"What Can You Do Tired?"—The Priority Question
Sometimes I find it hard to decide what to do in what order. This is especially true for things that are not my main priority but still need to be done.
On a work-day, for example, my list can look something like this:
work (with a separate list)
food
a good deed for the body (yoga or walking)
a good deed for the mind (meditation or journalling)
some writing
some progress on the album
some reading
a good deed for the house (anything from tidying one corner to re-organizing a whole room)
accountability for Sean
bathroom activities (shower, brushing my teeth, flirting with my sunscreen)
As I write this, I notice that it's a pretty long list even though there is nothing special on it. It's just a typical day in my life. If you asked me what I have to do that day, I'd probably say "nothing major".
Work takes up as much space of my day as all the other things on the list combined. It blocks out a huge chunk during the day.
Everything else has to happen before work, after work, or on my lunch break.
The activities on the list take varying amounts of time and range from existential (food) to pretty optional (reading).
At first glance, it would make sense to do the most important things first and just work my way down the list. But when I take a closer look, the importance of the list items is not quite as clear as you'd think.
Food, for example, is important but does not have to happen first thing in the morning. It becomes more important the longer I don't eat and it has to happen at some point.
Conversely, reading a little bit seems to be the least important item. My brain will not spontaneously wither just because I skip the morning read. However, when I read a little first thing in the morning, I am substantially happier during the rest of the day. Before 8:30 AM, reading is probably more important than food.
The real challenge is prioritizing the list items according to what effect they have and how well they get along with my energy levels. Reading in the morning helps me wake up and be in a good mood for the day. It does not take too much energy away from me.
Doing Yoga helps me recover energy so I do it later in the day, often after work. Writing takes energy away and is really hard to do when I am mentally tired. It’s best if I either write early or after yoga.
Together with “working on the album”, writing is the most uncomfortable to do when I am tired. And yet, on a work day, I don’t get to either of these things before work is over.
So, during a weekday evening, the question I ask myself in order to decide what takes priority is this: "What do I want to do when I am tired".
Today, I decided that I didn't want to poke my sleepy post-dinner brain into writing so I am doing it now (17:45 after work and a little yoga). This means the vocals I want to record will wait until later. We'll see if recording vocals after 8 PM is more fun than writing after 8 PM.
I don't want to "not do" anything on that list, so in the end, some things have to go last.
Some things will have to be done when I am tired.
