Flexibility and Prioritization

Life’s been a bit of a whirlwind lately. I feel like since 2012 started, I’ve been go-go-go. I’ve had commitments several nights a week and appointments, meetings, doctor checkins, etc. I’m going to CHA this weekend and then have in-laws visiting next weekend and then it’s David’s birthday. And to top it all, work’s also at an all-time high pace.

Ordinarily, this would be enough to stress me out and make me want to curl up and cry. But alas, it’s one of the things I’ve been working on for 2012. So I think it’s just good luck that all this chaos is coming my way early in the year to test my resolve and commitment.

When you live as structured a life as I do and you have as many goals and tasks each day as I do, curveballs or one-off changes aren’t easy to handle. Last year, I noticed that when such things occurred, I didn’t do a good job of reacting to them and recovering from them. My goal this year was to be better about it.

To accomplish this, one of the things I did was to create a more flexible schedule. I changed my goals so instead of sketching daily, I told myself I would do it 4 times a week. Same with art journaling and several of my other daily tasks. The goal was to take the pressure off such that if I had to skip one day, I was still meeting the goals I set for myself. The only thing I do each day is my exercise, everything else was more flexible.

As it turned out, I have been sketching daily but making only 1-2 art journal pages a week. If that. I’ve learned over time that creative ventures have an ebb and flow so I am choosing to let it go where it flourishes more at the moment. And sketching is the fun part for me, for now.

Last night, as I sat in class, we talked about how there are theories that consider Willpower to be a muscle. And just like any muscle, you can wear it out, so then you need to rest and rebuild and while you’re doing that, it’s not as strong. This led our teacher to say “Pay attention to where your willpower goes each day.” And that’s the part that really resonated with me. The trouble with setting so many goals, restrictions, plans in my day is that I have to use willpower for each of them. And then as the day wears down, so does my muscle.

So now I pay attention to where my willpower goes. I set my goals accordingly. I prioritize. Things that “must” get done that day and things that would be nice to do. I leave room for last minute changes (because with two kids, a job and a hubby those are not as rare as I might like to think) and I regularly let go. I also know that eventually things do calm down. So I fit in whatever I can into the nooks and crannies of my day and take time to be grateful for them.

Even as I’ve become more flexible, I still have a lot of structure to my days and I still have my non-negotiables (more on this some other time). But as I learn more and more about willpower, I am learning to grow, adjust and leave room for rest. The trick is being able to take the curveballs with grace.

And to be better with adding more flexibility to my life, one of the habits I will add to my morning routine is this idea of prioritizing my willpower. So I can make sure to savor this rare resource and use it well.