Dateline Columbia, SC: Local Woman Crushed Under pile of Naked Scientists
Husband: “I told her she didn’t have to listen to all those back episodes.”
Does that sound like you? It’s the story of my life.
Basic time management says when you feel overwhelmed, break whatever it is down into little manageable pieces and tackle each in turn.
I’m excellent at doing that in my job, but not so much in the rest of my life. I have great intentions: learn Spanish, keep up with my favorite podcasts, stay on top of website updates for the Carolina Butterfly Society (trip reports roll in all summer), keep up with my favorite blogs, etc. etc. etc.
Then I get a little behind. And little more behind. And the next thing you know I have hundreds of hours of unheard podcasts, hundreds of unread blog posts, and an entire summer’s worth of trip reports to post. And I still have to look up “Lo Nuestro” (title of song by Juanes) because I do NOT have all those stupid pronouns down. I am feeling seriously overwhelmed.
To deal with the trip reports, I started posting one a day – just 1! – and I’m almost halfway through the backlog. Doesn’t feel overwhelming, doesn’t take a big commitment. This morning (yes, I’m a little slow sometimes) I started to wonder where else I could apply that same principle.
So here’s my challenge to myself: start where I am, figure out how to catch up on the things that are important. And lose the COMPULSION to catch up on those that aren’t. Maybe today I will listen to one Spanish lesson, or read one blog, or rock out with one episode of Punky!Radio.