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May
06

Take a Sip, Not a Gulp

How is it that the start of a new work week can simultaneously feel full of potential and full of impossibilities? Perhaps we approach the list of to do items with great vigor and hope, but then we feel the undertow as it pulls at us and makes us think we will never get it all done. What if we didn’t decide to gulp down all those needed things to do and instead took little sips?

Yesterday, I tried a new approach to getting my work done. Each hour was set with what I was to work on. At the end of each hour: a stretch, a refill on coffee or water, and then on to the next hour’s endeavor. I do not know if this was just a fluke, but it worked so I’m sharing the idea.

So often in life we think the only way to get through something is to take it all in—tear at it from top to bottom or from the floor up. However, the tasks are usually larger and more daunting then our stamina, especially if we try to swallow them all at one time. Sure, you will argue that some things cannot just be left unattended or left half way completed. But more often than not if we work at something with good intent for just a little while and then release and resolve to return sooner—rather than later—we will satiate our abilities to get those things on life’s to-do list done. And, I have to say, it is far more enjoyable to sip and savor, than gulp and gag.