16 March 2021
Done Context
You know it started as one of those days where you would spend a lot of time expending energy and get anything done. That’s how my day started, slow. Work felt like it was slipping further behind, and accomplishing anything worthwhile seemed futile. Everyone I needed to make things happen was busy.
The day had stalled like a dead end. A change of tack was needed. Obviously, fighting the never-ending sea of emails wasn’t working, so surrendering to the ocean seemed like a reasonable course of action. That meant only checking for “urgent” ones. Once actioned as far as possible, tackle them in date order – just one at a time.
First, finish what has been ready for review and send it. It was stuff that was completed and awaiting final assessment; this was stuff already in the pipeline. If it were incorrect, someone would give feedback, for sure. Done!
Second, contact Sam about the burning issue he had and needed to speak to me about urgently. Not available?! Tag Sam for status change and grab him then. Move on.
Now, to do something, I can drop at a moment’s notice if Sam calls with the burning issue and requires everything to stop. Aha! Safety training! Just what I needed. It’s been sitting at the bottom of the list, waiting to ambush time at the busiest and most inconvenient moment. Let’s do that. It’s also guaranteed to get interrupted (oh please!).
Have you ever noticed these dry topic training emails seem so innocuous with lots of time to complete them, which you keep ignoring and then, “bam!” the deadline is here? While there’s no real reason to be surprised, it still feels like, “Surprise! Remember me?” … Well, not this time, Kemosabe!
Done and Dusted
The other advantage of mandatory training is it’s a sure-fire way of ensuring you get interrupted halfway through. Wonder if that’s because I’m generally doing it a half-hour before the deadline. Anyway, let’s start with the training. Done. Completed already? Where was my interruption? That was easy. Okay, done.
Alright! It’s time to start the complex chain of emails with multiple stakeholders; it’s been trying to get resolved for days, but it needed thinking time. If mandatory training didn’t attract an interruption, doing something that requires thinking time surely will. You go around the system to fix this, which involves contacting colleagues outside of the usual suspects.
“Oh, hi Charlie! Long-time no speak… [insert medium length catch up and work chat here]”. In addition to finding out how Charlie and family were going, the conversation was helpful as it resolved some other emails awaiting action. What, I’m done? Already? Removed 20 emails with a single phone call?! Wow! Hmmm…. Still no burning issue from Sam; wonder whether he solved it? 🤔
So, what began as a slow unproductive day, turned into an unusually satisfying one. Tackling the noisy emails instead of the noisy emails seemed to work. By the end of the day, Sam’s burning issue didn’t flare up today; it’s tomorrow’s problem. But today’s done.
Sometimes, when everything goes in circles, you need to take a tangent and focus on something you can control. Not something frivolous – it’s the year of the cow or ox – but something minor and manageable. There’s always a burning issue from the Sams of the world. Allowing for an interruption in my headspace seemed to help prioritise activities and time. It’s not possible every day, but there are days when you reach a dead-end but still want to be productive.
The Guilt Pile
My friend, Melatrix, used always to have a “guilt” pile. It was a pile of documentation that needed filing one day. One day, I had time and asked if she wanted a hand. Mel’s response was, “oh, I just like to have them there to show management I’m busy and remind me I always have something I’d rather be working on. It’s my guilt pile because I know I need to get it done but somehow never find time”.
Recalling this conversation, I began to wonder whether the emails at the bottom of my list were my version of a “guilt pile”? Do you have a guilt pile? Or is your work always done?
Let’s see what the cards said!
Today's Cards
The Cards - Analysis Done
Carryover Cards
The cards for today are a brand-new batch. No overlap at all. No cards might mean it’s a fresh take on a new topic, and done – I think.
Cross
In the Now position is the card of Totality. The card is about surrendering and giving in, knowing there is support waiting to receive. It’s about working on things. I’m going to relay this to the phone call with Charlie. Friends and work colleagues, possibly more friendly work colleagues.
The Influence position has the card of Traveling. Not sure what this card is, and up until now, the card has represented physical travel. Today there was none, and there was no planning for one. Let’s continue to read; perhaps its meaning will become clear as we progress.
The Goal of Abundance is to have the Midas touch when it comes to happiness and prosperity. Totality and Abundance were borne of Distant Past when projects had a wealth of information and were required to share their bounty.
This Sharing led to the Recent Past of Adventure. Adventure is about journeying into, and applying it to today, the new approach to tackling my workload and getting things done.
The Adventure and total commitment allowed me to build upon my Receptivity which looks like it will come in handy in the Future Energy position.
Base
Friendliness is in the Feelings or Immediate Future position. And Friendliness describes my relationship with Charlie. She’s terrific to talk with, and while we used to go fire twirling together, once the fire twirling Moonfest disbanded, we both got busy in our respective lives. But the mutual Friendliness still beautifully persists.
Others’ Views position has the card of Beyond Illusion. Beyond Illusion is the cocoon opening. From a work perspective, while preparing documentation for release on two projects, one project finalising and another beginning, it would look like not much was getting done. But today, documentation was released to relevant stakeholders, becoming the butterfly of communication with helpful information.
Being viewed from this morning’s angle, the Schizophrenia card in the Hopes & Fears position would have represented the conflict of trying to persist with Sam’s burning issue or taking the tact I ended up taking.
The Hope would have been for Sam’s problem either made itself known so it could get resolved or alternately disappear. With issues like this, the Fear is perhaps that I could do something to avoid the burning issue in the first place.
By embracing the Future Energy of Receptivity, a range of Possibilities become available as an Outcome.
References
Osho, Osho Zen Tarot – The Transcendental Game of Zen, St Martin’s Press, ISBN 0-312-11733-7
