Thursday, January 7, 2016

Clearing Decks Fast

Zestful Blog Post #140

As many of us do, I find the onset of winter a good time to take stock, clean up stuff I’ve procrastinated on, and clear decks for new work and life. This time I’m trying to be fast and ruthless, because there’s so much on my wanna-do list.

I quit my part-time lifeguard job. I’d wanted to keep it up for a year, but decided six months is good enough. (Gave proper notice, of course.) I figured it thusly: I went through the training as a challenge, then decided I might as well actually use that training and see what it feels like to be in charge of a public pool. So now I know. Didn’t have to jump in and save anyone during that time, thank God, but I gathered new experience, gained skills, and made new friends. The aquatics director would love to have me back. I think I’ll keep up my certifications just in case. The hours I would have spent guarding, I’ll spend writing and perhaps learning new things. This falls under the category of “declare victory and move on.” I’ll definitely keep up my swimming and will see the gang around the Y.


A nice clear deck.

Am following up on obligations and planning, and getting rid of stuff I haven’t used. Sold my beautiful old Deagan marimba. It’s a wonderful instrument, but I hadn’t played it much for years, and it was taking up practically a third of my office space. So now it’s in another musician’s home, and I bet he’s enjoying it. And the clear space in my office feels good.

Moreover, I’m looking forward more than back. That’s the key to speed and peace of mind, I think. And of course, being right here in the present is best for productivity.

Onward. With coffee.

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6 comments:

  1. Congratulations on learning to lifeguard, doing it and now releasing that job to write more. It shows a growth process. I have a lemon squeezer, errr, a small accordion I should probably give up.
    Thanks for sharing insights and growth. Be well.

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  2. Ha! A squeezebox! I had one of those too... once upon a time...

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  3. I love this - "This falls under the category of “declare victory and move on.”" I think it's often too easy to put ourselves down for not finishing what we start, for not seeing something all the way through. There's something to be said for making a choice, a decision, to stop, to say "enough," to say "I'm good." :)

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  4. Madeline, your comments are always so good. Thanks for stopping in. We're good!

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  5. This is late but...in an earlier blog you spoke of writers getting paid for their works. On NPR.org's home page, under book news and features, is a story that concerns this very subject. Basically it confirms what you wrote.

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  6. Hey, cool, Big Stan. Amen & all that, too.

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