{"id":3754,"date":"2014-11-01T07:00:47","date_gmt":"2014-11-01T11:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/?p=3754"},"modified":"2018-05-01T15:53:05","modified_gmt":"2018-05-01T19:53:05","slug":"36581-letting-go-of-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/36581-letting-go-of-work\/","title":{"rendered":"365+#81: Letting Go of Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE HAMSTER SYNDROME\"days-36581-hamster-my-photo\"<\/a>
\n<\/strong>Do you ever feel like you\u2019re a hamster running a never ending wheel of activity and never quite getting caught up. I do. People ask how I am and I\u2019m tempted to say \u201cBusy.\u201d I\u2019ve been trying to eliminate that answer as an automatic response because I realize that it\u2019s usually just a variation of \u201cLook how important I am. I have lots to do.\u201d When I pause enough to consider the \u201cI\u2019m busy\u201d comment, I realize that most people I know are busy and it doesn\u2019t really mean that what fills my time is any more important than my neighbor\u2019s time. Instead of wearing \u201cbusyness\u201d as a badge of honor, I\u2019ve started to reframe it as a weakness. It is a myth that I will ever get completely caught up \u2013 forever.<\/p>\n

5 Busyness Myths that keep me stuck racing on the hamster wheel<\/span>
\n1. I must do it all.<\/strong>
\nThe weakness is the inability to prioritize.
\n\"Time<\/a>2. My value depends on how much I do.<\/strong>
\nThe erroneous idea that the more I accomplish the more valuable I am and people will like me
\n3. Society respects busyness.<\/strong>
\nHonoring busyness is really a smug version of \u201cLook how important I am!\u201d
\n4. I will eventually get caught up.<\/strong>
\nThe assumption that I can conquer today\u2019s \u201cTo Do\u201d list and actually get caught up defies\u00a0all historical evidence. I know that I will soon just add more tasks onto my list and soon be behind again.
\n5. Being responsible<\/strong> means doing lots of things and doing them fast.
\nBeing responsible means following through on my commitments but also not biting off more than I can chew.<\/p>\n

As I realize the folly of figuring out how to do things faster, more efficiently, and just do more, I\u2019ve found:<\/p>\n

5 Ways to get off the hamster wheel<\/span>
\n1. One In \u2013 One Out<\/strong>
\nApply this principle of pruning household goods to my commitments. Before I say yes to a new commitment, committee, or volunteer activity – Am I willing to let go of a current involvement?
\n2. Cut myself down to size
\n<\/strong>No matter how talented I am, I can\u2019t save the world. I can do somethings, but not everything. Sometimes I take on more than I should because I\u2019m flattered to be asked or I think I can do it better than another, or I\u2019m afraid if I don\u2019t do it nobody will. This is faulty thinking that suggests I\u2019m the only one who can do a task. Sometimes, leaving a task undone, permits a hole that another person will eventually fill, once the need is evident. It\u2019s a good mentoring and parenting principle.
\n3. Not all things are equally important or urgent
\n<\/strong>I may want to organize my spice rack, check my email, or finish off a task but the person in front of me takes priority. Be it a child who needs attention or a spouse who feels neglected, relationships come first. After loving the people around me, then the difficult task of prioritizing the essential over the \u201cwould be nice to do\u201d kicks in. We Type A personalities tend to think we should be able to do it all. That\u2019s what makes us feel important. The real wisdom, however, is having the guts to prioritize and skip the non-urgent.
\n4. Divide and Conquer
\n<\/strong>Today I have 17 things that I need to do before I leave for Rome in 9 days (and that doesn\u2019t count calling my mother!) I feel overwhelmed since many of the tasks depend on getting information from other people. This morning I realized if I could do at least 2 tasks a day I\u2019d be OK. I may not have time to frost my hair but I\u2019ll get the important stuff done.
\n5. Take Time Out First
\n<\/strong>It may seem like quiet time alone is non-productive time. For us work-a-holics it may seem like taking time to rest, to play, to pray is a waste of time. The human spirit needs time and space, however, to rejuvenate and ponder the meaning of it all. My own practice has been to take time to pray as soon as I awake in the morning. Occasionally, I delay it thinking I\u2019ll get dressed first or check email, or whatever seems so urgent that I have to do it first. Inevitably the day slips away and I\u2019m back on the hamster wheel. Starting with some quiet open space reminds me of why I am here and what\u2019s really important. It also helps me with point #3 \u2013 prioritizing what really must get done this day.<\/p>\n

Some people are naturally laid back and need to procrastinate less. That\u2019s another problem for another day although I think some of the same principles may apply. Let\u2019s face it, we humans will probably never be fully caught up. To chase after that goal will just make us weary. Downsizing our expectation of finally getting caught up may be a healthier way to live. What works for you?<\/p>\n

PS: One tip that will both save you and your FaceBook friends time is to commit to not posting more than 1 thing a day. (This is a somewhat unrelated pet peeve of mine but as much as I enjoy catching up on friends’ lives and getting inspirational messages, it can be a time hog. TV used to play this role in many of our lives. I think Facebook has taken its place. No more than One-A-Day seems to be a good rule of thumb to me.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE HAMSTER SYNDROME Do you ever feel like you\u2019re a hamster running a never ending wheel of activity and never quite getting caught up. I do. People ask how I am and I\u2019m tempted to say \u201cBusy.\u201d I\u2019ve been trying to eliminate that answer as an automatic response because I realize that it\u2019s usually just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[17,49],"class_list":["post-3754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beyond-stuff","tag-musings","tag-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3754"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4701,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3754\/revisions\/4701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}