How to Take Advantage of Chaos

What do I mean by chaos? Here I am referring to the chaotic impacts of marathon-like, uber-busy periods in our lives.

• starting a new business
• partnering on a major initiative at the office
• in the middle of a move
• changed jobs
• just had a baby
• newly married
• in the middle of a divorce
• taking care of someone who is sick
• you’re sick
• losing weight
• training for a marathon

All of the above ^^ represent times of transition and in many cases, too much ‘new’ is happening all at once, in compressed pockets of time.

While I do have some concrete suggestions below, this ‘tip’ is more of an awareness piece, highlighting what we gain from these times in our lives.

Using weight management as metaphor, if someone has a lot of weight to lose, it’s going to take a long time to reach the goal. The ‘losing phase’ is like a marathon – it’s a slow and steady trudge. But over time, he or she is learning the habits required to maintain the loss in the long run.

Habits take a lot of time to develop and that time is necessary to gain the new muscles (literally and figuratively) to keep the weight off, once the goal is reached.

Extended periods of chaos help you build ‘muscle’ and endurance. In many ways, these periods help us build super powers which ready us for life’s awesome adventures.

When you think back to times of chaos in your life, think of all the ways you grew in that time.

Call to Action

If you are in the midst of chaos now, think of ways you can develop routines <stay tuned for next blog post to address just this> around the new challenges. Visualize each day going as smoothly as possible. Even with the chaos, what is the best scenario and what can you do to help the day go as smoothly as possible? Do you need to build in extra new patterns to ensure you are supported as well as possible?

A Personal Example

When my husband and I moved into our new house last year, I knew the 1st day commuting to work might be chaotic. I’d based this presumption on my experience of having moved five times while working for the same firm… I’d handled each time prior to this very poorly!

This time was going to be different! I consciously thought through how the morning would go. I made sure at least one work outfit was completely unpacked and built in a little extra time for unknowns.

In Closing

Too often we don’t simply think through a new course of action and undercut ourselves as a result of poor planning of the ‘simplest’ of things.

Honor yourself by taking time to think through even the ‘simplest’ of things … Save yourself, your projects, and those around you from the unwanted ripple effects!

About Linda Stacy

Linda is a Boston-based Productivity Specialist and author of The Whole Package Professional: The Definitive Guide to Productivity, Success and Fulfillment in Business and Life. She created the LivingBluPrints System based on her experience as busy professional in the management consulting industry, an entrepreneur, and years of research, training, and living her best life.

Linda brings her transformative Productivity Workshops and On-Site-Seminars to corporate audiences, entrepreneurs, and hyper-busy professionals.

When the time is right, connect with Linda (linda@livingbluprints.com | 617.512.9572) to help you or your team build your blueprint to succeed in 2017!