My printer went crazy the other day.
It kept printing the exact same document over and over again.
I hit the stop button several times to no avail.
In sheer frustration, I pulled the paper drawer out of the printer and it crashed to the floor.
Somehow that made me feel better.
Take THAT runaway printer!\
Sometimes our brains are like this, especially our ADHD brains.
We keep DOING the SAME thing over and over AGAIN.
Or that we HAVE to keep pushing this BOULDER up the hill because if we stop it will roll over, crush up and we die. That’s a mythological story.
Yet we keep thinking it will be different this time.
THIS time we WILL get that boulder to stay on top of the hill.
Sounds a lot like my to do list.
As fast as I check things off that list, a bunch more show up.
They’ve gone rogue like my printer.
Here’s a fun fact – the average person has 35 items on their to do list at any given time.
Harsh reality – you will never complete your to do list.
You will never push that boulder all the way up the hill.
How did I “control” the rogue printer?
I STOPPED it.
And you’re not going to like this but here’s the truth.
You need to stop.
Take a break.
Get some rest.
Feed your soul.
I’ve had a few incredibly busy weeks – a busy practice of coaching clients, three days away helping a client create a productive environment in her home office, juggling college discussions with learning to drive, and getting something that resembles a healthy meal on the table for dinner each night.
Sounds a lot like your life, right?
Even though I planned to work all weekend, I quickly realized that was going to be a recipe for burnout.
Work isn’t going anywhere.
But the beautiful fall days are.
It won’t be long before we’re in for short days that are gray and cold and windy.
Great for skiing but not much else. Well, that’s just one non-winter-loving woman’s opinion.
I worked yesterday morning.
The work was not in my original plan, but my business coach and I found a sizeable automation hole in my marketing process.
By stepping back and looking at it from the 6,000-foot view, we realized that the several hours I invested yesterday would save me hundreds of hours going forward.
And make the client experience a thousand times better.
It wasn’t fun or my favorite kind of work.
In fact, I had to send some of it to tech super woman Cj to finish, because it was out of my area of expertise.
And being an ADHDer, I’m a great starter but not such a great finisher.
I mean let’s be honest…
I gave myself a reward.
The rest of the work could wait.
Bob and I headed to Jones Family Farm for an afternoon of fun.
We walked the gardens, took a hayride, chose pumpkins, laughed at the piggies, drank in the sunshine and the warmth, and the happiness of doing nothing. Just BEing.
And yes, I’m back at my computer this morning next to my errant printer that’s STILL unplugged. LOL!
Because that’s not the priority.
My priority today is to focus in on the most important work, which includes writing this newsletter of course.
Then I’m going to put in my headphones with my latest favorite podcast (Translating ADHD) and take a long afternoon walk or maybe even a hike in the woods.
Don’t be a rogue printer.
If you’re not sure what to do next, step back and pause.
Look at the big picture before taking your next step.
BTW Sunday is a great day to take 15 minutes to plan your week.
You might find a much easier way to do that boulder like thing.
You might just find you don’t even need to do it.
Cross that off your list!
