Everything is Almost Perfect Here

I had an epiphany this week that has motivated me through several tasks, which I want to share:  Done is better than perfect!

Pareto's principle tells us that 80% of our results are produced by 20% of our efforts.  So within that 20% of effort, what is the difference between almost-perfect, and almost-almost perfect?   For me, quite a bit of time and procrastination - not necessarily improvement.  I don't think of myself as a perfectionist, since I don't really ever think there is a state of 'perfect.'  I do constantly doubt the done-ness of my work - and am always trying to raise the bar, thought - maybe there's a bit of perfectionism in there somewhere, driving me crazy.

This week I've been working on learning to back off and be satisfied with the second or third draft, as opposed to tweaking and re-tweaking and waiting until the morning to re-read and re-tweak.  Done is much better than perfect! It's a bit nerve-wracking for me, but the relief of being able to check the task off of my list is so much better than the weight of having it continue to hang over my head.

So for now, I'm adopting the mantra, and we'll see if it continues to drive forward momentum.

Broken Hearts Make it Rain

This morning I attended the Business Women's Leadership Group hosted by the Boulder Chamber.  The theme(fitting for Valentine's Day) was "Love Yourself & Your Heart," and featured a panel of speakers offering advice about heart health, stress management, work-life balance, sleep and nutrition.  People asked for advice about everything from "How can I better prepare for an appointment with my cardiologist or GP to maximize our time together," to "Why am I awake for an hour in the middle of every night," and "How can I tell whether I'm just cranky today or if I'm suffering from actual anxiety?"  The speakers each had a unique perspective with helpful tips about what it takes to feel balanced and be healthy, but none of the advice they offered was newsworthy or revolutionary.  Sleep more, eat whole foods as much as you can, and stay active(even a minute of walking around your house to break up bouts of sitting qualifies as "activity!")  All good reminders!  Overall, I very much enjoy BWLG events, and the turnout this morning was no exception.

However, my experience of the whole conversation was shaded by an experience I had yesterday, which I feel is an indication of why it's easy to bring a group of 60 women together to talk about why we need more sleep, healthy activity, and positive nutrition.  I met with a client who breezed into the conference room a few minutes late and looking very flustered.  As she settled down I offered to take a minute if she needed some time to get centered, and she burst into tears.  She had come from a meeting with her director(also a female leader in her company), who had just told her that she was not living up to her salaried position, because she wasn't responding to emails after dinner, and hadn't put in enough time on the weekends lately.  This woman has a fierce work ethic and more integrity than most I've had the privilege to collaborate with.  Hearing about someone being disappointed that she had been spending time in the evenings with her husband and two small children instead of responding to after hours work requests?  My heart broke for her! 

To me, a salary means that I will put in as many hours as it takes to get the job done.  During conference weeks, I can easily put in back-to-back 17-hour days that are exhausting.  But there are weeks during the summer or in the middle of ski season when I don't have deadlines, and get to take a half-day to go for a hike or spend a random Wednesday on the slopes with my dad.  Unfortunately, this is not the first time that I have encountered a manager who has the expectation of "salaried" employees to be accessible 24/7, and I think this is a sad factor contributing to our current society. 

The panelists this morning spoke about taking care of yourself in order to be the most productive person you can be, particularly as women attempting to thrive in professional environments.  But how can we as a culture move away from the constant urgency that surrounds us?  Feeling tethered to our email accounts and our cell phones is not the answer to living a balanced and healthy life.  No matter our gender, we have to set boundaries as individuals and focus on working within our limits.  This is a critical step when we make commitments to others - for work, family, or personal obligations.  I can work on that, and you can work on that.  But it will take a community working together to respect ourselves and our potential before the societal norms begin to shift, and I'd like to see the impacts of that change sooner rather than later.   

So Fresh and So Clean Clean

After a high-intensity spring filled to capacity with fundraisers, conferences, and award ceremonies, June ended up consumed by personal trips.  We spent a long weekend in New York City.  Sound Circle ventured to the Western Slope to perform, and spent a few days recording in the Rangely Tank.  Then we joined a family reunion on the Beaches of 30A in Florida.  Needless to say, by the end of the month the yard was looking rather unkempt and the house was much more cluttered than it's been in a while!

The first Friday we were both home again, a cleaning frenzy unlike I have ever experienced was sparked!  After an hour-long search for something I should have been able to immediately put my hands on, I was frustrated at my lack of organization, disgusted by the clumps of golden retriever hair that wafted around with everything I moved, and amazed at how much stuff had collected on all of our horizontal surfaces. 

Brian had an emergency at the office and had to go in that Saturday.  On top of having to work all day, the poor guy had to be at his desk by 6am!  Trying to be supportive, I rolled out of bed when he got up to shower, and made coffee.  Initially I was thrilled at the prospect having the house to myself to work some and relax, but as I was lounging in bed after he left, my brain wouldn't stop thinking about all of the work that needed to be done.  I wanted to organize the storage closet in my office, and sort through the piles of mail that had collected on the kitchen island over the past month.  There was lots of laundry to do, and all of our packing and un-packing had created a pile of half-used toiletries on the bathroom counter.  It didn't take long for me to get out of bed and make a tour of our main floor, mentally listing all of the areas that desperately needed attention.  A lot of attention!  

I wish I could re-create the angst that inspired such a burst of energy, because I don't remember the last time I was so productive.  I cleared off every surface and loaded the dining room table with the piles that needed to be sorted.  I started the laundry, deep cleaned the kitchen and all of the bathrooms, swept and vacuumed the whole house, and refreshed all of the sheets and linens. 

At some point during the day, I realized that since the yard is usually his domain, when Brian got home he'd feel obligated to mow the lawn and fix up at least the front yard.  But who wants to deal with that after a full day of problem-solving?  With Bosco's supervision, I trimmed a bunch of low-hanging branches and cut back our aggressive bushes, dead-headed the faded iris, and pulled all of the thistles and milkweed I could get my hands on.  The mower cooperated and I got the entire yard cut, and scrubbed the sap off the deck furniture. Between the weeds, all of the dead pine needles piled on the deck, and the shredded pine cone bits our charming squirrels insist on dropping in the back yard, I filled both of our trash bins with yard debris.  By the time Brian got home, I was giving Bosco a bath, in hopes of extending the pleasure of the clean house and neat yard.  

It was a whirlwind of stuff.  And dirt(really grimy dirt).  And no writing or goal-setting or daydreaming.  And oh, was I sore for a couple of days.  But Sunday was pure bliss!  Sleeping in, with fresh sheets and a soft fluffy pup.  Waking up to a clutter-free truly clean house with no chores left to do.  We both got to relax and enjoy our little sanctuary for the rest of the weekend!

All this week I've felt organized, more productive, and and more motivated to keep things from collecting like that.  Something I hope to remember in the future every time I am inclined to put off something menial - chores/responsibilities/work tasks only get bigger and more complicated the longer you procrastinate them!