I woke up this morning thinking that I would take a glance at my calendar. Just looking to get in the mindset of what needed to be done today, this week, and over the course of the upcoming weeks. As I looked, a blur of obligations, tasks, and needs rushed through my mind. I got dizzy for a minute. Then I shook it off. The initial shock of seeing more tasks than time was a bit overwhelming.

First of all there are always a handful of household chores looming. Let’s be clear, my wife is essentially super human. Most of the time when I think about what needs to be done at home it’s done before I can finish the thought. But, she also has her hands reasonably full with an infant, a toddler, and two other incredibly energize little boys, so I try to think about what I can do to chip in around the house…when I am around the house, that is. At the very least, it’s a part of my thought process.

On top of the basics, there’s the other stuff. While I’m thrilled that the weather is heating up, melting snow represents more than just walks to the park and the flowers in the garden. This year I’m demolishing our deck and building a patio. A project that I’m very much looking forward to, but still not quite sure where the minutes, the hours, the days, and the weeks of dedicated time will come from.    Then there are the professional and academic checklists I’m working to satisfy. Put it all together and I’ve wound myself into a death spiral of tasking overwhelmed-ness! This is where my mind races with misplaced frustration over situations that I literally can’t address while my mind is racing; ironic, isn’t it?

So what can I do? I can slow it down, accept and appreciate my human-ness, forgive myself for being on the path rather than at its end, and then continue to work diligently at enhancing my organization skills and strategies. Below are three thoughts and ideas at various levels of development in my current productivity paradigm. Each has helped me with positive progress as I think about how to think about stuff when I have lots of stuff to think about. I offer them to myself as a reminder, and as food for thought to other busy people looking to feed their thoughts.

Wealthy and wise aren’t much good without healthy. Fortunately, I’ve not been burdened with much wealth or wisdom to date…both are somewhat of a work in progress for me. Regardless, when I’m struggling with even the most minor bumps, bruises, ailments, or discomforts, my productivity tends to suffer. I’m not as sharp when aches and pains distract me. I’m not as focused or thoughtful with a runny nose or a stubborn crick in my neck. Yesterday, after I released an impressible old-man-groan as a byproduct of standing up, my wife reminded me how regular stretching tends to relax and strengthen my questionable lower back. Then she told me that she couldn’t remember the last time she saw me stretch. I couldn’t remember either. However, I could remember that she was right. When I stretch regularly my back feels better. When I don’t, it doesn’t. I also remembered that when my back feels better I’m not distracted by back pain.

Not having time to stretch is a lame excuse for not stretching. Arguably, I lose more time in distractedness over the aches and pains than I would over fifteen minutes of stretching each morning and the same before I go to bed at night. Also, the added benefits of some isolated quiet time are rich, meaningful, and connected to my ongoing quest for learning and growth. In fact, I tend to do some of my best processing and idea generating while exercising. I believe that many of us do. Are you taking good care of yourself? What simple shifts could you make in your daily life to attend to your health with increased completeness?

Life’s wonders are most meaningful when they’re appreciated and enjoyed…even, and especially the challenging ones. With a lot going on all the time there’s plenty of noise in my world. Sometimes it’s difficult to engage in even a brief conversation with my wife while my children are shouting at the top of their lungs. Come to think of it, it’s always difficult to engage in even a brief conversation with my wife while my children are shouting at the top of their lungs. Incidentally, my children have some extremely impressive lung tops.

People say it all the time and I know it’s true, one day I’ll be standing in a room of my house, in absolute silence, and it’s likely that I’ll be missing having those lungs around. I’ll be distracted by the absence of noise. Maybe I should be appreciating and enjoying the noise while it’s here? Maybe I should be doing more than enjoying it. Often times, my children are shouting in an effort to engage me in play. Maybe during those times I should…well…engage in play. After all, my wife hears me talk plenty. It’s even possible that she might be ok with a bit less.

Enjoying the moments of my life nourishes my capacity in all areas, even when that means adapting to what’s going on around me rather than holding to a fixed course. Taking opportunities to simply have fun keeps me fresh and balanced, and as a dad of four, I am faced with plenty of those kinds of opportunities! #thTHX

Love is more important than anything else I can think of. My three-year-old loves to hug. Last week I experienced a two-day stretch of not seeing my children. I’m sure it happens to all of us. A couple days of leaving for work before they wake up and come home after they go to sleep, and all of the sudden it’s been two days. The good thing about a two-day stretch is the morning of the third day! I was sitting at the kitchen counter doing some work over a cup of coffee when I heard the word, “Daddy,” float down from the top of the stairs. Then I heard little kid feet bouncing down each step, and then I saw a tiny smiling face just through the kitchen doorway…and this kid has quite a smile!

As our eyes met, my three-year-old ran to me with open arms, I scooped him up and we hugged for what seemed like a really long time. It was wonderful. At one point I remembered that I would have to eat breakfast and go to work. I asked him if we could hug again when I got home? He said we could. I gave him one last squeeze. I spent my day joyfully clinging to the knowledge that I would be getting that hug as soon as I walked in the door that afternoon. Love. It’s good. No matter how busy your days get, and no matter what you face during the course of any given one, if you can find a memory and/or anticipation of love I highly recommend clinging to it! It can make the rest that much more manageable, and for me it even has the power to transform the most difficult challenges into the most obvious and meaningful opportunities for learning and growth.

Live. Learn. Lead.

 

Dream Big. Work Hard. Be Well.