3 Keys Thursday: 3 Keys for Deciding Whether or Not to do One Last Thing

Yesterday, I wrote a mea culpa blog post. Today I wore a "The goal is peace, not perfection" T-shirt and jeans to class. 

It’s one of those weeks. And, lately, several of them have collided.

Ideally, we learn not to overbook ourselves in the first place. In reality, however, sometimes the things we want to do insert themselves into our schedules at inopportune times, or on days that are already full. While it's sometimes possible to plan around these collisions, there are times when things are scheduled when they're scheduled and we just have to make it work.

As I alternately limp/slide/dance into the end of the semester, I'm having a lot of those days. Here are three key ideas I'm trying to keep in mind.

Just because there are still hours left in the day (until midnight) does not mean I need to complete a task today. That was where I found myself last night. I'd had a blog post idea early in the day, but the list of things I needed to do between idea and execution was long enough that I found myself trying to eke out a post during the 11:00 news. Not smart. (Also not the first time). When I finally gave myself permission to write my stream-of-consciousness list post (a proposition that was both simpler and faster), I managed to get something posted with much less angst and drama than laboring through the initial post would have generated. Sometimes good enough really is good enough -- and now I even have a post planned for next week. 

Think priorities. Is that thing on the list one of the most valuable things in our life? If not, is it worth sacrificing the things that are valuable (family, sleep) just to check it off the list? Stephen Covey's exhortation to put first things first is a good rule to live by. Sometimes, we get so caught up in our lists and other people's priorities that we forget about the unspoken items at the very top of the list. Hanging out with my daughter (the activity that pushed that blog post over the top) really was more important than writing the post I set out to write in the first place.

Take a page out of Scarlet O’Hara‘s book. Tomorrow really is another day. Will everything fall apart if what’s left on the list waits until then?

There will always be times when we are overwhelmed, and times when we struggle to balance our responsibilities to others with responsibility to ourselves. The funny thing is that cutting ourselves some slack is perhaps the best thing we can do for everyone involved. 

So, go ahead. Curl up with that cup of tea or glass of wine and nudge those last few items onto a list for another day (better yet, delegate them!) A little down time now might just be the thing that lifts you up for tomorrow.