Do you have a survive or thrive mentality? If you’re one who thrives, what is your strategy?
Survive Mentality
Do you ever feel like there is so much on your to-do list? I imagine the feeling as starting negative and are working to reach zero. That is a Survive Mentality.
Bills need paying, work projects need working, car needs repairs, and there is a stack of dishes in the sink. It can seem like there is always more to get done.
That is true. There is some measure of urgency and importance to your to-do list, but what if you look at the real due date on each of the tasks and troubles that weigh on you? Is there any time to spare?
Cue Toby Kieth singing, “It wouldn’t change the course of fate, if cuttin’ the grass just had to wait.“
Thrive Mentality
What are the things that you could do that make your life feel more full and alive? What if the grass got an inch longer, or that spot of dust behind the chair a little bit dustier.
Thrive Mentality is willing to put the to-do list off as long as possible in order to maximize life!
The pitfall of thrive mentality is forgetting to make time for maintenance.
In fact, the better you are at maintaining the survive, the less sudden emergencies there will be to throw a wrench in your thriving. As always, you need to live somewhere in between.
It would be a shame to pause a relaxing rainy Sunday when you see water leaking through the roof.
Survive and Thrive Mentality
So to maximize the thrive, you need to efficiently survive.
This is why some of the greatest creators wear the same clothes every day. If you never waste any energy on outfit choice, you are surviving super efficiently, leaving those 30 seconds scrambling for a shirt to be put to better use.
Scheduling: A Helping Hand from Future You
This is something that I am, and have been terrible at for a long time.
I hate the idea of planning because it feels over structured, stiff, boring, or non-spontaneous; and yet, it is the reason for so much of my frustration. When I have an important task lingering in the back of my head all day, I can barely focus on my work that I need to be doing right now. However, if I had a well-kept planner that said I would be doing important task “X” at 4:30 pm, I would be much less anxious about it at the current moment.
A planner is future you telling current you, “Don’t worry, I’ve got this.” That is such a nice feeling when future you has your back and is helping you to survive so you can thrive.
Immediacy: Lighten the Load on Future You
It is nice to have future you helping you out so that you can relax and stay present in the moment, but there are some things that can be taken care of right away. This saves both of you (you and future you) time because now the task doesn’t even need to be written down.
That bill that is sitting on the counter, for example, could have been paid right away with a quick log in. The junk mail next to it, could have gone straight in the trash so I wouldn’t have to sort it later. This seems obvious to me now, but the pile of mail that forms on the counter tells me that I need reminding.
Striving to Thrive by Surviving Efficiently
My goal is to get better: at scheduling, at planning, and at communicating those plans.
Instead of writing this, maybe I should have planned my week ahead. Oops.
What is your Survive or Thrive Mentality?
Let me know if you have any favorite methods of planning. I have always preferred hard copy to digital, but the problem is organization.
Thanks in advance!