I know when my life is out of whack when I lose things. I’m a great organizer, but not on a day-to-day basis. Daily, things pile up: Paperwork, bags of unloved clothes for Goodwill, the experiments in microbiology that grow in my refrigerator. Day by day, things are no longer where they should be and I’m misplacing those pesky emergency medical forms for school, or a magazine article I wanted to blog about, or a receipt for a lamp that I want to return. Then, quite suddenly, or so it seems to me, I’m losing big things: My camera! A credit card! A potential client! Danger! Danger! Now it’s time to stop and regroup, and so I’ve gone to ground for a few weeks.
I love the term “gone to ground”. It’s usually in reference to the hunted burrowing into their holes to avoid being killed, and that seems appropriate to my situation. I wonder what rabbits do when they go to ground. Do they tidy up a bit? Take a nap? Make more rabbits? I was spinning my wheels, overwhelmed by unproductive minutiae and unable to accomplish meaningful (income producing) work, so I took some time to refocus my attention. The bad news is that my staycation lasted much longer that I thought it would. The good news is that I accomplished much more that I thought I would.
All refrigerated biology experiments have been duly noted and concluded. We now have a remodeled bathroom, and our household files have been purged and tidied up. Both kid’s bedrooms have been cleaned and sanitized. One high schooler started the year uneventfully, and one has finally finished high school (we hope) with an indifference that is matched only by my frustration with his public school experience. Closure. Moving on.
Brad Coy felt stuck. I was spinning my wheels in unproductive navel gazing but didn’t realize it until things disappeared and I got buried. I needed to take the time to focus on a lot of little things which piled up to a really big thing which was standing in the way of me getting anything done. I went through the piles and files of real estate flotsam and jetsam: Organized, purged, shredded, filed, rinsed, repeated. Time away from anything lets me get back to it with fresh eyes and new insights. I can see where my work is suffering and I can see different methods of strengthening weaknesses.
I have online and offline real estate systems that I want to combine into something that I can really work and that really works for me. I want to do a better job of lead management. I want to get a new theme for The Brick Ranch that reflects a new focus and allows me to do a better job of providing information to consumers. I need to get back in touch locally.
And whaddya know? As quickly as I switched my focus back to things that matter, my business has begun to sing. Not an opera perhaps, but a quiet little tune, perfect for humming to myself…
I’m back in the saddle again
Out where a friend is a friend
Where the longhorn cattle feed
On the lowly gypsum weed
Back in the saddle again
Ridin’ the range once more
Totin’ my old .44
Where you sleep out every night
And the only law is right
Back in the saddle again
Whoopi-ty-aye-oh
Rockin’ to and fro
Back in the saddle again
Whoopi-ty-aye-yay
I go my way
Back in the saddle again
Cheryl Johnson says:
Good to see you again! 🙂
August 27, 2008 — 2:31 pm
Teri Lussier says:
Whoopi-ty-aye-oh! 😉
August 27, 2008 — 4:09 pm
Tom Vanderwell says:
Teri,
I know what you mean. Some times when I need a small dose of that, I take my computer and go hide out at the local Panera. I don’t do like Bawldguy and take mindless fiction along but it allows me to do at least a minor refocus…..
Tom
August 27, 2008 — 5:32 pm
Geno Petro says:
Next time you’re off wandering around in that ‘above ground’ zone—if you happen to run into me, please send me back. I have a lot of work to do, too. I 100% feel you…and my kid graduated from high school 12 years ago.
August 27, 2008 — 5:35 pm
Judy Orr says:
Boy, I’m trying to get out of the same thing! Just returned from a vacation but before I went I forced myself to clean off my desk (just in case my plane crashed – I wanted a clean desk). That one thing that I kept putting off has lit the fire and I’m on a roll now.
But no matter what, I still lose my phone (usually after I’ve turned off the ringer because I was at a movie or something), my glasses, keys, etc.
August 27, 2008 — 6:39 pm
Tammy at Myrtle Beach Real Estate says:
Always lose my phone when the ringer is off. It’s usually on the bathroom seat.
