It's been a while since I have checked in to my musings to report on the goings on in my brain and heart. Sometimes we just need to be in the world, doing what we do. Doing. Working. Experiencing. Being. This past week was my first uninterrupted week of work since starting my sabbatical. I actually had time at home to do my work without being called away. What a luxury and what a challenge! The challenge of course is the magnitude of my projects and the awkwardness of moving between them, prioritizing them and following through with them.
I have found that it takes me at least 1/2 hour just to get back into a project that has been inert, remember what I have done and figure out what I need to do next. Then of course comes the actual work of doing that next step in such a way that I am prepared for the following step. As I write this, it sounds incredibly dry and boring, and I am wondering why any one would ever keep reading this little post. But, I feel deep down there is a lesson here. . . somewhere.
When we have vision, and we have great goals for change and growth, new information, and new processes, we need tools to follow through with them. It becomes more complicated when you're like me and have three or more huge projects in the works at one time. Switching between them mentally can be a huge effort.
So, I have shifted my emphasis from what I am working on to what I am finishing.
Finishing, doesn't mean I am completely done, but done enough to let that project sit for a while in a state that I can successfully pick up when it is time. In other words, as I am working on a project, I am also thinking about the trail of breadcrumbs I am leaving behind that will help be reengage with the work later. I ask myself, is this document complete enough to consider a draft (whether brainstorm, outline, first or second)? Is this somehow usable for the next step? Or have I just left behind I mountain of chaotic thoughts that might leave me feeling more overwhelmed when I return to it?
Usability is key for me. I am incredibly talented at starting ideas, doing incredible brainstorming and then leaving it to sit and go nowhere. Now, as I am working on my sabbatical project I ask at each stage whether this dance score, or this chart, or this lesson plan can be used. Luckily, I am not a perfectionist so usability is something I can see at a variety of stages. Ultimately I want to create resources for myself so that I don't have to recreate the wheel every time.
There is something satisfying about generating something that works.
It's a bit like making your bed in the morning so it is ready for you to get in at night. Do the little bit of extra work that invites you back into the process so you can enter with joy and excitement.
Which leads me to my final question. . .
Did I make my bed today?
