Will trying to do more bring you peace?

This is a question I’ve been rolling around in my mind since I got back from a recent vacation. I mentioned in another blog that it took me shockingly long—an entire week—to unclench from the stress of work. Wound up by my to-do list, project management, yard work, all the usual concerns of daily life, it felt like it took forever to relax into peace where I could simply enjoy each day.

In trying to keep some of that hard-regained vacation peace with me now, I’ve been asking myself a simple question when I look at my to-do list for the next thing to do: is this really something I want to do today (or tonight)?

Often, when I'm procrastinating on starting a new project, just taking the first step is a fantastic barrier-breaking move. The momentum and dopamine carry me into the subsequent steps and I can get a lot done.

But when I'm overwhelmed, chipping away isn't always better. Starting a bunch of projects I don’t actually finish can lead to chaos, frustration, and stalling out. I don't get the satisfaction of crossing a task off my list, closing that activity loop in my mind, and being able to look at the finished task or project and think, great, that’s done, I don’t have to worry about it anymore.

So while the chip-away method is vital, especially for writing projects, it’s important also to recognize when you’ve got too many irons in the fire. One night last week I had planned to sew some grass seed when I got home. We’d been in a bit of a rainy season here and I thought, if I can get this seed in now, I won’t have to water it, saving me time and money and, well, water. But I was also tired and it was 8:30. I entertained the idea of pushing it off til the next day but I realized very few barriers were in front of me: I didn't need to change out of my office clothes to do it and I had a bag of grass seed sitting right in the garage alongside the tools I needed. I just walked out to the front yard, took maybe ten minutes to scratch up the dirt, put the grass seed in, and quickly water it—and then I was done! Fantastic.

I felt a charge of energy from doing that, so my mind immediately went to what else can I get done tonight? But this is where I pulled myself back. In the past, I would’ve tried to pile on more tasks until I ran out of energy or time. Or I might have been so charged up by my accomplishments that I would have pushed myself to keep finishing tasks during time that would have been better spent sleeping.

Instead I asked myself, do I really want to do something else tonight? Or can this be enough? So I let putting in the grass seed be the thing I did that kept the list moving. I felt such satisfaction that the evening had been well spent and I could also take time to relax.

If you’re in a moment where you have more to do than time to do it all, I invite you to consider doing a little less. Think about quality over quantity. What are one or two things you could do to keep your tasks moving forward, but not in an overwhelming way? What's your I'll put in this grass seed, but then I'm relaxing for the rest of the evening? I'd love to hear in the comments.

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