TOC #161: I have so many frogs to swallow
(January 23, 2024) 5 themed days to add to your calendar this year
Having too much on your back burner is so fucking scary.
Like, can't-concentrate, stomachache, haunting-you-in-the-middle-of-the-night, feel-like-you-don't-deserve-to-enjoy-life scary.
My best friend, Jayme — who you have to thank for all of my wild Arizona dating stories (like this one and this one) — and I both, unfortunately, share the same procrastinatory tendencies when it comes to doing, well… real life things.
Call it ADHD, call it avoidance, whatever – we both have lots of ~life admin~ in any given day / week / month / year.
(I forgot to register my car for 4 months. I think Jayme forgot to register hers for 2 years. You get it.)
So, when on one of our daily phone calls — during the designated “commiseration” portion — earlier this year, Jayme referred to her growing life admin to-do list as FROGS TO SWALLOW I was like:
“Oh, YUP. I’m using that. That’s perfect.”
Because these are things that aren’t just little tasks you’re putting off – they’re things that feel scary or annoying or long but (much to our dismay) are wicked necessary.
Things like finding a new PCP.
Or paying a bill.
Or sending a difficult email.
Or addressing the rattle in your car.
Or getting your Invisalign put on.
You know, the stuff “normal” (aka not neurodivergent) people would have absolutely no fucking problem doing at all.
…and, while I was planning out how I wanted my life to look this year — y'know, the actions you take every day is the way you live your life, yadda yadda yadda — and thinking about all the god damn frogs I have to swallow, I decided that making it a ✨thing✨ would be the most effective way for me to GET. SHIT. DONE.
So, I present to you:
The 5 themed days I've added to my calendar for 2024 — let's all collectively pray that I actually listen to myself and use them to my advantage.
5 Alternatives To A “CEO Day” To Add To Your Calendar In 2024
I've basically been living in a vat of overwhelm most months out of the year.
(I take summer — namely, all of July and August — off, because it’s required for my sanity. Here's how I can afford to do that, if you're curious.)
Unfortunately for me, I don’t see that ~overwhelm~ sitch changing much any time soon.
I’m a single mother, with a toddler, and ADHD, and 786 things I want to accomplish in business by yesterday, and a half-lofty, half-attainable goal of buying myself a beach house for my 31st birthday.
(And, I do have to admit, it's how I prefer to live. A little bit of pressure makes things more spicy, my brain more active, and my end products better.)
(No, I don't want to unpack that.)
So, yeah, overwhelm will be a staple for me, at least for a while. I think that completely eradicating overwhelm is completely impossible, but managing it (or, at the very least, keeping it temporarily at bay) is absolutely something I can do.
Specifically: with the help of these 5 days I plan on adding to my schedule in 2024.
#1 — The Trash Can Day
#2 — The Back Burner Day
#3 — The Biz Brain Growth Day
#4 — The Action Day
#5 — The Frog Swallow Day
To learn more about what these days are, why I need them, what I'm using them for, and how often I'm scheduling them on the calendar, click the button below to read the full blog post!
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