Emerging from the fog of war (or in my case, work)

One of the interesting elements of my job is that every 3 months or so, our daily work gets so intense that I lose all perspective and it becomes the only thing I think about for about two weeks. I don't tend to blog, do any social networking, or even call my family for these periods, as the days are just too intense, and too long, with each day (including weekends) ending between 10 and 12 p.m.

It's now late January, and after a longer-than-usual period of intensity at work, I can finally pull my head up, look around again, and try an establish a sense of normalcy in my life.  I've reintroduced myself to my family, gotten a few decent night's sleep, and feel ready to start working on my January goals.  Alas, I only have 5 days left in the month, so I better get cracking.

And that last sentence is one of my bigger problems.  I finally have a few days to relax, but I won't.  I'll work to get done a number of things that were on my list for the month, because they are there to be done, and at some point, I had decided that doing these things were in my best interest.

But intensity does not make up for consistency.  There are lots of projects where dedicated intense time will get them completed - I can write a budget, build a first aid kit or read a novel in a short span when it's needed.  Unfortunately, most of the goals I have are really about forming new habits, or developing myself physically and mentally, things which don't lend themselves to intensity.

These types of development goals require consistency.  Doing 100 pushups a day will develop me well; doing 600 in one day to make up for the rest of the week will make me sore and injured.  Reading the news each day makes me aware of what's going on; reading once a month will update me, but will take extra time to get 'caught up'.  Spending every minute of two days with my boys is not as good as being home for dinner every night.  Creative writing is an ongoing process; writing four blog posts in a weekend, not as interesting.

So now it's time to return to those daily habits I'm trying to build.  Pushups, stretching, prayer, social networking, daily family dinner, and other habits that are good for my long-term health, success and happiness.  Am I trying to do too much each day? Yeah, maybe.  But all of it is good for me, and worth doing.  If I spend an hour each day focused on these things, I'll be a better man for it, and maybe I can fit all of these in when the intensity ramps back up again.