i'm starting my life over right now

The important stuff gets done

Written transcript below

Hello and welcome to "I'm starting my life over right now." There is never enough time. How often do you think that or say that to yourself? "There's never enough time. I don't have enough time. I'm too busy. There's so much to do." And it never's done; it just keeps going. All of these things are elements of a belief that we don't or aren't able to complete all the things that are happening in our brain and mind. So I have some good news for you.

There might be 1,000 different things that my brain is telling me I need to do, right? I have to publish this post, and I have to record this podcast. I need to do the dishes. I need to get ready for a little road trip. I need to pack up. Like, my brain is gonna have all of the things. The important stuff gets done, and something that I think my brother has shared with my siblings before, like, the important stuff gets done. And it's true. The important stuff gets done also; it's just done because it needed to get done. And then it's okay to let a lot of the other stuff slide. That stuff, if it didn't get done, it'll work itself out.

The idea or feeling that there is never enough time or I have too much to do is really coming from the mind. If all that we have is the present moment, which it is all we have at the present moment, there's really just one thing at a time that you can do, and that's what's meant to be right now. You're listening to this podcast when it might feel like there's not enough time in your day, yet you're finding time to sit for a few minutes and listen here. And that's perfect in this moment. That's what's getting done. And when this completes, you'll move on to the next thing, and in that moment, that's what will be getting done. So instead of looking at everything all at once and thinking there's just not enough time to get all of this done, just look at the next thing, the next one thing. You know, what's the next thing that I'm going to do?

And ideally, be present when you're present. So while you're doing something, you're not thinking about the next thing. The most skillful is just to be with the thing that you're doing. Once it completes, settle in for a second and think, "Okay, what's next? What am I gonna do next?" And then do that next thing, and you keep just going like this, and then you find that things get done and that there is enough time to get done what needs to be done.

I was working on one of my design projects the other day, and I've been struggling with it because there's a number of things that need to get done. It's an Airbnb that I'm designing, and it needs to get listed so it can start making money. I'd been working on it for a couple of months, and I found myself caught thinking the other day, "There's just so much to do." And I finished it, and I moved onto the next bedroom, and I finished it. And then I moved to the bathroom, and I finished it. And I moved to the kitchen, and I mostly finished the kitchen. About what to do next, I just moved on in a state of flow. When you start with the one thing and you get going on it and you don't think there's not enough time to get all the stuff done, go back to just getting the one thing done and see what happens with the one thing.

You can do today. What's the one thing you're gonna do next because you're done listening to this podcast? It's over. Have a great day. I'll see you next time.