Hey Reader.

How was your Easter? Did you get a break?

We spent a couple of weeks away and had some fun with the kids. It was good to have a change of scenery. I also turned some really exciting ideas into reality. It's been a while since that has happened for me.

That change got me thinking - so here’s my take on it for you:

Competing priorities > swirling scramble > confusion > stress

OR

Targets > space > capacity.

Here’s the breakdown:

When we get caught up in all the ‘have to do’s and they start piling on top of each other, it gets very messy, very quickly. That’s the state most people come to me in - there are so many things that need to be done, and the doctorate is thrown on the heap too, so you’re trying to read articles in snatched time in the car, or squeezing an hour here and there to write while you park the kids in front of Disney+. No judgment here 🙂

But then life becomes like scrambled eggs. And we all know that you can’t unscramble it once it’s done.

So what’s the solution? I think a big part of it is learning how you work and think. Maybe I’m a slow learner, but it’s taken me a long time to learn that.

For me, I need to have space and capacity in order to achieve targets.

Once I’m focused, I can do things fast and well, first time.

But if I try to do too many things at once, the result is nothing — except stress.

So what came out of my break and time away was a lesson I hope you can use too:

I need to separate everything into its separate buckets: life admin, home, job(s), and study.

Then, I have to identify the projects in each. Projects are collections of tasks with an end goal. For me, a current project is organising the Thesis Oasis Retreat. Because I’ve taken the space to not keep ‘working’ at it whilst I’ve been away, I have, almost magically, gained complete clarity on it, and it has all come together beautifully.

By the way, more details on that are coming very soon (May 14-16, in person, in England). If you can’t wait, hit reply and ask!

That ‘coming together’ wouldn’t have been possible, though, if I hadn’t given it space. A conversation with my coach this morning has highlighted to me that I need time away from my desk - even though my work days are short (hello school hours!) - for ideas to percolate and develop without my conscious brain ‘helping out’.

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From that space, springs capacity.

From capacity, springs progress.

I can’t rely on a holiday every time I need to think, so I’ve just offered to do some dog-walking for my neighbours at lunchtime instead 😀 That will give me a similar space.

What about you? If this lands with you, hit reply and tell me what you can identify as your first project. And how you’re going to give it space to percolate.

Always in your corner,

PS - especially if this lands with you, come and join me tomorrow afternoon as we structure the next quarter to get the most progress with your study. It’s FREEEEEE and I’d love to see you!