From injury to insight: the power of small actions

I’ve been feeling a little overwhelmed lately and sat down to write about something else entirely…

However, the fact that I’m working my way through the overwhelm and I feel like I’m making progress had me changing my mind and decided to write about what’s going on, why it feels this way, and what I’m doing about it.

This one isn’t super fun to write about, but I’m hoping that you can take away a little something to help yourself out when this happens to you.

Where This Came From

I’ve been training for an upcoming mountain trail race since winter.

This included a 40-mile event in April and lots of time on the trails each weekend, putting in the time and sweating in the humid weather this spring and early summer.

I’m race directing a trail race for the first time, with my wife, and it will have taken place by the time this email reaches you. It’s been interesting to see “behind the curtain” and a lot of work.

More than we thought. Lots of details, people to coordinate, emails, forum posts, designs, shirts, and more to order... the list goes on!

I went for a run last weekend and ended the day with a hamstring injury.

It’s slowed me down, and while it seems I’ll recover with time and rest, it’s at the point where I need to be on top of everything.

Life throws things at us, doesn’t it?

Once I started to get over the self-pity party, I remembered I had tools to stay productive, upbeat, and get things done.

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What You Can Realistically Do - And How

I’m not going to lie - I still feel like I have a lot on my plate and I’m definitely not super happy about being injured. Just want to get that out there.

What I do want is to be effective at what needs to be done, get it done well, and not be a major bummer to myself and everyone around me 🫠 

The first thing I remembered was the physical part. I’m injured. If I continue to push, the most likely scenario is making it worse which means at the least a longer recovery time. That means the best option is to look into recovery methods and set a schedule with what needs to be done so that I have something to do and follow.

It may not work but it will be so much better than doing nothing or just worrying about it with no course of action.

The second piece of self advice comes from my list of “Principles” that I’ve collected over the years and read during my weekly reviews. This one is about identifying what I’m in control of, and what I’m not in control of.

Once you identify what you’re in control of, take charge of that and do what you can.

Leave the rest alone - by definition you aren’t going to be able to do anything so why waste your time and energy?

Last but not least was remembering to take action. This morning it was super mundane (as these things tend to be) and it worked well - I did the amazingly simple task of cleaning my office up.

Put books away, wiped off my desk, put the random electronics in their shelf, and put away an old water container.

That had the intended effect of:

1. getting me moving

2. building momentum so that I was ready to do something else more important

3. getting me out of my own head and thoughts and directing them somewhere productive

It’s so often true that the important results come about from the small and consistent steps we take. It’s certainly true for me, and I hope that the next time you’re feeling overwhelmed or unmotivated, you’ll use these ideas to help yourself.

One quick question 👋

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P.S. Looking for resources to improve your productivity? Check out the tools I use right here.