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The More You Think You Don’t Have Time to Plan, the More You Need to Do it
When it feels like all you have time for is putting out fires, that’s when it’s most important to step back and reflect
There’s an old Zen parable that highlights the importance of spending your time wisely.
A man goes to a Zen master and says “I need help. I’m stressed, I’m overwhelmed, my mind races all the time, and it all feels like it’s all too much. What can I do?”
The Zen master tells the man “you should meditate for 20 minutes.”
The man, frustrated answers “but I can’t meditate for 20 minutes. There’s too much to do. I just don’t have the time.”
The Zen master nods his head, closes his eyes, and thinks for a few seconds. He opens his eyes and answers “I see. Then you had better meditate for an hour.”
I love this story both because it’s both funny, and it highlights a hard truth that I regularly forget again and again. The more that you think you don’t have enough time to step back, plan, and reflect-the more important it is that you make time to do exactly that.
The act of filling out a card each day is a great reminder that you should take this time. I have found that the less…
