One at a time

16,000 feet! That’s the highest altitude I have trekked to. It took us 6 days to walk up from 8k to 16k, and the journey was arduous, both physically and mentally. Our trek leader kept us focused on the end goal (the next camp site) and reminded us that all we needed to do was take one step forward, and then another, and then another. “Focus on the one step, and don’t worry about the distance," he often said.

Many years ago, my mother knitted sweaters at home. She therefore stocked balls of wool, which my brother and I would often play with. Occasionally, the ball would loosen up, and the wool would end up tangled. As we struggled to untangle the wool, pulling on multiple strings, mom would tell us, “Focus on just one string and you will be able to untangle it.”

At work, I sometimes have days when my to do list has more work than I can squeeze into a day. In addition, there are emails to read and respond to. It just seems too much to handle. At such times I remind myself about what my mother, and the trek leader told me – one string / step at a time. It could be that urgent task, or an important one, or it could be that unpleasant task that I have been procrastinating for a while. Whatever it may be, I need to single it out, and then focus all my energies on completing it. Just THAT one.

That, I have learnt, is the only way to untangle a messy day... one task at a time.