by Meggin McIntosh, “The Ph.D. of Productivity”™ and Paper Tiger Expert
One way to diminish overwhelm is to hold things lightly. This is something I learned from my coach, Dr. Joelle Jay of Pillar Consulting. When we first started working together several years ago, she would hear me talking about all the things I had to do, everything I was working on, how worn out I was, and, well, you know the litany. She would sometimes ask, “Meggin, what if you held these things lightly?”
Her voice would be light as she asked it. Then I’d start to think about what it would feel like it if I held the tasks, commitments, projects, etc. ‘lightly.’ It made a difference.
Think about this for yourself. If you’re seeing your to-do list, your job, your family, and the things that you’re responsible for as an enemy and you’re holding everything so tightly that you’re all bound up and tense, that’s completely different than Joelle’s phrase of ‘hold it lightly.’
Holding things lightly involves a mental shift and a ‘reframing’ of how you are perceiving that which seems to be weighing you down. As Charlotte Bronte said, “A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow.” See what you can hold lightly…and then see if you sleep better with the softer, lighter, and more buoyant pillow this provides.
What Does It Mean to ‘Hold Things Lightly’?
Here’s what it is not:
* Holding things tightly.
* Holding things fearfully.
* Holding things in a stingy manner.
* Holding things with clenched jaws.
* Holding things with a standard of perfection hanging over your head.
* Holding things rigidly.
* Holding things as burdens.
* Holding things with worry.
* Holding things ___________.
A teacher who’s a subscriber sent me this email: “I’m a teacher and when I think about everything that has been added to the plate of today’s teacher, I wonder if it’s ever possible to just be ‘just whelmed’ again.”
It’s a reality that people’s plates are “too full,” and thus pretty darn heavy. Practice reframing your view to hold what’s on your plate ‘lightly.’ Holding things lightly is to see them as
* airy
* bright
* soft
* feather-light
* buoyant
* weightless
* lighter-than-air
* floaty
* of low density
Do you get the idea?
The Earth is Heavy. Spring Forth and Dance
In 1988, my husband and I moved to Nevada so I could become a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. We bought a new house in a new development and there was lots of dirt and no vegetation (it is a desert here, after all). We started the process of landscaping it ourselves (mostly Larry). Somewhere during the first year of this project (which continues today, by the way), we went to a field where there were a lot of rocks. Not exactly boulders, but BIG rocks. His idea was that we were going to lift them into the back of a truck we had borrowed. They really weren’t that big and yet, when we tried to lift them, they were VERY HEAVY. I remember exactly the sense that came over me. Earth is so heavy. I guess I had never really thought about it before but after trying to lift a little tiny piece of planet earth, I had this incredible sense of how heavy the earth was.
The reason I’m telling this anecdote, which I hope you haven’t skipped over, is this: Yes, Earth is heavy. Yes, your tasks, responsibilities, commitments, issues, etc. are heavy. And….you can choose to ‘hold them lightly.’ The alternative is to keep holding on to them ‘heavily’ and bear that burden. What does that do to your life? Do you like that weight, that burden, that rigidity? Or would you rather spring forth and …dance?
“Life may not be the party we’d hoped for, but while we’re here, we might as well dance.” Author Unknown
Maybe, if you’re holding things too tightly, feeling oppressed, or your burden is just too heavy, consider thinking about whatever that is and say, “In the big scheme of things, this _______ is small compared to __________.”
It’s not too hard to come up with what to put in the last blank. Just watch the news or look around next time you go to the grocery store or think about someone who has lost their child to illness. Pretty much, that helps me to reframe (that’s a key word & concept) my thinking to move to holding something more “lightly.”
Doing so does not negate your feelings of overwhelm (fear, stress, anger, frustration, pain, etc.), however it may help to put them in perspective.
See if this works for you.
And if the heaviness of your responsibilities is just one area that overwhelms you – and you would like to be ‘just whelmed,’ then you’re invited to join others (worldwide) who receive Meggin’s weekly emails (free!) at
**I Want to Be Just Whelmed (http://www.JustWhelmed.com)
If you would prefer quick, short weekly tips, then the following site is another place to find suggestions and other tools to support you in your quest for peaceful productivity:
**Top Ten Productivity Tips (http://www.TopTenProductivityTips.com)
(c) 2010 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., “The Ph.D. of Productivity”(tm). Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh changes what people know, feel, dream, and do. Sound interesting? It is!
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Tags: Productivity
