EP.3: It Will All Get Done
Hi friends!
On today’s episode I want to talk to you about productivity. Have you ever had those weeks that feel out of sorts and out of your control? This is your friendly reminder that it’s okay if you don’t get all the boxes checked on your list. It’s okay if everything doesn’t roll out perfectly. Being hard on yourself doesn’t bring about better productivity. Extending yourself grace and kindness in a necessary to a life well lived. Running and living at a frenetic pace does not equal happiness. In fact, if you can shift your focus from being productive to being present life is that much sweeter. Listen in now!
It’s late in the day here … or early evening. My house is quiet and the dog is napping. And my week has been just kind of all over the board. It hasn’t been a normal week for me, it’s been a little bit busier, a little bit out of the ordinary. And to some degree, I think I’ve been burning the candle at both ends without even realizing it.
I had planned on recording a podcast on Monday. And when that didn’t happen, I said I would do it Tuesday. And when that didn’t happen, all bets were off. So I was just sitting here, looking at my calendar for tomorrow and trying to salvage some part of my day.
I’ve been running and running and running and I feel like I finally hit a wall. It always takes me by surprise when that happens. Because I think to myself, “Well, I guess I didn’t think I was that busy, or I didn’t think I was that overwhelmed.”
Has this happened to you? Where all of a sudden your body says to you, “Enough. If you don’t quit, we’re going to take you down.” I think that’s where I’m at this week, so I’m giving myself heaps and heaps of grace, and giving myself breathing room. I want to encourage you to do the same.
I don’t know what your life looks like right now. I don’t know what you have on your plate or what you don’t. I don’t know if you’re in a season of busy or a season of quiet. But what I do know is the exercise of letting yourself off the hook is so necessary, way more often than you would think.
I started to go down the path earlier this week of, you know, really being hard on myself for not getting all the things done that I had mentally committed to getting done. I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform and be productive and check all the boxes. I am definitely in perfection recovery.
Maybe you are too. I’ve learned a lot over the last year, year-and-a-half about what’s important and what isn’t. More than anything, I think the recurring lesson that keeps falling into my lap is this: it will all get done. It will all get done.
It might not look exactly the way I thought it would or should and and it might not be in the exact right amount of time. Or it might not have all the bells and whistles. I’m talking about things like planning a birthday party, or making sure I return every email and phone call. In my case, I just moved into my house, so for me, making sure every last box is empty and everything has a place is important to me. I’m so not even there yet. And that’s okay.
I hope you can extend yourself that same level of grace and kindness because it will all get done. I used to run around like my hair was on fire – like everything had to get done right now, yesterday, on time, ahead of schedule. But somewhere along the way over the last couple of years I’ve just realized, “Why?”
Running and living at a frenetic pace does not equal happiness. And the more I slow down and give myself breathing room, the more I’m able to remind myself, it will all get done.
My other new favorite phrase is, “I’ve done enough.”
At the end of the day, my list will always be long, there will always be more things to do, there will always be 10 more items on the list than I could ever get to. But I’ve done enough for today.
My focus has moved from, “Have I been productive enough?” to, “Have I been present?” That’s what matters to me. “Have I been present to the people in my life? To the areas of focus that I want to put my energy into? And to myself?
That’s the crazy thing – we never stop to think about whether or not we’re paying attention to our own feelings, thoughts, and questions.
This week has been busy and feels upended because now I’m under the weather after running and running. So suddenly, it’s forcing me to reset. It’s a reset I knew I needed, but I wasn’t willing to take it in favor of trying to “tackle my list,” so here I sit.
It’s 5:30 on a Thursday, I haven’t made dinner yet. I haven’t put away the shopping bags from the errands I ran earlier. I’m just giving myself a minute to be here. Because I know, based on experience, it will all get done.
I just think sometimes, we’re so busy being hard on ourselves; we’re so busy chasing our tails, and busy trying to do all of the things, we forget that most of those things that we’re trying to do don’t actually matter.
But here I am, for just a minute. I’m looking out my window and the trees are blowing in the wind, and the sun is starting to set. I’m enjoying this for what it is – full of peace. Even in the midst of not feeling well, even in the midst of my kitchen being a mess, I know … it will all get done.
What about you? Are you willing? Are you ready? Are you in need of a reset?
Even if it’s just a reset at the top of the hour.
It doesn’t have to be some big grand gesture. You simply listen to what your heart or your mind or your body say you need in that moment.
How beautiful it would be if we started listening to ourselves on a more regular basis.
Thank you for being here. I hope you remember that you too, have done enough, it will all get done, and you can allow yourself a minute just to breathe.
