What a bear of a week that was... and another tearing around the corner...

We had three new people start with our office at once, and by extension that meant that they absorbed a lot of my time this past week.  I welcome that, as new people mean growth, rather than stagnation.  However, it comes at a time when we are also moving offices, and I will need to be on a business trip at the end of next week, and busy for the next few weeks.  It reminds me of a great quote that I first read in David Allen’s “Ready for Anything” (see the link to the side):

“For a long time, it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life.  But there was always some obstacle in the way.  Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid.  Then life would begin.  At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.”
                              -  Fr. Alfred D’Souza

That statement has summed up how I’ve lead myself for the last few years, until GTD.  Since I got hooked, I’ve been very good at actually getting things done.  Last week, however, I felt like the old me, being crushed under the weight of everything that is coming at me, and “waiting until…” all the stuff coming at me was done.  It was just easier to do that.  It was also easy to say, on Friday afternoon, “Ah, nothing got done this week.  Move on to the next.  We’ll deal with it Monday.”

Only Monday is a landslide waiting to happen.  We’re moving offices on Tuesday, so there is last minute packing, arranging, removing, etc., etc.  There will also be the “We need a new…”, and the “We broke our old…”.  Stuff, all stuff, but stuff to be managed in a short time window to keep everyone happy.

Now, on reflection, real life is in fact what I make it, what I deem it to be (thanks for the inspiration, Father).  I can go in tomorrow, get some solid work done for about 2 hours first thing in the morning, pack, and then deal with the rest when I can deal with the rest.  It isn’t rocket science – far from it.  It’s Getting Things Done.  It’s getting things organized.

One of the nice bits about the move is the purge, which I never did complete per the book.  I’m hoping that the purge instinct will be very strong, and that we will as a group shed and shred some stuff.

Wish me luck.  I know I’ll need it, but I also know that I will have way more control over this week, versus last week.