Jonathan Fields’ Awake at the Wheel Blog offers a wonderful metaphor for managing time and energy: Bubbles, Burnout and Balls. Blowing bubbles can be a lighthearted fling, or it can be a challenge of physics depending on how much focus you put into it.
Like blogging, it’s more fun to expand the bubble and keep it growing as large as possible, but you have to go past “possible” to find out just how large that is. That perfectly describes my week, as I have felt stretched to bursting with the projects and tasks I have assigned myself and have accepted from others.
Several of them require me to go past my previous limits and to learn several new skills at the same time, definitely outside my comfort zone. It takes balls to face the unknown and to risk collapse of the entire project. When the bubble bursts, it is gone. That’s not really true of a project, but it is true of some opportunnties, some of which you can respond adn others burst even as you reach for them. But you keep stirring that soapy water.
But after every bubble, it’s time to renew, to get more soapy water on the magic wand and start blowing again. A bit of a rest and renewal is necessary, especially after a burst or burnout. So, as Jonathan suggests, the balance is the goal, balancing bubble, balls and burnout for a beautiful life.
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