Junk Drawer
Email to my business coach April 2, 2012, posting this after a long year of challenges and learning a lot (26mar13). Lots of AHAs looking back. I asked for help often and I have a much better understanding of what to expect from people I surround myself with. When you're drowning you can't scream.
Subject: AHA - Challenges / "Junk Drawer" revelation....
To: "Phillip"
Rather, "DUH - HUH." I've got to get this out.
Sometimes it's like not knowing where stuff goes. You know how so many
of us have a "junk" drawer that collects everything? I feel like my
life lately has been like that. So many things are new territory at
this time.
Unless under pressure on "one" thing, it's a constant struggle to see
things coming in and knowing where to put them. So they end up in the
junk drawer.
At home, what's natural: Junk drawer gets full, and I'm forced to grab
the 5 paperclips, screws, and zipties to put them into the toolbox or
office drawer. All the dried up pens that may or may not have "life"
left in them; the bent up paperclip that had a specific use at one
time; the expired coupons, box tops for education, kool-aid points...
all end up in the trash and the junk drawer is empty again.
At work: I must adopt the policy of touching things only once, or it
gets thrown. I honestly hate looking through emails to prioritize them
because I feel like going back to them hurts me somehow. Wastes my
time.. so I get anxious and ignore when it's not rational to do so.
Suddenly they are all fires. All important. If I hire something out
and it's done wrong, sorted improperly, emails auto-tagged in the
wrong category, I have an internal tantrum about why they weren't
labeled correctly and then I jump in and save it-fix it- and inside I
remind myself that I can't trust myself in hiring, or that I can't
trust anyone but myself. Terrible cycle.
It seems my "STOP DOING" list will also include a "DOES NOT FRIGGIN
MATTER" list right next to it.
**Working on my calendar now. I think this (above) may be part of the
reason I struggle with having a calendar I look at and follow...
because it forces me to NOT even have time to deal with BS if it
SHOULDN'T be on my plate to begin with.
I am sorry that I have not been clear about what some of my needs are.
The needs are also only becoming more clear to me as this process
continues. Kinda feeling like a smelly tear-inducing onion right now.
Layers. Crying. Thank you for being so patient and helpful!!!
I think I need to know what the priorities are in your eyes and need
dates for them. And how much time I should spend on each area: "IN the
business" and how much time I spend "ON the business."
Subject: AHA - Challenges / "Junk Drawer" revelation....
To: "Phillip"
Rather, "DUH - HUH." I've got to get this out.
Sometimes it's like not knowing where stuff goes. You know how so many
of us have a "junk" drawer that collects everything? I feel like my
life lately has been like that. So many things are new territory at
this time.
Unless under pressure on "one" thing, it's a constant struggle to see
things coming in and knowing where to put them. So they end up in the
junk drawer.
At home, what's natural: Junk drawer gets full, and I'm forced to grab
the 5 paperclips, screws, and zipties to put them into the toolbox or
office drawer. All the dried up pens that may or may not have "life"
left in them; the bent up paperclip that had a specific use at one
time; the expired coupons, box tops for education, kool-aid points...
all end up in the trash and the junk drawer is empty again.
At work: I must adopt the policy of touching things only once, or it
gets thrown. I honestly hate looking through emails to prioritize them
because I feel like going back to them hurts me somehow. Wastes my
time.. so I get anxious and ignore when it's not rational to do so.
Suddenly they are all fires. All important. If I hire something out
and it's done wrong, sorted improperly, emails auto-tagged in the
wrong category, I have an internal tantrum about why they weren't
labeled correctly and then I jump in and save it-fix it- and inside I
remind myself that I can't trust myself in hiring, or that I can't
trust anyone but myself. Terrible cycle.
It seems my "STOP DOING" list will also include a "DOES NOT FRIGGIN
MATTER" list right next to it.
**Working on my calendar now. I think this (above) may be part of the
reason I struggle with having a calendar I look at and follow...
because it forces me to NOT even have time to deal with BS if it
SHOULDN'T be on my plate to begin with.
I am sorry that I have not been clear about what some of my needs are.
The needs are also only becoming more clear to me as this process
continues. Kinda feeling like a smelly tear-inducing onion right now.
Layers. Crying. Thank you for being so patient and helpful!!!
I think I need to know what the priorities are in your eyes and need
dates for them. And how much time I should spend on each area: "IN the
business" and how much time I spend "ON the business."