle things as they come in? Or do you need to stay focused on the task at hand before you can move on to something else? What are your favorite tips or hints for dealing with the constant influx of things needing your attention?

Comments

[Buzzy]

I read this now, and enjoyed it, but what about the power of "No!"

[Nancy Manos]

You are absolutely right, Buzzy! These musings were really more related to things that I cannot or should not say not to, but there is definitely power in "No!" also. I have actually exercised that power twice this morning already, and that feels great, too! :-)