Room To Breathe
One of the paradoxes of productivity is that the busier one is, the more one needs to do the right things. However, since one is busy, one doesn’t have the time to figure out what the right things are.
Scary, isn’t it?
You could desperately need to pull yourself out of the cyclone of doing one task after another, to figure out what is going to be best to do, and yet you are too busy to do it.
Taking time to breathe (metaphorically) is the only solution to this paradox.
When you take time to breathe, you can have the mental space to figure out if what you are doing is the best use of your time.
When you take time to breathe, you can see if the path you are on will take you where you want to go.
I listened to A TED Radio hour on quiet today, and one of the speakers mentioned that if a doctor told you to get exercise, you would sign up for a class. But taking time to be quiet and reflect is usually met with “I don’t have time for that.”
If you don’t have time to be quiet, how else will you know where you are, or where you are headed? Course corrections are best when they are done in small increments. It is easier to change careers by making small changes in your current job when you don’t have a lot invested – it’s much harder when you want to switch over after having been in a job you hate for 20 years.
Interestingly, I just finished reading a book that I hoped would help me find more time: Fringe Hours. I was sadly disappointed. So disappointed that I am not even going to provide a link to the book.
What had been touted as a productivity book designed to help me find more time to breathe and do self-care turned into a book that tried to provoke guilt (in a chapter on guilt) and had far too many references to the author’s faith. Not that I have any objection to her faith…it’s just I believe productivity is and should remain, an agnostic subject. I don’t believe that having a relationship with any diety is going to give me any more hours in the day.
So how do you find time to breathe? Time to consider, pause, reflect and plan?
For me, the only way I can do this is if I am physically alone.
I am not a morning person, but during the week I get up at 6 to drink that first cup of coffee and plan out the day. On Sunday mornings I hit my computer before the others are awake, usually 8, and plan out the week. When my first alarm goes off in the morning, I spend the time until the snooze goes off focusing on my breathing. Sometimes it works. Sometimes I go back to sleep.
It’s not enough. I’m looking for ways to work in more space. More time to plan, dream, reflect…and just be.
I don’t have answers here, just observations. I would love to hear how you make time in your day or week just to reflect and look forward. Share below, or email me directly at laura@lauraearnest.com.
Image by shawnzrossi. Licensed under Creative Commons. Text added.