Tired

We reach a point of exhaustion. We keep pushing against all the forces that want to hold us down. Our outlays of energy in times past haven’t paid off the way we’d hoped, and we’re still here.

When that happens, when we feel empty and unable to continue, trying harder and pushing more can be an answer.

But sometimes the answer is to let go of everything that we’re holding at once, and not hold so tightly to everything. We can listen to what the tiredness is saying. That means taking a break, that means doing less.

Two books, Essentialism and Effortless, have been instrumental in changing how I think about work and all the things that happen in our lives.

Cutting down to the essential is a piece of it. But we don’t always have the liberty of saying no. At times it's not an option. It wears on us just to consider taking on that extra task. But we must do it.

In those moments there’s ways we can bring joy into the doing. Greg shares about a task he had to do, and how he combined it with sitting in the hot tub to make the task feel effortless. I’ve done this myself, rewarding myself during a task by listening to a podcast or book, combining the task with something I enjoy.

Sometimes this helps push forward things forward. We find ways to bring joy into the work, turn it into a game, make it easy but still valuable.

When we’re running on low sleep, poor health, and stressors all around, this can be hard. But there is a way through. And usually the answer isn’t to force everything in the way we imagined, but rather to look for another way.

Sometimes the answer is to take a moment and breath, allowing ourselves to feel the calm and see another way.