PP 327: Over-Packing

Kim Sutton On the day that this episode is released, I will be enjoying the festivities at the April 2018 new media summit hosted by Steve Hoelscher. And I can tell you that I am going to be overjoyed to be there. However, I have to confess, I am an over packer. And what I was thinking about this, I was realizing that it correlates, maybe correlates isn’t the right word, with so many areas of my life. Not only do I try to stuff too much into my suitcase, and in my carry on bag, however, I try to stuff too much on my task list, in my calendar, in the grocery cart, in the washing machine and the dryer, I think you get my point, I just want to give you one example of the overpacking issue that I’m facing when preparing to travel the new media summit. And before I even say that, I need to tell you that while I am there, I will not have any time to do anything but attend the summit, because it runs from 8:30am to well past 6:00pm with trainings and pitches and meeting the participants and just a whole lot more. So I shouldn’t even be facing the struggle of how much to take with me. And folks, I’m not talking about overpacking clothes. Clothes is probably the one area that I do not pack enough of. I’m not even joking when I say that if I spill something on a shirt one day, then I’m going to be using my tagline for the rest of the day. Positive productivity is not about perfection. Here’s what I eat for lunch. Okay, that’s an understatement. I’ll probably go to the gift shop and buy a new shirt, bt you get my point. Where I face struggles in overpacking is how many books I should take, and mind you I’m only going to have time to read in the airplane, in the airport, and yeah, that’s it. There will be no other time to read on this entire trip because even when I get back to my hotel room at the end of the day, I am going to be so exhausted. And I mean exhausted in a good way. Don’t get me wrong, I will be so absolutely exhausted. If you haven’t heard it already, I want you to go back and listen to a previous episode and I’ll put a link in the show notes at thekimsutton.com/pp327. However, I shared an episode last fall where I woke myself up snoring on the way home from the last new media summit. And I don’t snore unless I am severely exhausted. But if there’s any way that I’d rather be exhausted, it’s because of an event like this. Friends, we need to figure out how to stop overpacking, our schedules, our suitcases, our task lists, and our stress lists. I know that I’m probably only going to have time to read one book. But somehow I can’t get my list down from three. But I will compromise and I’ll take it down to two. I don’t know what two books those will be right now but the compromise will be worth it. And on any given day, I am doing my best to compromise on my task list as well. I know what I need to do, I know what I want to do. And I have to find that happy medium in between. When we don’t find that medium we get stressed out and discouraged because we haven’t accomplished everything that we really want to do. But this is where realism comes in. I know this is a positive productivity podcast and I know that I always say stay positive. But sometimes we just had to be real. Don’t set expectations to read three books, I’m talking to myself here, when you know you’re barely gonna have time to read one. And the same with your task list. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will our entrepreneurial empires. So give yourself a break and pack light. Now with all this said, go for it make it a positive and productive day.