Ever have one of those weeks? Not a bad one, mind you, but not what you’d anticipated. I’m not one for planning; instead, I prioritize & reprioritize. Amidst goals that must be set, life comes along its merry way. I don’t want to miss anything life may throw my way & I’m determined to heed opportunities as they arise. Thus, I go about my days steadily working toward my goals but with the caveat that I’m not going to achieve them any faster by letting the rest of my life slip by unappreciated.

Accomplishment for its own sake will prove empty & incomplete without an infusion of life’s nuances. To ensure you’re not so preoccupied by the goal you miss out on the journey, rethink your current to-do list. Be ready to set it aside to keep your life improving not just progressing. Someone may need to talk, your cat may need to play, you may need to play or you might not be working as efficiently as you could. Allow yourself to be interrupted as it not only keeps your brain active but helps maintain a fresh perspective. In turn, allow yourself to say no – no to a tweet, phone call or chat that can wait – no to things unless they’re timely or productive in themselves.

Deadlines remain the priority; a more fluid approach to productivity simply allows us to meet them differently. We find what works for each of us through trial & error. If we’re not failing, we’re not trying new things. The tried & true may get the job done but there’s little room for learning, much less exploring, in the process. It’s about learning to work smarter rather than harder because working efficiently doesn’t have to mean working doggedly. Reevaluate how you’re working. Stress, in particular, is proof current methods aren’t working well. Although not stressful per se, my return to being online full-time was proving difficult. Due to not being able to prioritize online endeavors for so long, they’d become fragmented. With so much to catch up on & much more to accomplish, I’ve been dutifully plugging away since my return last month.

Duty doesn’t mean a damn without honor. For all my efforts, I knew full well I wasn’t going to make real progress til I started honoring how I needed to function not merely that I needed to function. Thus, despite my commitment to post here at least twice a week, I finally found myself reorganizing my digital life instead. Simply put, by setting aside my priorities this week, I’ve had the time to streamline how I go about them & won’t be struggling to maintain them hereafter. Don’t stop at knowing what to do & how to do it, keep changing things up til you discover how best to do it. If you find yourself frustrated or a task seems harder than it should, take a break from it to see what’s going on behind the scenes. Never be afraid to look behind the curtain; if you’re not already the wizard, it’s time to take over.

(|_|*cheers*|_|)
“Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done.”
~ Josh Billings ~