Major in the Minor

Most of working America live an unbalanced life. Everyday we wake up with so many things to do. We are busy doing this and that yet mostly nothing gets done that we plan to do in a days time. Yet, the things we didn't plan for get done. I went to visit a friend after setting time aside to do so only to find that she was late to our meeting and it took her almost 30 minutes to calm down. After she'd calm down she became so needy in order to get in a state of relaxation, it was just about time to go when she hauled off and confessed to me, "I had a good time". Looking at her in shock, I could only image what she would do if she really had time. When I was working long hours each day, I found that the best way to really relax was to not allow my schedule to become too hectic that I didn't find the time to "smell the roses". It was my practice and still is to only have one major project that I work on at a time and two minor projects that I can accomplish within a days time. That way I walk away from my day having completed the minor and chipped away at the major. Yes, I majored in the minor. Now that I am no longer working outside of my home, I still practice this religiously. People seem to always have emergencies and last minute things do come up. But, don't allow someones inability to plan to become your emergency. Because once you allow it to happen it becomes the norm. Taking on a project that is not your own adds stress to your life and throws your balanced life off. Sometimes this isn't done consciously but because we have made a habit out of it it has become our personality, responsibility and job. We clean up other's mess and we call it multi-tasking or hyper-tasking. Believe it or not just look at your job description. Don't get me wrong helping others is part of being a team member, but each team member has their responsiblities and so do you.