I would like to be a gardener.
Time seems to get in the way of my being one, though. Maintaining the lawn and bushes seems to be all I have time for…and usually some pretty potted flowers, once spring comes. I have to have flowers near a convenient water source or else they’ll die a horrid death.
But Monday, it was time to do some major pruning of the boxwoods and hollies. The last couple of days had been in the 80s and I was starting to worry we were going to run out of time altogether.
Pruning bushes isn’t my favorite thing to do. In fact, it’s so dreaded that I want to attack the whole chore at one time—and we have a lot of bushes.
My husband and I both pruned and trimmed and dragged off branches.
“Why don’t we take a break?” he asked, about an hour into the job. “We could pick it back up tomorrow.”
“No, let’s just get it over with,” I said. And with those words I sealed our fate.
Tuesday morning, I could barely get out of the bed.
I know one thing—when it’s time to do a major pruning again (as it will be when it’s time for the gardenias and azaleas and whatever else we’ve got out there), I’ll probably be putting it off. This is because the work I did on Monday will live on in my memory, even though my muscles are finally back to normal again. I’m going to associate pruning with something I don’t want to do.
It’s easy to get burned out, even on things we like to do…like writing.
It’s also easy to procrastinate something when we’ve set ourselves up for either failure or a serious challenge.
I’ve written about this before, but I think it bears repeating—you can write a book in 15 minutes a day. Or, if you’d rather set a page goal, you can write a book by penning a page a day. I’ve done it when I had a baby in the house and only a few minutes during Teletubbies.
And those 15 minutes were an escape for me…not a chore. It’s all in our perception of the time. So I looked forward to it, never dreaded it, and actually wrote each day.
The nice thing about setting a goal that we can easily handle, is that we rack up successes each day. It’s those small successes, little wins, that can help keep us motivated.
How reachable are your goals? Do you ever tweak them to make them more attainable?
I seem to work best by “spurts” of writing all day on a day off/holiday, and an hour a day on workdays (and I work 6 days wk) I do best with clear goals, even when they’re self imposed.
Elizabeth – I know exactly what you mean about setting reachable goals. If we don’t do that, the it’s so easy to just let too much time go by or give up altogether. I try to keep my goals manageable, and most of the time I succeed. My problem is keeping my expectations for myself manageable. Setting aside fifteen or twenty minutes to write is manageable. Being satisfied with that is harder on me…
Oh Elizabeth – yes I do struggle with goals. I love to set them. What I have found seems similar to your suggestions – don’t go overboard – keep it reasonable. I do that and once in awhile I do great spurts of work but it is the steady day in day out that wins the race for me.
I have finally figured out that to write I need to write every day. Some days it’s 6 hours, some days it’s 10 minutes. But I must write.
As to tackling the yard work. I have no bushes but I must rake all the leaves from last year and pick up the dead branches. And yes, I will be stupid and do it all at once.
Excellent advice, Elizabeth. Set a reachable goal and then stick to it. So easy and so smart. It’s one that I need to establish instead of waiting until I have time, which I never have.
I’m a binge writer. I used to force myself to write 2,0000 words a day, and it WAS a good discipline, but … some (lots?) of the time just crap got written. Now I write when my muse is amused – which is often enough, and when I get in the blessed “writer’s zone” I write non-stop for hours and days at a time.
Goals are ok, but don’t let them beat you up. life is too short. Enjoy it, and do some gardening if the muse is not amused, thus sayeth The Old Silly
For me it’s about goals. I wanted to too much done at once.
For timing, short spurts are best for me. I think it’s the ADD thing.
Great analogy.
Toby–So for you, it might be more reasonable to set a weekly goal or a biweekly goal…still keeping it something that you feel you can easily meet.
Jan–Slow and steady wins the race, doesn’t it? Everything in moderation…it’s funny how those old sayings are based on a lot of truth.
Anne–I’m one of those who really has to write every day, too. Otherwise, it’s too easy for me to lose my rhythm with a manuscript.
Ohhh…raking out underneath the bushes–bleh! I mow over the leaves and mulch them so that I don’t have to bag the leaves. Shortcuts! :)
Margot–That’s when the “I met my goal” mantra works out well! :) Ha!
Helen–I keep thinking that extra time will at some point show up in my life..but as the kids get older, it seems like I’ve got LESS time! How did that happen? :)
Marvin–That’s a good point…sometimes it’s the goals themselves that messes people up. I’m very goal-oriented (helps me realize what my focus is), but not everyone needs a set goal to be productive.
Mary–I like short spurts, too. I have trouble sitting down for very long, so I’ll either write for a little while, then get up and do something else in between another writing session, or else I’ll write in my head for a while (making sure there’s a notepad nearby for any great ideas.)
Takes little goals to achieve the big ones. We need to build on success.
And I can’t help my husband when he does outside work, because I always break out from touching poison ivy, even with gloves.
Hi Elizabeth .. I’d be like you – let’s do it & then collapse exhausted .. but at least it’s done.
But I like the thought of 15 minutes every day – and in some ways gardening too!
Well done .. as Jan says – don’t go overboard .. and steady day in day out ..
Enjoy the satisfaction of achievement though – 80 degs please send some here .. it’s still pretty cold!! Cheers Hilary
I don’t do well with a ton of pressure, so while my goals make me stretch, they don’t cause me to go insane. Now, trimming the hedges – that makes me insane!
Listen, I’m much better off with smaller, attainable goals than shooting for the top of the mountain. If I ever start feeling like I’m behind the 8-ball, I’ll be stymied. Had much rather go low and best it.
Burn-out is a common cause for people having long-term absence from work in my field (geoscience), even though most of us love our jobs. I haven’t taken that hit myself yet, but know quite alot of people who have. I’m aware of the signals (I think).
The risk of burn out is the main reason why I don’t want to set up a regular blogging schedule on top of my job >:)
Cold As Heaven
Diane–Knock on wood…no poison ivy for me. There was one sprig that had gone dormant (or not) in one corner of the bushes, but I knew to avoid it.
Hilary Melton-Butcher–I LOVE the *idea* of gardening. It seems to be the implementation that’s my problem. :)
We’re back down into the 60s now. Although I know some of y’all would think that’s pretty warm!
Alex–Oh, I was insane by the end of it! Ha! Then we discovered some of the bushes had blight and needed to be sprayed. Bleh. It was a bad day in the gardening world. :)
Bren McClain–There’s nothing like that feeling of *not* meeting your goal. Hitting my goal makes me feel great, even if the goal wasn’t anything huge. I think I just like crossing things off my list.
Cold As Heaven–I can only imagine the burnout in your field! Too much *thinking*. My brain would hurt from it.