Having time limits

Hi friends!

I’ve had to be a lot more conscious of time these days. Time spent working on my photo business, writing, volunteering, reading the news, and doing daily things like working out and eating a healthy-ish three meals a day (this is a goal, not reality). 

A bit ago, I wrote about feeling like I might be emotionally blunted. In light of learning about highly sensitive people and some instances of bursting into tears at emotional scenes, I realized that it’s not that I don’t feel anything; it’s that I feel intensely. I’ve unconsciously managed this by putting up a mental dam that is occasionally opened. 

I really want to figure out how to manage all this better, and (on my therapist’s advice) I am trying guided meditation again for… the third? fourth? time. It’s only 5-10 minutes per session, right after waking up. I sometimes do the same amount before bedtime, too. I’m not great at sitting with feet on the ground, so I have been lying down for my morning meditations and inevitably, drifting off to sleep, only to get woken up by the voice guiding me. It’s a weird cycle.

Parkinson’s Law is also still hovering at the edges of my brain. If I only had 20 minutes to write this letter, I would push really hard to get it all done. But if I let myself think and dream and wander through my words, it’s going to take way more time. Leaving a task with an open-ended time is probably not the best way to work for me, I am finding out. There’s the option to be more lenient in the deadline if it is really necessary. 

In terms of the new redesign of tanjennts that I have been experimenting with, I have some sections that will stay (always going to feature a plant) and others that I will fill in if I have the content for it. I think having this flexibility will help. My immediate project is to rewrite and redesign some of the copy and assets to align them with the new version. I’m putting a time limit on this so I don’t go into a black hole of finding the perfect font and set of colors. 

Today, I read Seth Godin’s post on 40 years of projects. I know of him but don’t really follow his work. However, this long timeline of projects really reminded me of the perspective of “ignore everyone else, stop comparing, and focus on launching.” Benchmarking is helpful to a point. 

As always, thank you for reading. I promise, I really do love hearing from people who read my work, especially if something resonates or makes you ponder a bit.

— Jenn

P.S. Having not put a time limit on this letter, it has taken me several walks of thinking and 1 hour of writing to finish it. 

P.P.S. Had another walk before I sent this off.