What’s enough?
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Yesterday I hosted a Q&A session for people who pre-ordered Productivity 101, my brand-new “back to basics” productivity course. At some point, we got to talking about having long daily to-do lists. One person said that he’s been working quite a bit on his productivity. In particular, he set up a task management system (in OmniFocus) that helps him make better decisions about how to spend his time. But, despite his best efforts, he still “does not have enough time in the day”. Several other people on the call said they often feel the same way way. It’s a common sentiment. You might feel that way from time to time. I do, too. And this sentiment is related to that other feeling of always being “behind”, somehow. (Behind on what? Who knows.) When you feel like there’s never enough time, what can you do? I like to ask myself a philosophical question: what is “enough”? How much would I have to get done today to feel happy with my accomplishments? How much would I have to get done this week? What’s the minimum acceptable work (or “productive” activity) on any given day? Am I allowed to have off-days? Is there some average I need to hit? Also, is “enough” related to how many tasks I check off my to-do list for today or is it more of a… feeling? And that last question always gets me. Feeling like you never have enough time is, of course, a feeling! This is one of the topics we discussed on the call yesterday and it’s also a topic we discuss in Productivity 101: while it’s tempting to think of productivity as a purely rational pursuit, in the end how you feel about your productivity is an emotional thing. And while you can ameliorate emotional problems with practical steps, often you do need to work on the emotions themselves, too. Often, I find that the feelings of not getting enough done or being behind are really masking another sentiment: in that moment, we’re not satisfied with our lives. Something’s missing. Something is not going fast enough. The antidote to dissatisfaction is gratitude. Feeling happy for what we do have. Appreciating the progress we’ve made, even if it has come slowly, over many years. When I feel like I haven’t worked hard enough, or like I should have gotten more done today, I try to pause for a moment and recall what I’m grateful for. I say that I “try to pause” because often I don’t think of this, of course… But when I do remember to pause, I name a few things I’m grateful for. I’m healthy. I’m safe. I’m free. And—this was not a given—I got to live another day! Really, that is “enough”, all by itself. |
Peter Akkies
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