The world will not collapse if I pause the to-do list for 30 minutes
When life gives you lemons, you better make some lemonade!
Leadership
Lately, the world has felt a bit more sour than sweet.
The economy feels heavy. Prices feel heavy. Kids’ schedules feel absolutely bonkers as the school year winds down. And as a business owner, I’ve noticed how much more nimble you have to be these days just to keep up with the constant pace of technology, visibility, content, algorithms, and all the things.
I also hear it from leadership coaching clients and event organizers. Teams are tired. The pace feels relentless. Layoffs and uncertainty have people carrying a little more stress than usual. People are more cynical, stressed, and burned out.
I’ve felt it personally.
I’ve felt it in business.
And if I’m being honest, like many people out there just trying to make it all work, I’ve probably been operating a little too much from “task mode,” telling myself we just need to “get through it.”
You know the mode.
Check the thing off.
Answer the email.
Finish the project.
Move to the next thing.
Repeat forever because somehow the to-do list reproduces overnight like rabbits.
Over the weekend, I had a little time to slow down (lemonade in hand) and think about why I’ve been feeling more pressure lately. And I realized something simple but important:
I’ve forgotten to leave room for unstructured thinking and doing.
Somewhere along the way, productivity became the priority…and my creative battery started running low.
And while discipline matters, creativity is often where energy comes back online.
So this week, I’m giving myself a small challenge:
30 minutes of dreaming time.
Not strategic planning.
Not inbox clearing.
Not productivity disguised as creativity.
Just space to think.
To create.
To explore ideas.
To let my brain wander a little again.
My plan is to sit on my front porch with a sparkling water and bask in the nothing. I’ll have a notebook and pen with me, but nothing more.
And maybe most importantly, to remind myself that the world will not collapse if I pause the to-do list for 30 minutes. Constant cortisol isn’t helping anybody anyway.
Sometimes leadership isn’t about pushing harder, faster, and stronger.
Sometimes it’s about loosening your grip enough to let fresh energy back in.
I’m grateful for the nicer weather lately and the reminder that sometimes fresh air helps both the home and the mind feel a little lighter again.
Life
Though my family keeps a joy calendar, I realized this weekend that I need a little more bite-sized joy on my calendar this summer.
A slower evening outside.
A random ice cream stop.
Music on the patio.
A card game.
A walk without turning it into a productivity podcast session.
A little more laughing.
As the weather warms up, I’m realizing how easy it is to accidentally build a life that revolves entirely around responsibilities. Especially as adults. Especially as parents. Especially when the world feels uncertain.
But I don’t want to only remember this season of life as “the years we managed everything.”
I want to remember the micro-joyful moments too.
And maybe that’s your reminder this week:
Not everything valuable is measurable.
Not every productive moment looks productive.
And sometimes the most responsible thing we can do for ourselves and the people around us is to become a little more human again.
So here’s to making room for both in bite-sized ways:
The responsibilities.
And the joy.
Have Good Ripple Effect,
Lisa