What does one do after freeing up mental space, time, and energy with such a massive change as I did with my Screentime Challenge digital detox?
My world became more vibrant after putting away the tech and becoming present. I was able to savor everything, breathe deeply, and my focus was on turbo boost without all of the distractions.
It was life changing, but now how to make the most of it? I had to harness this into something great!
We must replace bad habits with good ones in order for the changes to stick, but I knew I needed to pause and get myself organized before jumping in to anything. As Einstein said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.”
Yes! I needed to take my time to get this right. I felt like I was right on the edge of something outstanding, a moment of convergence, a revelatory Hallelujah.
Tabs
With tech fresh on the mind, it became all about tabs. Just as I had tended to the 40 bajillion open tabs in my tech, I decided it was time to tend to the open tabs in my life. Define them clearly, decide what to do about each, and then start doing the work to close them. 55/5 style.
Tabs are indecision. Tabs are procrastination. Tabs are fear.
Tabs are unfinished business. Tabs are unpaid debt.
When I sit at a computer or other device to work on a specific task and there are too many tabs open, it is distracting. Not just visually, but mentally. Little things to come back to, I may or may not click on a few to review or remind myself of what they even are in the first place and why I’ve kept it open, refresh some pages because it is something I am stalking like a product restock, it goes on and on.
This is lingering stuff that holds me back.
But these tabs are easy. Close the tabs. Handle each one however it needs to be handled.
- Buy the thing or not.
- Bookmark or make the recipe.
- Add the item to my actual to-do list and do it. (Tabs are not to-do lists.)
- Invite the person to the event that looks interesting or not, DECIDE.
- Read the blog or don’t.
- Whatever each open tab is, do something about it and then close it. Done.
Life tabs are also lingering stuff that hold me back.
So, I began listing my open life tabs and then identifying what I’d need to do in order to handle each one. Some were easy and some were complex. Some could be handled quickly and some are still works in progress. What matters is that they are all moving forward now in an organized, productive way. No indecision, no procrastination, no fear.
These were some of my first draft tabs and solutions:
- Lists of who/what matter most in my life
- Lists of things I want to learn
- Lists of people to repair/strengthen relationships with
- Owning my weaknesses and finding ways to work on them
- Parenting skills
- Marriage skills
- Commit to writing
- Morning and evening routines
- Workouts that make sense for my current abilities and limitations
- Mindfulness
- Books to read in order to do my best with those repairs
- Ways to reach out and connect with others
- Personal development in general
- The list goes on but you get the idea.
Three Big Tabs
While I have been working through all of those, ultimately I landed on Three Big Tabs that would have the most impact if addressed properly. These would be my Hallelujah moments, my freedom, tabs tended to and CLOSED.
1. Integrating my Most Difficult Experience, My Superpower with this journey.
2. Working through my relationship with my parents, recovering and rebuilding together, and integrating it into this journey.
3. Finishing the surgery/recovery cycle, embracing an end to the journey, and beginning the next chapter.
The work required and tools used to achieve these three would, and will, spill over into the other life tabs. And so, I’ve taken my vibrant, savoring self on a brilliant trip these last few months, working on closing tabs. Tomorrow I’ll share the story of Big Tab #1.
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