Why don’t we talk about seasons of life on the micro scale?
When I locate myself in Picking-Up and Putting-Away Time, I can focus on clearing the desk, sorting the mail, and doing the dishes. I can trust that everything will get its season.
Each time I’ve sat down at my desk recently I’ve had a nagging voice in my head listing the things I haven’t touched in weeks: writing, marketing, emails, messages, etc. etc. etc. Things that are part of my normal life and business cadence.
Only to run up against a messy desk, a stack of mail, a tower of dishes, and a mind that needs to catch up with itself.
You see, the few weeks before this “nagging meets messy” period were busy-busy. There were multiple clients increasing their commitments, a presentation to prep and give, a last minute doctor’s appointment opening, a rescheduled family gathering, and more. All added amidst day to day business and life and health and world stuff.
My desk slowly got messier, the mail piled up higher, dishes overflowed their dedicated dishes tray, and processing in real time wasn’t happening.
It makes sense that jumping straight back into my usual cadence wasn’t happening.
Everything required was getting done – client commitments, basic business and life stuff – but nothing extra. Dishes and desk and mail and mind needed to be cleared first.
Seasons of life is a common enough concept, and really useful. But I always see it talked about over the span of years or decades. Why don’t we intentionally apply this concept on the micro level?
It’s intuitive enough, I guess, the desk needs to be cleaned so we clean it. But without a clear framework it can be hard to figure out where we are. And when we don’t know where we are, it can be easy to expect ourselves to be somewhere we are not. (At least I do.)
When I remind myself I’m in Rest and Recover Time, I can remember that it is ok I hadn’t jumped back into everything right away. When I locate myself in Picking-Up and Putting-Away Time, I can focus on clearing the desk, sorting the mail, and doing the dishes. I can trust that everything will get its season.
I think about micro-seasons in this way:
Here’s the rhythm I see in a functional micro-seasons cycle:
→ Busy Time
→ Rest and Recovery
→ Pick-Up + Put-Away
→ Ramp-Up
→ (Back to Busy)
For me, these usually happen in the timeframe of a few weeks.
It’s tempting to jump from busy to busy to busy to busy. But this cycle isn’t idealistic, it’s kind of what my body and brain quietly needs, whether or not my calendar and schedule reflect it. (And I’m not the only one.)
When we build systems and calendars and internal monologues that go from busy to busy to busy, we rest when we’re forced to. Usually when the flu takes us out or we crash at the worst possible time. Take it from someone who would always get a bad cold or flu right after a big work project wrapped, when we ignore our bodies, they get louder.
When we bypass recovery, or skip re-entry, we don’t create margins between what was and what’s next. For a while, we can get away with it (sometimes for a shockingly long time). But eventually, it wears down both the external system (your calendar, your commitments, your delivery)… and your internal one (your clarity, your willingness, your rest).
The longer we push through, the longer recovery takes, and the longer picking-up the pieces takes, and the longer ramping back up takes. Suddenly our micro-seasons of life are looking a lot like macro-seasons of life.
If you would like to personally something to do with this concept:
- Name your current season (micro or macro).
Locate where you are. Not where your inner monologue thinks you should be. But where you actually are.
- Protect and commit to the season you’re in.
If you’re in a busy season, let the mail pile up, let the dishes linger. If you’re in a recovery period, protect your recovery time. If you’re picking-up and putting-away, commit to it. If you’re ramping up, ramp-up at the speed of your energy.
- Let clarity replace urgency.
Instead of doing everything all at once, do what is right for the season and space you are in.
Usually you don’t need to go faster or slower. You need to go in rhythm.
Featured photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash