#33 - Is it fear or fatigue?
Welcome to issue #33. I’m traveling again this week but through the magic of a little working ahead and scheduling tools it’s going to be like I will never even be gone ;-)
Photo of the Week
I was in Nashville, TN this past week for some client work. It was non-stop nearly the entire time I was there but I did sneak away on the last evening to enjoy some live entertainment at “The Listening Room”. It was WONDERFUL. The musicians I heard were Dusty Bo, Sadie Campbell, Emilee Allan and Charly Reynolds (seated in order on stage from left to right). If you’re ever in Nashville or Pigeon Forge, I highly recommend you check out The Listening Room. It was incredibly affordable and great fun.
Is it Fear or Fatigue?
If you checked out last week’s book note you know I’m re-reading Dan Charnas’s excellent book Everything in Its Place: The Power of Mise-En-Place to Organize Your Life, Work, and Mind by Dan Charnas. I’m including my completed book mind map for the book this week where, if you look closely, you might see the note on fear and fatigue.
Fear and fatigue come up when we’re in the midst of a task or project. One of them we need to fight through. The other we need to try to resolve.
Fear will show itself in all sorts of forms. Mostly though it’s distraction.
You’ll try to go on to another project while you’re in the midst of a task you don’t enjoy.
You’ll avoid starting a task you aren’t clear on how to do.
You’ll jump around from project to project under the guise of multi-tasking.
All of these tasks - all of these acts of NOT FINISHING - not doing what we intended to do/need to do are grounded in fear. Fear of rejection, fear of the unknown (what will I have to do when I finish this?), fear of failure…
Sometimes, though, we think that fear is fatigue. I can’t finish this today because I’m just too tired. I can’t finish this today because I don’t feel up to it.
This is more difficult to identify and handle.
True fatigue needs to be dealt with. On Wednesday night this past week I got home from the airport after 12 solid hours in travel status (hotel room door to my garage door was 12 hours, 32 minutes). I didn’t sleep well the entire time I was in Nashville. What I felt Wednesday night was pure bone drenching fatigue. What I needed was a good night’s rest. (Which thankfully I got.)
When I woke up on Thursday, I had a long list of articles and videos to finish (including this newsletter). Around midday, I started jumping around from thing to thing without finishing any of them. I had to give myself a stern pep talk and remind myself to do one thing at a time to make my way through the list. Finish one and go onto the next - using time as wisely as I can.
The hardest part of this for me is video editing. My skills of editing are good but not great. I was also trying something new with the videos I published this week and so it meant an extra step in my editing process. I kept jumping out of editing. Editing is particularly tricky because there is a wasteful bit at the end… after you finalize the edit of a video it has to “render” which basically takes the same amount of time as the length of the video or videos. Essentially, I would just be sitting there waiting on a computer process to finish - time I could spend writing, reading, or doing something else if I’d just finish the editing. Every moment I delayed getting those videos into rendering status was time I’d just have to wait while they did their thing later.
So, the next time you’re feeling fatigued - ask yourself if it’s fear or fatigue? Fear just needs a good talking to and a cup of your favorite beverage. Fatigue needs a nap.
Where’s Kara?
A quick summary of where I’m going to be hanging out online and IRL over the next few weeks. Join me, and if I’m visiting near you, hit reply and let’s meet up!
In Real Life (IRL)
As you read this, I’m in Orlando, Florida - probably specifically in a Lyft headed back to the airport to catch a bus that will take us to the brand new Disney Wish. (Check out what I published this week for a little more about this trip - full details to come after my return)
In mid-October, I’m in Denver, Colorado
In mid-November, I’m in northern Minnesota for a couple of days.
Around the Virtual World
Join My Course and Community - You will often find me hanging out in the course and community for my course “Facts of Life Book”. Do you need to organize your most important stuff for life’s most important moments? If so, then the Facts of Life Book course is just for you. With loads of templates, tools, and guides I’ll help you get your most important information organized. Newsletter readers - get in now for the low cost of only $25 for life!
Quarterly Retreat - I’ve written about my last two quarterly reviews on my business blog (here and here). I wanted to start making this a little more formal process - and you can join me. Register at lu.ma/Q4Retreat to reserve a spot for the session on Tuesday, October 4, 2022 from 11 - 4 eastern. Come in for a few minutes or join me for the whole session in this virtual coworking environment. Everyone who registers will get a free copy of my new Quarterly Planning Guide. Have questions - just hit reply and ask!
AP Productivity - I’m once again joining my friend R.J. Nestor as a mentor in his exceptional course AP Productivity. This is an eight week cohort based course designed to help you build systems and tools to be more productive - in the things that matter to you! R.J.’s course was such a game changer for me and for how I live my life and do my work. The next cohort starts October 6. Come and join us.
Tools, Tips, & Tricks
Treat Yourself Like A Toddler
I love Gretchen Rubin. Early on in the evolution of her podcast, she talked about treating yourself like a toddler. The actionable version of this (and my favorite tools for these) if you don’t want to listen to the podcast is to never let yourself get:
too cold - I forgot my lightweight hoodie on this recent flight. Never again. This one is very similar to what I have. I can wad it up in my carry on/day bag over and over again and it still looks great at the end of the week.
too hot - they make something called a neck fan now, my niece has this for my great nephew’s stroller, most of the time I just fan myself with a piece of paper.
too thirsty - I’m almost NEVER without my trusty Contigo. It keeps things cold AND doesn’t leak.
too hungry - the list of snacks I have is too long to even go into but if you need a snack, chances are I have one in my bag.
too tired - A few years ago, I bought this travel pillow. I don’t always pack it along but I need to start because I could have used it on this last trip.
Uninstall/rearrange the apps on your phone?
I spent 20 minutes while waiting for my flight to start boarding cleaning and rearranging apps on my phone. Over time, the apps I use regularly on my phone change. If I don’t use something regularly, I try to take it off of my phone to keep my phone running smoothly. I also try to make sure that what I use regularly is easiest to get to.
During that 20 minutes, I also grouped some apps together so they’d take less space as I scroll through my screens of apps (dragging one app on top of another one will create a folder in both iOS and Android). I went from four screens of apps down to two so it was time well spent.
What I Published This Week
A few things I published this week will release after I leave so I won’t be able to include direct links to those but I’ve given you links to how to get to them if you want to check those out - they’ll usually be the top one or two items on the page I linked to.
Monday
Obsidian Plugin Spotlight: The Review Community Plugin - article and video
Where Were You When - article
Tuesday
What is on your Walk On Song Playlist - article
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Facts of Life Book Series
As I build towards the official launch of the Facts of Life Book Course and Community on January 1, I’m continuing to publish articles about some of the many different things you might include in a Facts of Life Book. While I’m continuing to publish them on on Medium and Hive you can now see all of them on the Facts of Life Book website.
This Week’s Featured Book Note
Each week, I’m featuring one book note from a book I’m currently reading. Click the image to view this week’s note as a PDF file.
I finished my re-read of Dan Charnas’s book Work Clean. Here is the finished mind map. Click the image to download/view the PDF.
Diversion
The United States Space Force now has its official song. Did you even know Space Force was a real thing before seeing this? I’m now at least 95% sure it’s real.
Ways You Can Support Me
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