When Busy Is Your Norm
When we get too busy or stressed, the things that we drop first are usually the things that have longer-term benefits: review and reflection; sleep and exercise; reading and thinking; exploration of new topics, new ideas.
Dropping these things may help us crank through some more urgent short-term tasks—which can sometimes be very important—but it comes at the cost of reducing our impact in the long run. When we give up reflection, health, thinking, and exploration, we give up tomorrow's big gains.
For some people, "busy and stressed" is more of a constant state of existence than a temporary phase, which means the beneficial long-term activities can get shoved out permanently. When this happens, decisions become more focused on the short-term, decisions are made more reactively instead of strategically, and we lose out on impact.
So your little nudge for this weekend is this: do you have regular space in your life for those important, non-urgent activities that benefit the long-term? Things like reflection, thinking, and exploring new ideas?
If not—or if you've dropped them—maybe it's time to bring them back in.
A great first start could be something like a short weekly review and reflection, where you have dedicated time and space to ask "how are things going?" But it could look like a lot of different things. The most important thing is that you're aware of this dynamic, so that these invisible tendencies don't control your life in violation of your deepest desires and values.
