The most common complaint I hear from DaVincis — smart, creative people juggling too many talents, projects and ideas — is that ‘there are not enough hours in the day’. (“I’ve got way too much to do and am not making progress on any of it!”)
If that sounds like you, let me reassure you: Yes, your life is full. Yes you have a lot going on. And yes there ARE enough hours in the day…at least there is enough time each day to make progress on whatever is important to you.
If you’re like most DaVincis, you may be acutely aware of what’s NOT getting done — while you simultaneously downplay whatever you do accomplish. The net result is that you feel lousy no matter what you do. You often feel angst or guilt or frustration about the undone things on your ‘to do’ list. You are sentencing yourself to a state of chronic dissatisfaction.
There is also a tendency to blow things up — to overgeneralize to the point of despair. (“Nothing’s getting done!”) Let’s start by disputing your statement with the truth: Unless you are lying comatose 24/7, SOMETHING is getting done. Maybe not as much as you would like, but you are engaging in activities throughout the day. Maybe it’s time to pay attention to what you ARE doing, rather than fretting about what you aren’t.
Try this practice, from creativity guru Julia Cameron: Every night, write out your ‘Ta Da’ list. Chronicle everything you did, big and small. The idea is to train yourself to shift focus to what you ARE accomplishing and to appreciate what you ARE getting done. The more you do, the better you’ll feel about yourself and your accomplishments . . . and the more you’re likely to do, going forward.
Another issue is that DaVincis tend to set unrealistic expectations of what can be accomplished during a particular time frame. There’s a tendency to over-schedule which means some things don’t get done. You may have crossed twenty things off your ‘to do’ list today . . .but there are thirty items outstanding, which seems like failure.
