What to Do When You Fall Back Into Schedule Slavery

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There are a few things I have to watch out for to prevent myself from once again becoming a slave to my schedule:

  1. Chasing “good” ideas
  2. Getting too involved in “good” things
  3. Taking on clients with too many needs

If undeveloped ideas made money, I could retire. Unfortunately, these ideas need to be developed, and if one comes to me during a time when work is slow, I might just chase after it without putting much thought into the impact it might have on my life and whether or not I’ll be able to sustain it.

This is why I developed my “Personal Impact Filter.” This tool gives me something to run my ideas through to make sure they don’t impact other areas of my life in ways I can’t see during the initial excitement phase. I’ve since taught an AI agent how this works, so I can chat my ideas into AI and have it measure my ideas against my personal mission and vision. What a wild time to be alive!

I also feel called to serve my church and local community. When something comes up that I know I can help with, I want to jump in and be useful. It’s easy for me to get involved really quickly and then realize that my involvement is not sustainable.

The warning sign I’ve learned to watch for is resentment. I realize I may have taken on too much when I start to resent the idea or the need that I was originally excited about. When that happens, it’s time to sit down and think through why that’s happening.

Did I jump in too soon, and it turns out I’m not that excited about this? Is there something I need to learn about myself here? Are these feelings I’m having selfish? Perhaps this is just hard? These are all questions I ask myself to make sure I move forward correctly.

Sometimes it is hard, and I realize that giving up would be selfish. Other times, I’ve given it my best, and the needle isn’t moving, so perhaps it’s time to move on.

As I get older, I’m getting better at recognizing these things on my own without having to reel myself in and pull back from things I initially said yes to. Journaling also helps, as writing things down forms a stronger bond in my mind, making it easier to recall situations from the past and apply that to future decisions.

What often happens is that someone pours themselves into something, burns out, and then is left upset that nobody noticed them drowning. I believe that it’s up to me to set my pace and be aware enough to know when I’ve taken on too much.

I grew up around that sort of victim mentality, so I’m prone to it. This is why I measure my own motives to make sure that I’m not making myself the victim of something I committed to in my own mind.

I’ve had to pull back from commitments, and the funny thing is that people understand. It’s not failure; it’s self-awareness. As long as I take responsibility for myself, do my best to deliver on my promises, and admit when I can’t, nobody, including myself, can see it as a failure.

Since developing these tools to assist me, I’ve been much more able to see potential derailments before they happen. The “good” idea gets saved in a note to be visited another time or to be potentially lost in the archives.

We can’t do it all, and that’s okay.

What warning signs do you need to start paying attention to in your own life?

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