The eleventh hour rush

I like to get a lot done in a day, and in order to help myself do that, I tend to keep a long list of regular jobs within reach. Most of them are simple tasks or habits I’m trying to develop, like “water work plants,” “check Facebook birthdays” or “click Hunger Site links.” There’s also “post today’s blog content,” which is what brings us here tonight.

There are days, after all, when a lot of these jobs just don’t get done. They’re nice things to stay on top of, but they’re not necessarily priorities, so they’re going to get lost in the shuffle if there’s something more important to worry about. Whenever that happens, however, I end up feeling like I’m neglecting them.

My daughter’s got a fever right now. My wife and I have been trading off throughout the day, and when I haven’t been on, I’ve been sleeping. Daily jobs that are so obvious that they’re not even on my list, like “shower,” didn’t get done today, so of course I didn’t bother with the other stuff.

But now that my daughter’s asleep, my wife’s gone to bed, and I’m alone at the kitchen table with a laptop and a baby monitor, I can’t help but look at my list and see what little I can get done before I turn in. I’ve got that same unaccomplished feeling I always have when I get to the end of the day with a bunch of these boxes unchecked, and that’s admittedly ridiculous, because I like to think I gave it my all today.

Thankfully, one of the other things I’ve finally getting good at is knowing when to say “Forget it, today’s done, try again tomorrow.” I’ve got a long way to go on that one, but I’m getting there.

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