Pick one thing
Photo by Emmanuel Mbala on Unsplash
I have a bit of anxiety. Perhaps not anything that rises to a clinical level; just a general Gen X mode of existing. We were raised to expect the worst (see, for instance, The Neverending Story). Add to that my quintessentially Virgo personality and all of the many different hats we are asked to wear (teacher, researcher, mentor, admin, leader, etc) during the course of our weeks, and I often find myself ruminating on the 500 different things that need to be done at that particular moment. I question whether there is a Most Efficient Order, or if efficiency needs to take a seat to importance. Am I targeting speed or priority? Or whatever is easiest? What is the right thing to start with? This spiral often leads me to decision paralysis. I don’t choose anything because I’m afraid of choosing the wrong thing that wastes my time.
Joke’s on me, because by not picking something, I am most definitely wasting my time.
So, I tell myself, “pick one thing, Jen.” That’s the advice that was given to me by one of my favourite people. They shared with me that it doesn’t matter what I pick. It doesn’t have to be The Most Important Thing. It just has to be something. Then, once the work begins, I start to feel a bit calmer because I can see that at least some progress is being made. And then I can start to think clearer about what I should prioritize next.
I’m reminded of this advice as we start the New Year. This is the time of year when we often set all kinds of resolutions and goals for ourselves: eat healthier meals, exercise more, read more, write more, start that new hobby, get that paper out, get new grant funding, etc. We want to do all of these things, but we feel like we’re supposed to—or at least that we want to—do them all simultaneously, immediately, and with gusto. This too leads to decision paralysis, or burnout, and invariably, those resolutions get dropped, often by the second week of January on what is now colloquially called ‘Quitter’s Day’. What a horrible name for a day. And what a horrible message: by this date, you will have likely failed?! Let’s change that language and that mindset.
Let’s decide instead that we’re not going to do all of the things right now, particularly as the world around us feels like its descending into complete chaos and instability. But we are going to do one thing. Now, I’m not suggesting that you need to buy into the ‘do one thing each day that scares you’ trope that seems to be the distilled, and not-quite-accurate version of Seneca’s writings. If you find yourself, stuck, spinning, overwhelmed or overstimulated, pick one thing and start to do it. Maybe it’s just one thing that seems interesting or simply a task that feels manageable in the moment; one thing that we know will bring us joy, or gives us a bit of hope. Don’t overthink it. Just do something. Perform an action. Whatever it is, we can do that one thing and then we will think about the next thing. In fact, we can replace the label of ‘Quitter’s Day’ with ‘Check-in Day’ during which we ask whether we did one (or more) thing(s), reflect on how the process went, make any tweaks to our process, and mindfully plan for the next thing.
The start of the new year doesn’t have to be an all-out race to create a Brand New You. You’re fine. Instead, consistently doing small and intentional actions, even one at a time, will result in big changes by the end of the year. Just pick one thing and see where you go from there. If you need help getting started, reach out.
Next week: Where (literally, where) is your career going?
