TLDR: Get plenty of rest and sleep, reduce distractions, prioritise, focus on what you can prevent, do your best, focus on what you can control, take opportunities immediately, respond don’t react.
I made a commitment to myself to become a writer. This means writing every day. I write a lot that I never post and some of what I do post is questionable, including this but I need progress. This post serves a purpose as a reminder that no matter how much progress you make in your personal development, it’s still possible to let things slip. You don’t just read all the books, do it and then you’re done – it’s incremental progress with some challenges along the way.
Look after your body. Guard your mind. Never give up.
I have a really short fuse at the moment. Anything that doesn’t go to plan makes me instantly, over-the-top angry. Triggers from this morning include messages waking me up early, someone changing into my lane as I was accelerating and teachers calling in sick and having to teach their classes (I have an upcoming project deadline).
These are my reflections on how I got myself here:
- Sleep and rest. I haven’t been getting enough rest and sleep for three years. This seems to be the biggest factor – my body is screaming at me to stop and rest which is tricky as I have responsibilities which don’t always allow me to rest and sleep when I want or need to. When well-rested, reactions to various triggers are minimal, decision-making is much more reliable and concentration is optimal. It also reduces the noise in your head. I’ll talk about the importance of sleep in more detail in a future post.
- Distractions and assumptions. For work, I made assumptions about the time I had available and got regularly distracted, although I suspect the distractions are partly related to sleep and rest.
- Hyperfocus. I had become hyper-focused on one project to the detriment of others. Now those will be delayed which adds pressure.
Lessons:
- Prioritise sleep and rest.
- In addition to the above, reduce distractions. Turn off devices and non-essential notifications. Carve out time slots for specific tasks and be strict about following them.
- Prioritise tasks, but still carve out time each day for less immediate tasks. Focus on what you can prevent.
- Do your best. You can’t expect more than that. Everything else is out of your control.
- Focus on what you can control. If you can’t do anything about it, it’s not worth your time and energy.
- Don’t assume the opportunity will wait for you or come again. If you can do it now, do it now. You might not have the chance later.
- Respond don’t react. When triggered, take a step back – don’t do anything immediately and choose rationally what to do next.
- Every challenge is an opportunity to grow.
What challenges are you facing? How will you respond?
thejourneyx 