Monday, May 10, 2010

Dog Pile



When I was a kid, we occasionally would spontaneously tackle someone and the rest would jump on with the battle cry - “DOG PILE!”

Little did we know this was a lesson at the time. There are moments when we feel blindsided, laid out and buried.

In the day-to-day events of our lives, we can let things heap up and bury us but there is a way out. Unlike the randomness of child’s play, we usually see the mass building. Regardless of job or tasks, we see them plainly.

When we see it coming toward us, we have time to prioritize and prepare. Unfortunately, we get inundated because we missed something or we get a surprise deadline.

In these moments we may start suffering from anxiety and think we are being dog piled. This is the time to assess the situation and feel for a way out. Those items close at hand may not be the ones needing the most focus, but they are right in front of you – take them out. Either you push them aside or finish them off.

The key is not let the pile make you give up. Systematically approaching the load and deliberately removing the pieces bit by bit will get you there. One thing to keep in mind is to be flexible to any more bits added to the existing hillock. Let them come and decide if they need to be tackled now or later. Slowly you will come out of the pile and use the items to build a foundation on which you can structure the items coming in where you want them to be.

Have you dug yourself out? How did you do it?

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