Good stress is still stress.

Managing it is not only healthy but can also help make good things happen.

Can your system deal with good stress, too?

The success of Waves of Focus has been wonderful. Students are interacting, supporting each other, and learning. Several have discovered new ways of interacting with themselves, feeling less scattered and more accomplished already.

And only a third of what I’ve planned is published to the site!

And my goodness is there stuff to do!

There’s promotion to consider, a podcast to prepare for, this newsletter, tweets and instagram posts, the business of the site itself, not to mention my continued psychiatric practice, my family, my kids’ homework to help with, my weekend piano performances, the dishes, and you know what else?

I’m still going play video games, dang it. Fun, in some form or another, is absolutely vital to existence.

Much of my success stems from David Allen’s Getting Things Done, both in terms of my learning and in my ability to, well, get things done. One powerful lesson he gives is that whatever system you use should be able to function when you are sick with the flu, whatever you decide to do that day.

I would add to that: whatever system you use should be able to function when you are inundated with a zillion things. Bookmark this, grab that, jump into the Now, keep an eye on the Not Now, etc.

But, at the risk of jinxing myself, I’d like to say my systems have, by and large, been able to both keep me on track and provide at least some room for play.

Getting there has not about setting something up and leaving it. There are clearly areas that need to be pruned. Stress is quite present.

It’s a practice, and one that’s doable.

– Kourosh

PS. I’m currently on the 5th boss cell of Dead Cells for anyone keeping score (though I think I’ll be stuck there for quite a while).