Working Organically

“The really happy people are those who have broken the chains of procrastination, those who find satisfaction in doing the job at hand. They’re full of eagerness, zest, productivity. You can be, too.”
– Norman Vincent Peale 
 
I’ll Do it Later
Do you procrastinate? Do you have an ever-growing ‘I’ll do it later’ list? I do.  Or I did.

My list was mental rather than written. It was full of jobs that had been niggling at the back of my mind for goodness knows how long. Jobs that I’d notice again and again as I looked around my house or yard or office, and thought, “I want to get that done, but not now. I’ll do it later.” That item then went on my mental ‘do it later’ list.

This mental to-do list is not an intentional thing. It just happens. Chances are we all have them. Whether at work or at home, in the yard or in the car, something grabs your attention and you think, “I want to do that, but I don’t have time now.”

It may be that you don’t have the energy right now, or other things feel more urgent. For whatever reason it gets shunted off to the mental category of ‘later.’

There is an energetic problem with the ‘do it later’ list. It weighs on you, whether you are aware of it or not. As more and more items get added to your list, it gets heavier and heavier.

In time, your home or office aren’t supporting you energetically, they are draining you. As you walk around, seeing all those many things that need to be done, you just feel tired.

​What’s a person to do?

Written Lists Don’t Work for Me
There are some organized individuals who notice something that needs doing and write it down on a to-do list. They will use this list later and actually get those things done.

They never clutter up their brains with a mental ‘I’ll do it later’ list. They aren’t weighed down by jobs waiting to get done. They just do the jobs and cross them off their list.

I am in awe of these people, and I have tried to do this. Really, I have.

The difficulty I encounter is that my ever-lengthening written to-do list weighs on me too. I feel trapped by it. It is never finished.

I guess it is just the way my brain works. I get one item done and all I see are the many items still to be done. That list doesn’t inspire me to go on to do more. In fact,  just the opposite.

Mental Lists Do Work for Me
Despite the fact that a mental list can get heavy, the thing about the mental list that does work for me is that it is hidden in my memory. I don’t have to look at the whole thing all at once as I do with a written list.

When I work off a written list, I may have a feeling of completion when a job is done, but it is short-lived. As soon as I pick up the list to cross off the completed job, I see everything else that is still to be done.

My feeling of accomplishment is buried beneath everything else still on the list.

This may just be my own need for an attitude adjustment, or it may be that one size does not fit all. If anyone else has experienced the same thing as you’ve tried to organize your life, there is another way – try working organically.

Work Organically
This is how it goes. I invest an hour or even a half-hour, a day. I choose a location in my house or office, and do whatever job first comes to mind.  It may be a time-sensitive job that must be done that day, or it may be a job on my ‘do it later’ list, a job that has been waiting and weighing on me.

Whichever it is, when I get that job done, I feel a surge of positive energy.

It feels so good that I am inspired to get something else done. Whatever next grabs my attention. An hour goes by doing whatever jobs come up and I feel energized and content with what I have accomplished.

When the hour is over, I stop. This is important. That time limit keeps your energy fresh so that you want to continue the next day.

​When I am working organically, and I finish each job that steps forward to be done, I feel a sense of accomplishment. I get that satisfying feeling of completion. It energizes me and I want to do more.

Example of an Organic Hour
Here’s what an organic hour from last week looked like.

I stood in the kitchen and looked around. There were a few dishes to wash. I did so.

I saw that the counter surfaces needed wiping down. I got that done. That felt good.

I looked up and saw finger smudges around the handles on the white kitchen cabinets. This was something I’d been wanting to get to for a while. I cleaned them. That felt really good as I crossed it off my mental list.

Then I thought about how I wanted to touch up the paint on the cabinets. I’d ignored that job for quite a while.

I went down to the basement and got paint and a brush and touched up the paint on the cabinets. Wow, that felt good to get done!

I felt a surge of positive energy and a sense of completion.

My hour was up. The positive feelings inspired me to do another hour the next day and another the day after that.

Trust Your Inner Guidance System
As you work organically each job grows out of the job before. There is no need to keep track of everything that needs to get done.

Jobs will suggest themselves as you work. Priorities sort themselves. You do what next grabs your attention.

As you work organically you are trusting your inner guidance system.

​The more that you can work in alignment with your inner guidance system, the better you feel, and the more you create a pattern of alignment throughout the rest of your day. 

Your Spiritual Toolbox

​Try working organically.

Give yourself an hour of uninterrupted time. You may choose any amount of time you want. An hour works for me, not too much, not too little. You may choose two hours or thirty minutes or some other amount of time that feels right.

Now put on some music that inspires you and go for it.

Look around and do whatever job first comes to mind, big or small.

Stick to that job until you complete it or your time is up. Don’t allow distraction to interfere.

No need to rush. Enjoy the process.

When that job is done, congratulate yourself!

Now look around and find the next job that steps forward and says, “My turn!”

Continue in this way until the hour is up.

Give yourself a pat on the back for your accomplishment.

Do you feel your energy free up as you get these jobs done?

​How does that feel?

As you allow it, the positive mindset of alignment will carry over into the rest of your day.

​Beyond just getting things done, this is the real benefit of working organically.