Something Comes Up

How do you handle the daily unpredictable facts of life that are the Something Comes Up? Let’s call ’em SomComUPs.

These are the things that derail your glorious, heart-felt, committed-to-reaching-your-daily-goals intrusions like, say, a car issue or a must-have-now from a client or co-worker, or a crap attack post-lunch that sucks what was left of your energy…or how about that simple yet constant companion that is exhaustion.

When I make writing goals, they are created in the bliss that is ‘There Is Enough Time In A Day To Do It All’. When I make my daily to-do lists, I firmly believe that what I put on this list is what I can actually achieve in a day. But how often do you check off all the things on your to-do list?

I don’t really want to get into a conversation about daily lists…the meaning of goals…discipline and commitment to craft because, goddess, I don’t have time! But what I want to shine a spotlight on is the reality of intention-setting in the living chainsaw that is SomComUps.

For example, this is the third blog I’ve written today. I ‘thought’ that I’d write one blog. That blog took me about three hours to write because I had to stop to: help with kitchen renovations, let the dog out, do laundry, cook and eat, go to the bathroom, let the dog in, let the other dog out, help jumpstart a vehicle, drive a kid to a party, make tea, feed the dogs, let the dogs out…and finally finish. I ‘assumed’ that the first blog would take me an hour to write. That’s it.

Then even as I’m writing and being utterly pulled away, new ideas for other blogs are ‘coming up’…and I thought…maybe if I write them now, and schedule their publications, it’ll leave more time later in the week when I’d love to blog but have to do Other Things…

You know what I don’t do when I make my lists – include an amount of time to do the thing. Do you include a time amount? Maybe if I include the amount of time I’m going to spend on the list item and stick to that – no matter what the SomComUps – it will change the outcome of my productivity…hmmm.

See, I’m constantly struggling with long to-do lists. And I feel guilty if I don’t get everything done…especially if it’s something for a client/writer or for ‘work’…that’s even before I get to the sadness of not working on my own stuff at.all because often that’s what gets pushed to tomorrow’s list. How I deal with not getting it all done is – panic, exhaustion, eating-to-soothe, back pain, bone pain, gut pain…and other things I’m forgetting that fall in the realm of feeling bad/guilt/angry at myself.

I could include a rant on our current labour system and the sloppy, chaotic, pressure-cooker-of-a-work-day-that-never-ends that I am a part of…but I won’t. I’d like to try and create within it…to thrive joyfully within it, if I can…

What if I commit to a balanced mixture of Heart Work and Work Work, including time allotments for each endeavour…would that result in doing all the things I want to do in a day? Things that are for ‘work’ and ‘creativity’ and physical health and mental health? It’s very possible the end of the day will arrive and I will not have done everything I wanted to do…but maybe…the things I do do will feel more…present and held, if you will, in a kinder space for productivity. I’m gonna try it.

Tell you how it goes! And tell me how your daily dealings with SomComUps is going!