My cat likes to sit on my laptop (because it's warm and I sometimes - stupid me - leave it open). When I tried to prise her off after her latest attempt at disguising herself as a laptop cover, she did what all cats do, she dug her claws in. And pulled the c off. After some fiddling I reattached it but ... it's not perfect. Sometimes the c works if I really make sure I push the key down hard, sometimes I forget and I type ontrary and aount. Oh rap!
(Before you go tweeting me demanding your fiver, those ones I just wrote were intentional, okay?)
This same week I also found myself wrestling with the washing machine for the umpteenth time, holding the broken cupboard door up to stop it falling on the floor while simultaneously opening the machine door with my other hand and throwing a pile of laundry inside. I then spent several minutes trying to lodge the broken door back in place so no one would notice any difference to my other "non-broken" cupboard doors. This all coincided with my neighbour casually asking me last night if my fridge light had gone out. He'd gone looking in my fridge for a bottle of white wine. I didn't dare tell him it had gone out circa Halloween 2008.
A coach colleague of mine calls it "the sand in your shoe"... in a nutshell, it's all the stuff you're putting up with for one reason or another, the stuff that irritates the hell out of you but you just haven't got round to doing anything about. Other than moan.
The sand in your shoe, what you're putting up with, your tolerations - they can sap your time, sap your money, and more importantly, sap your energy.
Every time you walk by your desk, trying to blithely ignore the pile of papers you haven't filed yet, every time you spend twenty minutes looking for the pair of scissors somewhere in the house, every time you apologise about the mess when you offer to give your friends a lift in the car (or worse, avoid giving your friend a lift because you're too embarrassed about the state of it) - all those things you know you "should" do/be doing/have done - nag you.
And no one likes a nag. Even if it is only your Inner You nagging your Outer You. Eventually, what you're tolerating leaves you feeling overwhelmed and either unable or unwilling to tackle even the smallest thing.
A pile of filing might not seem like a priority but if it takes you 20 minutes to find a document because it's not filed properly, then it's a drain on your time, energy and money.
What are you putting up with?
Tackling your tolerations first involves finding out what they really are:
Part One:
Give yourself thirty minutes, sit down with a pen and paper or at your computer and start making your list. List every single thing you are putting up with. You don't have to limit it to tangible things either. Maybe you're putting up with your other half being constantly late, or a boss who treats you badly, or a job you've simply outgrown. List everything that's irritating you, bothering you, and generally making you feel miserable.
Don't be alarmed if you've got quite a long list there. The first time I did this I had 161 tolerations! I must have been like a bear with a sore head to be around.
Part Two:
Now decide which one of your tolerations you're going to do something about first. Then go take care of it until you can cross it off your list. Then move on to the next toleration.
You might want to tackle one thing on your list every week, or one item every day, or if you get a real burst of energy you might find yourself crossing four or five items off your list in one go.
There's a very good reason why you might do the latter. Scientists have found that accomplishing small tasks or completing a challenge releases endorphins much the same way exercise does.
Taking action and doing something about all those things that are bothering you feels good. And that creates an upward spiral, giving you a boost of energy to get even more done.
Best wishes,
Dawn
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