The Proper Order Of Things
Finding the time to fit in the things you want or think you should do can seem like a very difficult task at times. Often we have something we don’t really want to do but feel we should for whatever reason, and as long as we avoid it we also tend not to get much else done - because our thoughts constantly come back to the thing we are avoiding, creating stress and a general lack of attention on whatever we are doing.
The answer then may be that we just need to get on with the thing we’re putting off. Imagine a flow of water with a block in the way. If we remove this block, then the water can flow, and so too can we flow back into the constant tasks that we have, the constant moments of living. In a sense, when we resist doing the one thing, we stop the flow that allows us to do all the other things. You may have heard a famous phrase from the Bible, Ecclesiastes 3:1, which says:
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.
If the time for doing the task we resist is now, and we avoid it, then logically that puts everything else out of the right time as well. The correct timing for our tasks is actually interdependent on other tasks and actions or non-actions. To bring in more knowledge (if our task is studying, say), we may need to empty our minds first to allow the space for that new knowledge. If some heavy manual labour is required of us we may need to rest and eat well to fuel our bodies beforehand. So it turns out that clearing that clutter may literally free up your attention so that you can focus on other things! You can get more done by doing what needs to be done when it needs to be done, aligning with the natural rhythms of nature and the flow of life instead of resisting.
What this amounts to of course, is an amount of faith. It means giving up our own egotistical ideas of what to do and when we act, it means giving up our strong preferences and desires in favour of a higher purpose and a higher vision of correct action, timing and living. My advice to you would be not to underestimate the effect doing a small task you’ve been putting off may have on the rest of your day and output and activity and life, things are a lot more interdependent than you think.
March 4th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
I was recently introduced to the concept of list-making as a way to not just organise my day, but to clear my mind of needless worrying. As menial as it sounds, creating a list of things I need to do in a day, and actively crossing the items out as I go along has worked really well for me.
It somehow makes all those pesky tasks seem manageable, and it helps me to take proper rests, as opposed to having stressed bouts of procrastination. Rests that I can say I deserve, because I’ve achieved something, and which I have time for, because I can see how many more things I need to get done.
March 5th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
Aha..! I’m glad it’s working well for you, Nick. Certainly there are excellent reasons for creating to-do lists, the can be very simple and effective ways of keeping track of our commitments and tasks, so that we can plan them effectively and be sure we’ll remember to do them - thus no longer do we need to think about them all the time. It can be a real opportunity to practice “taking care of the one thing we have in front of us”… doing one thing at a time, until our work is done. And yes, it also allows for tangible proof of our achievements (often we feel we need to have done so much before we allow ourselves a rest or celebration, and so many of the smaller things go unremembered and discounted).
I myself have a terrible time with to-do lists. I end up creating huge ones to the point of being overwhelmed.. it never ends, I could go on adding things forever, so I’m instead focusing on living moment to moment and letting things fall where they may. When it comes down to it, very few of the things on the list are of any real importance, it is only my sense of trying to control things that makes it seem that way.
What you’ve described Nick is sensible use of the planning side of our brains - make the plan, then get out of planning mode and into free-flow. I salute you.