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How to Fit The Work into a Busy Life


When every inch of ground is taken, where do you find room for one more thing?

How to Fit The Work into a Busy Life?

The problem in life is that there are too many good things to do. It’s good to sleep. It’s good to make healthy meals and eat them peacefully. It’s good to exercise. It’s good to invest time and energy in a job. It’s good to spend time with family and friends. It’s good to learn new things. It’s good to bathe. It’s good to clean the house. It’s good to meditate. It’s good to do The Work.

Unfortunately, it’s usually not possible to do it all. So how do you decide what to do and what not to do? 

Most of us let life decide for us. We focus on whatever demands the most attention, usually emergencies, or whatever is easiest to do. This leaves no room for the more subtle, long-term practices like The Work. 

You Can Make These Decisions Consciously or Unconsciously

If I just let emergencies decide for me what to do, I will stay busy putting out fires. There is always another fire. But if I step back and look at my life objectively, I can see that some areas of life are more important to me. Those areas are usually not fires to put out, but quiet activities waiting to be nourished and encouraged. 

These quiet, long-term interests don’t cry out for attention like emergencies, but they are actually dear and meaningful. Spending time on these aspects of life can be a foundation for a happy life. 

It requires conscious attention to notice these things and to act on them. They need protection from all the ways emergencies override them. Without conscious attention, they are easily lost.

Doing The Work of Byron Katie is one of those things. It is a quiet, meditative practice. And it will always come second compared to emergencies: job emergencies, family emergencies, financial emergencies, even just demanding people. 

Protecting the Practice

Because it is a subtle practice, The Work needs time and space where chaos and emergency demands cannot reach it. Here are some ways to find that space that have worked for me and my clients.

  • Make an appointment with a friend or facilitator to do The Work. This agreed-upon meeting time serves as a shield from the chaos of life for one hour. 
  • Make an ongoing appointment for doing The Work with someone. Better than meeting once to do The Work, meeting once a week, or once a day, or at some other regular interval, gives bigger protection for this practice. No matter what is going on, the meeting routine will hold me. I find this to be extremely effective.
  • Find a time when you are not expected to be available. Early morning, late at night, breaks during work, or transition times of any kind can be excellent times to carve out a protected area for doing The Work each day. I do The Work at the very start of my business workday before I check emails or get into projects. 
  • Tell others you are meditating now. Have a friend or a spouse be the guard dog for you while you close the door and do your work. 
  • Create a series of small breaks. 5 min + 5 min + 5 min + 5 min = 20 min. It is possible to do a little bit of The Work, stop, and then come back to it. Writing in a notebook really helps with this because it’s easy to pick up where you left off. A reminder system in a calendar also helps. 
  • Take a class. The regimen of assignments in a class can support the practice. You can use an externally motivated assignment as a protected space for doing inner work.
  • Find a group to support your practice. The power of a group can not be underestimated for protecting a practice. That’s why athletes practice in teams, musicians practice together, students study in schools, business people work together. When everyone around you is also doing The Work, it becomes easier to do it.

Meditation Time vs. Other Time

Meditation time does not mix well with other time. When I’m available and responsive to others, it’s hard to listen to the whispers within me. Meditation requires some time dedicated just to that. 

Is dedicating some regular time to doing The Work valuable to you? If yes, what options do you have for fitting it into your life? Doing nothing lets chaos dictate the direction instead. 

Luckily, The Work is here for emergencies too. So if things get too stressful, you can always go to The Work and find some peace again, without having a practice. But why stop there? Why not make finding peace a regular part of your life? 

Take some time to look at your schedule today. Where could you fit this beautiful practice into your routine?

Have a great week,
Todd

“Through inquiry, we discover how attachment to a belief or story causes suffering.” Byron Katie, Question Your Thinking, Change The World

Further reading: The Little Gifts of Daily Practice