It’s always a big temptation to take shortcuts. Imagine where we would be if Columbus didn’t think it would be shorter to go east instead of west to reach India? But just as Columbus’s shortcut went horribly wrong on so many levels, other shortcuts can also go wrong. And so today we are going to take on the case against a particular type of shortcuts. This is Episode 68: the case against lifehacking.
When I was first studying music, one teacher told me that music was what happened in the spaces between the notes. It was just as important to be creating space as it was to hit the perfect pitch, tone and expression. This thought changed the way I looked at the music, giving the spaces as much importance as the notes themselves.
Life is also like this. We need to give as much weight to the spaces between activities as we do the activities. If we allow those spaces to vanish, much of the beauty is lost. (If you don’t believe me, listen to Flight Of the Bumblebee a few times in a row).We face overwhelm daily with all of the information that comes at us.. It is so tempting to keep on going forward with our never-ending to-do lists, never taking the breaks to give meaning to our tasks. One important concept in getting to a more peaceful state is to slow down and create those periods of space.
One of the common things that I am asked is how I manage to get things done while juggling a job, family, house, hobbies and volunteer commitments. Someone jokingly said that I must have more hours in the day than the rest of the population, but I can assure you that isn’t the case.
What I do have is a drive to not wait for the mythical “someday” to work on things that matter to me.
When deciding to hang onto a stock you have purchased, it’s not about what you paid before. You have to consider if you would buy it again today, knowing about its performance since you purchased it. The same guidelines can help us get more deliberate in our lives.
Brain fog: that feeling that you can’t see to the next thought in your head and getting turned around as you try to accomplish things. It’s like being lost in a thick bank of fog – except that it is all inside you. And unlike weather fog, sometimes you don’t have the option to wait until it lifts.
I think that all of us have days when our brains are foggy and are just not quite up to peak performance. It can be due to lack of sleep, extra stress, poor food choices and any number of other things. Recently I experienced a serious lingering case of brain fog due to Covid, and I wanted to share seven things I did to get back on track from my brain fog.
I think there is a difference between burnout and the need to step back and reassess choices. I’ve been burnt crispy at multiple times during my adult life, usually as the result of constant (self-inflicted) pressure and a FOMO attitude that drove me to take on too many (and ill-fitting) things. As a result of my recent hiatus, I really sat down and looked at my life. Today I talk about 5 lessons I learned while on hiatus.
I really dislike being asked what my life purpose is. Here’s now I approach a lack of a singular over-arching driving goal.
I’ve never been a rabid social media user, but I have gotten caught in endless scrolling loops. But even if you want to get away from it, the companies make it difficult. Today I will talk about why – and how – I left social media.
So many people seeking inner peace and simplicity also mention that they are seeking a balance between work and life. I was greatly encouraged by Adrian Savage’s article “Slow Leadership: The Plain Truth About Work/Life Balance” (sadly, no longer on the web). It really struck a chord with me. His five truths are:
Do you have people on your task list?
My then-five-year-old spotted her name at the top of my task list. She wanted to know what it meant, and I explained to her that it was there so I would make sure to play with her.
