In the final days of summer, I’ve been trying on a new discipline – relaxing without being officially on vacation.
Quite a concept, in the fundraising arena where stress is a constant companion.
So I started thinking about one of the 80/20 rules – the one that posits: schedule no more than 80% of your time because 20% will be added just through day-to-day interactions.
Maybe we should even make that a 65/35 rule of thumb. But in the nonprofit world right now, where every division is understaffed and we’re all carrying a 150% workload, that’s pretty hard to do.
Sometimes the answer is compartmentalizing. Training ourselves to see just what’s ahead and what’s doable – not the whole plethora of deadlines, opportunities, and holes in the dike that remain unaddressed. Trying to focus on a 48-hour span, not on the panorama. Not as breathtaking – but possibly a little bit more humane.
But that’s easier prescribed than lived.
I tend to see the whole mountain – in fact, that’s one of the key components of the job of development director (and executive director): to see how all the pieces fit together, to sequence and re-sequence the parts as easily as breathing, to always remain aware of the uphill climb and a host of various paths to getting there.
But there’s a serious downside to this wholistic mindset – we’re always aware of what’s next to be done, and that leaves us perpetually feeling as if we’ve got a week’s worth of important tasks to be completed in the next 36 hours. No wonder the burden never goes away.
Breathing. Vastly overrated, but there is something to taking a deep breath. Or taking a walk, reading a poem, emptying one’s mind of the concerns at hand. Years ago I worked a block away from a terrific gym – I used to go swimming at lunchtime. My afternoon clients were better off from following my half-hour in the water, into which no voices could penetrate…
We need to create that psychic space, pool or no pool – our work will benefit, our ability to focus will improve, and our souls will be just a little bit lighter.
A better world starts at home…or at the office?