Some Days are Hammock Days

Pixabay

This summer has not been a typical summer. My daughter, usually at home for most of the summer, was home for just a week before heading off to her first trip abroad. Once home, she was here for a few days before taking a beach trip with friends. In addition, my mom is sick, and I am choosing to make as many trips home as possible.

With the exception of my mom's cancer, this is all good stuff, but the unusual schedule leaves me feeling as though I'm running into roadblocks on a regular basis.

Usually, I'm one of those people who's on both the sending and receiving end of the "don't worry, it'll get done. It always does." message, but this summer, it might not all get done.

And that's okay. Or at least that's what I'm trying to tell myself.

Amid all this convincing, it occurred to me yesterday that my mindset is the biggest road block of all. What if, instead of looking at summer as a blank slate on which to paint all of my projects, I looked at it as a time to slow down and recharge? I mean, a lot of people do just that, right? In an earlier post, I even wrote about making down time as intentional as work time.

It's clear that I still need to work on this.

Interestingly enough, it's my frequent trips that have given me an opening here. Often, there are numerous items on my list that I will not be able to accomplish by the time I need to leave for a trip, an appointment, or something else on my schedule. In those situations, as I find myself looking around wondering what to do, the question that pops into my head is quite simple.

What one task will give you the greatest satisfaction now OR what would you most like to see already done when you return? 

Ironically, this is a stripped down version of the mindset that feeds my Big 3 approach.

At least I'm consistent.

If you're like me, knowing what needs to be done and putting it into action are two different things. There are all sorts of complex ways to move from theory to action -- shortening my list, keeping one big, long list and prioritizing the items, or ditching lists entirely and spending the summer in a hammock. In reality, depending on the day, each of those could work.

And that's exactly what I need to work on keeping in mind. Some days are short list days. Some days are long list days.

And some days are hammock days.

I think that might just become my motto for the summer.