August 27, 2008 — 6:48 pm
Tammy at Myrtle Beach Real Estate says:
I meant bathroom counter. That would be really freaky if it always ended up on the bathroom seat
August 27, 2008 — 6:49 pm
Brad Coy says:
Could it be just an ‘end to August’ type of thing? 😉
I took another 1/2 day off yesterday. Another little backroads road trip. Road House fried oysters, the smell of Eucalyptus, and the Bohemian Hwy. Today it was a walk on the beach with Ginger from 3-5. Did I work right into the evening as per usual? You bet… with a big smile on my face 😀
…and GREAT to hear that you cleared the clutter Teri. Nice tune.
August 27, 2008 — 10:52 pm
Eric Blackwell says:
Hey Teri!
I 100% understand. I am in the same position, except without the staycation. (yikes-grin)
@All refrigerated biology experiments have been duly noted and concluded.– ROFL. Our 2nd oldest (age 14) is an awesome cook (seriously), but he is below the Mendoza line in the cleaning dept. I find some stuff in the fridge at times that needs only a hypothesis and a write up to be published in a science journal…
Welcome back to the game!
Best;
Eric
August 28, 2008 — 2:51 am
Teri Lussier says:
Hi Tom-
It’s nice to find that thing that works for you. Perhaps it’s BawldGuy’s planned daily work stoppages that prompted me to re-evaluate my own rut, but he’s very clever to regularly change the scenery.
August 28, 2008 — 4:06 am
Teri Lussier says:
Geno-
>if you happen to run into me, please send me back.
😉
My son and school= oil and water.
August 28, 2008 — 4:11 am
Teri Lussier says:
Judy-
>(just in case my plane crashed – I wanted a clean desk).
I’m obssessive about same thing- makes vacation going very stressful because everything must be in order before I leave. And how sad is that?
>That one thing that I kept putting off has lit the fire and I’m on a roll now.
Good to hear!! I’m beginning to see that happening to me, too.
August 28, 2008 — 4:14 am
Teri Lussier says:
Tammy-
My husband is a very organized and tidy person (of course- I couldn’t have married someone like me) and in the midst of all this, he lost his phone! Yikes. 🙂
August 28, 2008 — 4:18 am
Teri Lussier says:
Hey Brad-
Yes, it could be the time of year for new beginnings- that’s very possible. So you are taking little daily breaks from the routine? Smart. I do love a road trip- you should be taking advantage of the spectacular views available to you!
We don’t have quite the scenery that SF has, but, I’ve been taking daily walks in a park with my husband and our dog. The pup can go off-leash, and hubby and I talk about stuff. Work out problems, tell each other jokes, laugh at the dog. lose some weight, get an aerobic workout…
Genuine Chris once told me that he works hard for 50 minutes then gets away from his desk for 10- outside if possible. That’s a definite idea.
August 28, 2008 — 4:27 am
Teri Lussier says:
Eric-
I’ve been thinking of you lately. You have a lot on your plate- heaping mounds of serious stuff. Take care of yourself through this, please. 🙂
>I find some stuff in the fridge at times that needs only a hypothesis and a write up to be published in a science journal…
LOL! You just reminded me that one thing that is tucked away in an unused corner of my freezer is an insect frozen in a plastic test tube. My son caught it and froze it when he was 4 or 5 years old for scientific purposes that only he knew about. We take it out every now and then and look at it and chuckle and put it back. At this point, it kinda belongs there and no one wants to throw it out…
August 28, 2008 — 4:55 am
Joe Hayden says:
As an aside, when I used to work professionally as a recording engineer I had the pleasure of doing a session with Mr. CGP himself. I was waiting for him out in front of the studio and carried his Country Gentleman guitar inside. He plugged into one of our amps, sat down next to the recording desk, and let out a stream of music the likes of which I had never heard. I’ll never forget how long his fingers were, how effortless he maneuvered the fretboard, and how if clearly sounded as if two guitarists were playing at once! Travis picking at it’s finest…
I had a chance to have a lunch with him a few years later, but his cancer had slowed him down considerably… The things you do in life…;)
August 28, 2008 — 6:28 pm
Teri Lussier says:
Joe-
Thank you so much for sharing that story! I’ve been a fan of Chet Atkins since I was young- his playing is flawless, impeccable, brilliant. He was one of a kind.
Earlier today I played that clip for my son, who has just picked up a guitar for the first time. This is definitely not his kind of music, but he stopped in his tracks and listened and the only comment from this otherwise verbose kid was “Wow!”
August 28, 2008 — 7:04 pm