Rock on your back

I talked to a friend today who has an incredible amount going on in their life right now. None of the things he needs to do are bad and not all of them are mammoth projects, but there are a lot of them. While I'm talking to him, trying to figure out what was going on and what I could do, he described it like having rocks on his back. It snapped into focus.

Imagine for a moment you are going on a hike with one of those huge, you can carry everything backpacks. If it is loaded properly, it will have everything you need in it and weigh an amount you can manage. It feels good, balanced. Now imagine some devious fiend, think handlebar mustache and woman tied to the train track, begins slipping things you don't need into your pack unnoticed. At first, it gets a little heavy, maybe slows you down, then gets uncomfortable and finally can result in you not taking it at all.

I have been my own villain, loading my own back pack with rocks and felt that overwhelming feeling of I just can't do this. I completely understood exactly what my friend was saying, and my guess is some of you have felt this way to. Sometimes you can get so overwhelmed by the weight of the tasks it can keep you from doing any of them. This does nothing for you, because when your distraction ends, the tasks remain.

I listen and I think about the rocks, these tasks, which have hurt my friend and I realize there is a method we would use, if this was a real rather than metaphorical pack, to solve this problem. Repack. If you are in this spot, you can do the same thing right now.

First things first, dump out your pack, look at all the stuff you are carrying around, what is it weighing on your mind that you need to get done. Really look at them. Make a list of them. Now, write beside them the length of time it is going to take you to do each of those tasks, this is like their relative weight. Now anything which is less than two minutes, do it immediately, don't wait, don't even finish this blog, do it now. Now, anything that is under ten minutes, drop it in the pack. You are going to handle these things today. How much time does that leave you? Ok, now those bigger rocks, those longer than ten minute tasks need to be prioritized. High, medium and low. One at a time pack the highest to lowest priority items and leave everything else. Don't overpack you bag. You know how much time you gave left.

If you have done this right, the pack will be right and balanced, but it still might feel heavy. You just stopped carrying more tasks than you can handle, it is going to take a minute to adjust. As the coach would say, walk it off. Take the pack, with just the things you can handle and begin getting them done. You may be tired at the end of your day, but you'll be more successful than you were yesterday and you'll have less to pack tomorrow.

The quicker I do this, the less overwhelmed my day feels, I trust the same will be true for you.