Do you remember the game Tetris? That addictive shape-dropping game where you knew you had been playing too long once you started seeing the shapes fall in your sleep.
Well sometimes I think life can feel like that, certainly my life. It can be easy to get tripped up by the busyness of life and events and friends and projects-you-want-to-get-started and sport and games and, and, and…
DON’T FORGET TO BREATHE…
My wife and I have been back in South Africa for about two and a half years now, after a three year non-profit excursion to the States. For some reason it has felt like life has been so completely busy since we’ve been back. To be fair Val is running a non-profit called Common Change and hosting the first ever Justice Conference in South Africa and I have been involved in Peace Justice Witness duties on local university campuses and writing a book dealing with Race, so there is that.
But add friends and a new home that we are renting and trying to grow food and board games and church vibes and it really suddenly starts to feel like an advanced level of Tetris.
Life can tend to happen around you if you’re not careful and living quickly becomes existing and comments like “make it through the day” or “just get to the weekend” start to regularly flow from your mouth.
PLAN A PLAN
When life seems to be rushing you along, I have found that the best way to get on top of things is to plan ahead. Which to some people might be super obvious, but to a lot of us might not be the first thing we rush to.
Think early levels of Tetris, when the shapes are moving slowly and there is a lot of time to plan. In times when life is not so busy, make sure you have a diary and use it.
On the weekend Val tends to plan our meals for the week and then goes shopping so that before the new week starts we know exactly how food is going to work.
Setting aside certain evenings for regular activities (like my improv classes and her Pilates) is helpful because those become routine.
Going back to Tetris, another super helpful part of the game is when it highlights the next piece that is going to drop, so you can sneak a quick look and start planning a little in advance.
One of the things I have found to be so helpful in my life is when on Monday I write a ‘To Do’ list for the week. Everything I am hoping to get done that week and possibly a few extra items I would like to try and achieve if there is time. Some of them will have days next to them to help me prioritise and others will be left to see what gaps of leftover time I can give to them.
ENACT YOUR PLAN
It doesn’t help to have a diary and a ‘To Do’ list and then not use them. I also think different things will work for different people so experiment a little until you find out what works well for you.
Some people love Excel spreadsheets but those don’t work well for me. I tend to open a Word doc on my computer and just make a quick list of points for the week. Other people might stick reminder alarms on their phones. And so on.
But once you have come up with a plan to help you keep ahead of the metaphorical falling shapes of your busyness, then you need to do it. That is where discipline comes in.
I heard someone on the radio the other night suggesting that you make a list of max five things and put the most difficult thing on the top. Once you have finished the most difficult thing, everything else will seem easier and be quicker to do. Another suggestion was to give yourself a small reward after each item is ticked off (making sure it’s not a three hour nap for a two minute item). Once you have finished the list, create your next five item list. And repeat.
Hopefully once you start to get a system in place, you will no longer find yourself lying in bed with your list of ‘Things To Do’ flying at you like out of control Tetris shapes.
How about you? What are some of the methods you have found work for you? What advice would you give to someone who found like life was feeling a bit out of control at the moment? Share some ideas in the comments below.