Welcome to Maxim Monday! YES! Maxim Monday is posted on a Tuesday. I was having a bad time last night getting my internet to work properly so here we are today.
Maxim Mondays is a time and place to look at the Maxims of the Christian Life that Fr. Thomas Hopko left us 10 years ago. Each of these 55 maxims is a tool we can use to gain a closer walk with Christ, to become better people. Today, in number 26, we read:
Do your work, and then forget it. Don’t carry it around with you. Be totally attentive to what you’re doing, but don’t carry it in your mind. Have your mind focused on what you’re doing at the present moment.
This is a difficult one. It is so easy to constantly be thinking about our duties we have waiting for us at another time or place.
The part I really like about what he says is… “Have your mind focused on what you’re doing at the present moment.” That sentiment is truly an all important one. We tend to worry about what’s happening next rather than focusing on the now. Many bring their work home with , their worries. But these worries creep in when we are trying to relax, spend time with our families, on vacation, etc. These very important times can be ruined by our not being in the present moment.
It reminds me of a Walt Whitman quote which I posted about back in June:
How do we keep the pathways of our mind clear and focused on this moment right now? How do we leave our work at work so we can focus on those we love when we get home? Or simply relax?
I don’t work outside of the home right now but I do constantly feel overwhelmed with all the things that I have on my to-do list. Sometimes it consumes me.
I’ve recently work on the Free to Focus 5-Day Challenge given out by the author Michael Hyatt. It is on productivity and his first big challenge was to pick a daily Big 3 for your to-do. It doesn’t mean you won’t do other things, but rather if you get those 3 things done you can label the day a success. So focus on your Big 3, get them done and move on! You have succeeded! I have been doing that for 4 days now and it really does feel freeing. I used to wake every morning and write out these big long to-do lists and if I didn’t get them done I’d feel such failure. The Big 3 has really worked for me. It has allowed me to let go of my work…to forget it.
How do you “Do your work, and then forget it”? What tips do you have?
Kindler of Joy! 