As I sit here and wrestle with all of the things going through my head right now (housework, homework, kids, family Bible time, bills I'm not sure how we're going to pay, background investigation, work, housewarming party tomorrow) I realize that my trash can is starting to overflow. Crumpled up papers, shrink wrap and plastic ties, and a lot of fast food detritus. Stress makes you eat crappy. Period. The more you have to do, or the more you think you have to do, the less time you spend actually doing the things you have to do, and the more time you spend thinking about all the things you have to do. See how that works?
I have no system. No plan. No calendar for how all this goes together. No routine. I have individual plans for different things. Little routines for work, for bills, etc. I have no overarching organizational theme in my life that holds it all together. Nothing telling me that I can do multiple things in one day, and this is how. I get to work and wonder: what is the most important thing I can do right now? Supply requests? Order? Cycle count? Deliveries? Cleaning for God's sake? (No, definitely not cleaning.) If I don't come up with an answer fast enough, I end up doing homework, or checking my email. Not to say that I shirk my work. I don't. I get it done, and I get it done fast. But my default is indecision, and indecision leads to wasted time. So today I am deciding to decide. What things are important to me? What things are more important than others? Write them down in a list, in order of importance, and then live my life in that order.
Just like in the movie Mission of the Shark (the one about the men of the USS Indianapolis who were in the water for five days before they were rescued after their ship was sunk, if you haven't seen it), the men are too spread out in the water right now. They need to be closer together. There needs to be some ORDER here. Because what happens when men are too spread out? They get eaten by sharks. And that's a fact. I've seen it. And there are all kinds of sharks out there. Loan sharks, creditors, divorce lawyers, bankruptcy lawyers, IRS auditors, etc. Too many to count. Some are great whites and some are sand tigers, but they all have bloody teeth. Today order will be brought in this court. Justice will be done. And my old ways will probably be casualties of war. Oh well. At least they'll die quickly, and won't get eaten by sharks.
I have no system. No plan. No calendar for how all this goes together. No routine. I have individual plans for different things. Little routines for work, for bills, etc. I have no overarching organizational theme in my life that holds it all together. Nothing telling me that I can do multiple things in one day, and this is how. I get to work and wonder: what is the most important thing I can do right now? Supply requests? Order? Cycle count? Deliveries? Cleaning for God's sake? (No, definitely not cleaning.) If I don't come up with an answer fast enough, I end up doing homework, or checking my email. Not to say that I shirk my work. I don't. I get it done, and I get it done fast. But my default is indecision, and indecision leads to wasted time. So today I am deciding to decide. What things are important to me? What things are more important than others? Write them down in a list, in order of importance, and then live my life in that order.
Just like in the movie Mission of the Shark (the one about the men of the USS Indianapolis who were in the water for five days before they were rescued after their ship was sunk, if you haven't seen it), the men are too spread out in the water right now. They need to be closer together. There needs to be some ORDER here. Because what happens when men are too spread out? They get eaten by sharks. And that's a fact. I've seen it. And there are all kinds of sharks out there. Loan sharks, creditors, divorce lawyers, bankruptcy lawyers, IRS auditors, etc. Too many to count. Some are great whites and some are sand tigers, but they all have bloody teeth. Today order will be brought in this court. Justice will be done. And my old ways will probably be casualties of war. Oh well. At least they'll die quickly, and won't get eaten by sharks.
No comments:
Post a Comment