Category: Life

Man that’s a tough question.

I’m not generally a fan of the 7 Habits universe but I do like their important/urgent matrix, and I find the idea of Q2 (non-urgent but important tasks) a really intriguing concept.  I agree with Covey’s contention that this Quadrant is where the hard long term progress is made. 

But that just begs the question, what is important?

Preparing is important. When you walk into a meeting you should be ready for whatever is thrown at you, (including the humility to say “I’m not sure, let me get back to you”). I think life has discreet inflection points where things change. Some of those moments are scheduled and you can research ahead of time. Some of them come from out of the blue and you’re forced to just to rely on the life you’ve lived to date.

As an architect, I don’t think it’s a bad thing to be a dilettante and dabble in a lot of hobbies. While any specific hobby might not be “important” the act of opening oneself up to the world via multiple avenues may well be enrichment that feeds the work. That said, tangible career progress is a matter of hard focused effort. Not necessarily a ton of hours, but spending those hours in a focused manner.

Which again begs the question of how to determine what should be the object of focus.

I guess I’d say stepping back and taking breaks. I once did a six week summer studio and I took zero breaks. Aside from being completely burnt out, I also did not finish the project. I never got out of my own head space. After that semester I realized I have to take at least one weekend day off until the final push. One needs to regularly take a moment and look at themself in a detached manner and make sure they aren’t headed in the wrong direction.

In the past few years I’ve also picked up the habit to stop at the coffeeshop every Friday morning, as well as when I’ve got a certain unsettled feeling. Sometimes I get caught up in the coffee shop conversation, but occasionally it’s a really useful time of reflection where the internal muddy waters of my mind settle down and I can begin to see things clearly again.

In the heights of accomplishment and joy there is a nagging feeling that tomorrow is coming, where you won’t be the center of attention and the next challenge is right around the corner.

Maybe it’s a good thing. While it may be enjoyable to live it up to the max, such a sentiment keeps the downs from going too low.

How does one live presently in the moment, knowing this too shall pass?

Being sick shuts down the brain in a way which is can be difficult to appreciate when one is riding high on life.

That saying “if you got your health you’ve got it all” is simultaneously hedonistic, naive, and got a helluva point that one can’t fully appreciate till you’re sick.

Flies by so quickly.

By extension forty years must fly by quickly as well.

or Seventy!

There are many things to be thankful for.

Does a conscious gratitude of time make one better at spending it?

To make a recommendation requires confidence in the product and one’s knowledge of the person you’re talking to.

It’s not that big of a deal when it comes to a meal at a restaurant perhaps, but for something bigger?

Do you care enough to nudge your buddy out of inaction?

Do you really want to risk your reputation nd relationship on it?

You could be wrong after all.

Or you might be right.

One week went by without exercise.

Work, kids, sleep, eat…but no movement.

It seems to me that the art of balancing life is to be so imbalanced at any given time that you fully focus on the most important task at hand.

To make the important more urgent than the seemingly urgent.

But dang, those drawings won’t redline themselves.

I had to do some difficult work for the first time. It wasn’t easy. Nerve-wracking even.

I guess they call that learning.

I bet it will be a lot easier the second time.

But I suspect they hire you precisely because you will go through it that first time.

I know it’s cliche, but it seems worth mentioning every time it happens. The difference between the second and third place vote getters in the Las Vegas Ward 3 primary was 5 votes.

Number three goes home, while number two gets to duke it out with number one in the general election.

FIVE votes.

Do it.

I’d like to think I have a complete game.

But I don’t.

When I cup my hands, things will still slip through.

Sometimes the harder I grip, the more things slip.

So the question is how do I mitigate it?

There are those who are the face of a group. And there are those who make it run.

Sometimes it’s all wrapped up in the same person, but I’ve usually seen these roles shared among different people.

For better or worse, it is the way of the world to give the figurehead all the glory, but do not discount the heart within the organization.