Just stop
Sometimes you’ve got to just stop!
Yesterday I got my very long to-do list done at 4pm. And then I kept thinking of more I needed to do. Next thing I knew, I was sitting on my couch at 8 looking for more to get done.
Yeah, I know. Sick!
The problem with always being technologically connected is that there is always more to do. For a guy with a workaholic A-type personality like me, that doesn’t pan out too well. And the fact that my “work” is sitting on my laptop, and I have instant access to it all means that even when I’m just relaxing (surfing the web, reading news, watching tv) I’m a nano-second away from jumping back into work…just for a second.
But that second turns into a minute, and into 5 minutes and next thing you know…it’s 8 at night and I’ve missed putting my kids to bed again.
Maybe you don’t have this same challenge, but even if you identify just a little here’s what I have to say…
Sometimes, we just need to stop!
It doesn’t matter what is done or not done. Sometimes it’s just time to stop. Get to it tomorrow. Finish what you can and focus on what is important for this moment: Like kids, or reading, or having a conversation with your spouse or hanging out with friends. Just because we can do the work, doesn’t mean we should do it. If your whole life is work, either reorganize your systems (like pass off, or drop, some of your responsibilities and tasks or restructure what and how things get done at work), or, frankly, quit and get a life! If your system isn’t broken and it’s so constantly difficult to accomplish everything, you need to at least consider whether you are a fit for what you are doing.
However, there is a third option…work harder when you should be working!
I get a feeling that some of our workaholism comes from being unfocused and undisciplined when we should be getting something done, so that by the time we ought to be focused on the rest of our lives, we feel responsible to get working.
There is something satisfying about the old fashioned notion of putting in a full, solid, hard day of work (not constantly checking Facebook and talking to people all day), and then coming home and taking off your “work boots—turning off the computer—and calling it a night.
Let’s keep learning that we are human beings, not human doings.