An Extra Tomorrow

I recently saw a picture of three baby opossums hanging by their tails from a branch.

And it occurred to me...they all look like they're looking directly at their mom... with the question of the moment: "OK, Mom, we can be good now. Can we come out of 'time out'...please? There's other things we need to do and see and time's a wastin here. This is a good trick, and we're glad we know it, but we've been here for awhile, and it's getting a little boring...pleeeeese...Mom....can we come out of our time out?'"

Have you ever had that feeling? Like you're stuck in the moment, in a 'time out' hanging upside down and looking at the world totally lopsided?

Like you know you screwed up somehow, and either took on too much, took on projects that rightly belonged to others, or just haven't managed your time well enough to accomplish the priorities of your day?

You'd like somebody...your mom....somebody...anybody...to come along and say "OK, you can come out of 'time out' now and return to the real world?

Can you relate? Biting off more than you can chew...saying "Oh, sure, I'll do that. It looks easy, and I'm sure I won't have to spend much time at it. " Overcommitting is one of those habits that can keep me...and anyone else...from achieving the success we deserve. It's easy. Thinking that tomorrow is a blank slate.

Not that it helps my situation, but there's evidence, at least, that I am not alone in this habit. According to an an extensive study conducted by Gal Zauberman, PhD, University of North Carolina, and John Lynch, Jr. PhD, of Duke University, and published in anarticle in the Journal of Experimental Psychology:

"Participants believed that both time and money would be more available in a month than "today," and believed it more strongly for time than for money."

Zauberman and Lynch state, "People are consistently surprised to be so busy today. Lacking knowledge of what specific tasks will compete for their time in the future, they act as if new demands will not inevitably arise that are as pressing as those faced today."

We all think that we'll have more time in the future. Therefore, it's easy to commit to do something "tomorrow" because we believe "tomorrow" will not be filled.

What we find, however, is that for most of us...today's commitments will...and do...overrun into tomorrow.

When that happens to me...which happens to be true at the moment...I feel like I'm stuck in a "time out. " A self-created moment on the gerbil wheel where I can't possibly finish all the things I've committed to do...and therefore get off the gerbil wheel...off the branch...out of the time out.

On the other hand, I know I will. I will finish this article...because I love sharing, laughing at myself and the silly things I do to make my life crazy.

And, I will finish the other projects I've committed to. There may be a few that won't be quite as perfect as I want; some that (unless they had an absolute deadline) will arrive a little later than planned, and a few that I'll probably put off until "tomorrow"...most especially...laundry... vacuuming...dusting.

I know all of this because I finish what I start. No matter.

The biggest question today, however, is whether ...or not...I will take on any other projects to be done...tomorrow.

Whether I'll actually learn to predict my "future time demands" more in line with reality.

Or...will I keep myself in a "time out", a self-imposed run on the gerbil wheel...or hanging out on the branch... as I commit myself for "tomorrow?"