I have been struggling to put one foot in front of the other lately. My list of projects and tasks is piling up, and every time I look at it all I want to do is have a nap. Not being the sharpest knife in the drawer, I keep trying to slog ahead, ignoring that my motivation is shrivelling, my energy is dwindling, and I’m starting to resent things I usually enjoy.
I finally realized that, if I want to actually recoup energy and interest, I can no longer put off taking time off. And then all the Reasons-Why-I-Can’t started piling up: I can’t afford a vacation right now / I can’t take time off work / I already have all these commitments / I’ll be letting people down. Fortunately, eventually my coaching training kicked in and asked me to question both my assumptions and my perspectives.
Ok, I thought. Maybe I can’t go to France for a week. But there must be things that I can take vacation from. I started making a list, and with every item I added I felt more energized.
As you check it out, I invite you to ask yourself, “What do I need a vacation from?” Small or large, I bet that at least part of your self-made vacation is right here, within reach, just waiting for you to kick back with a mojito.
So, here it is: things I can and will take vacation from until September 1st:
- Blogging.
- My RSS Feed.
- Twitter, Facebook, and most of the internet.
- Making daily and weekly to-do lists.
- Tracking how I spend my money. (An end of month total will suffice this month.)
- Sending non-necessary emails / replying to emails that can wait.
- Reading any list-serve or newsletter emails.
- Beating myself up for not doing the project work I was planning to do in August.
- Reading books for next year’s coursework.
- Business development.
- Planning.
- Writing and sending my coaching-tip-of-the-week newsletter.
- Any business-related administrative work that is non-urgent.
- Checking email more than twice a day.
- Writing my Monday notes to self / intentions for the week.
- Scheduling any new social engagements. Spontaneous things – great; scheduled things – stressful.
- Writing letters and postcards.
- That list of phone calls that is on my white board and keeps taunting me with it’s not-yet-done-ness. I’m erasing it – now!
- The radio. I’m going to listen inward instead.
- A weekly assessment of all my tasks, projects, and ideas. (Yes, you may be noticing that I need a break from my usual super-organized and planning self.)
- Trying to control my feelings. If I’m sad, lonely, tired, happy, excited, whatever, I’m just going to go with it instead of trying to figure it out.
- Making decisions.
- Going the extra mile.
- Offering help.
- Trying to be smart.
- Trying to have it figured out.
Wow. What a relief! I’m stunned to see how many things in my average week I can write off if I choose to. Where did they all come from?
And, to round this out, here is what I choose not to take vacation from:
- Email twice a day
- Already scheduled coaching and work commitments
- Social engagements I have already committed to
- Running
- Being an aunt and a sister
- My volunteer gig
- Two business projects that I’ve put a September 1st deadline on
- Dreaming
- Imagining
I’ll be back in September. Until then, you can find me making mojitos.
Dear Laura
You carry a very heavy load it seems, even in your holidays.
The stuff you dropped as you left for a vacation made quite a ‘clunk’ on your posting here.
I trust you are resting and refilling.
All the best for the new refreshed you.