The most famous slam in history — 3/29/1987
We all know the feeling. The to-do list never ends. Life can feel exhausting, and the more capable we become, the more work we have to do. It’s like our workload increases as fast or faster than our capacity. Maybe that’s why it’s called the rat race. It never ends. We are slammed.
So what do we do about it? I used to serve as an assistant under a Head Coach who kept his to-do list out on his desk for all to see. This is a Coach who was pretty intentional about just about everything he did, so why did he keep the list there? It made it easy for him to see it. It made it easy for others to add to it things like phone messages, etc. It probably helped the rest of us keep things in perspective when we felt slammed ourselves, since my list was never as long as that one. It also helped me realize something that I continue to learn — that life isn’t about getting everything crossed off the to-do list. My boss’s list seemed to be never ending, but I don’t remember ever hearing him gripe about it. He was content to be present in the moment, and get the work done when it was time to get the work done.
If it were me, if the roles were reversed, I would not have been able to handle that. (Eleven years later, I’m still not sure I could handle that.)
Bottom line, as Coaches we all have a ton on our plate much of the time. That’s the reality of life. And while there’s no way to avoid it, we don’t have to feel slammed. This article by Rieva Lesonsky has some common sense, practical reminders that can help us refocus. There’s probably nothing in the article you don’t already know, but sometimes it helps to remember that we’re going to be OK, and that we’re in this game together.