Client: Last week was really crazy. I just need to get better at juggling.
Me: What’s the appeal of keeping all those balls in the air? It sounds exhausting.
Client: No, it’s just a figure of speech. You know what I mean. I need to be better at handling stuff, multitasking, managing my time.
Hmmm….that doesn’t sound much better.
Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we normalize juggling?
Why do we make busy, stressed out, harried, over scheduled, multi-tasking, running on empty, cluttered lives seem like the coveted, time-honored thing to do?
And if we don’t happen to be adept at juggling, why is the answer to try to do it better—not to question why we’re doing it in the first place?
The distinction: The ability to juggle more versus having less to juggle.
Be honest: Are you looking for the ability to put more on your plate? Add to your To Do list and find superhuman ways to get it all done? Are you looking to handle more, manage more, get more done?
Here’s the thing: I don’t think the answer is to organize your clutter, be master juggler of your 882 commitments, better manage your time, mindlessly multitask, and just suck it up and get your To Do list done.
- I think the answer is to get rid of stuff. And loads of it.
- I think the answer is to start saying “no”. A lot.
- I think the answer is to have a very long To Don’t list and a very short To Do list.
- I think the answer is to embrace there’s more to life and living than managing time.
I think the answer is less.
Less stuff to organize. Less stress to manage. Less commitments to fulfill. Less To Dos to be done.
I think the answer is to stop buying into busy as the only way to be.
What about you? Are you going to continue putting more and more on your plate and trying to manage it?
Will you make the distinction and embrace life gets a whole lot better when there’s less to juggle to begin with?
