This week I sent an email with a request to a woman within the industry whom I deeply respect. I had what I saw as a simple request that could be done in moments, she responded to my email within twelve hours but stated, “I will have this to you by the end of the week”.

I sat there for a moment thinking “What about the ‘Touch it Once’ method? Why wouldn’t she have just taken care of it and had it off her plate? She is crazy successful, why wouldn’t she maximize her efficiency?”

I moved on with my day, but now a few days later, I am thinking of the power of her response. She acknowledged me, said she will, and put it on her to-do list.

Is my request urgent? No.

Will she follow through? I trust she will.

Is it okay that she is making me wait? Yes.

Fast forward to today.

I had a similar email request of me, “When will you post your summer retreat dates?”. In my mind, I needed to get dates for her ASAP, build the webpage, create themes, meal plans, schedules, choose the color pallet, find images, create the social media posts, posters, ect. This is a HUGE undertaking for what she may think is a simple request.

Is this my priority today? No.

One of my March intentions was to “Intentionally plan my summer”. If I raced to answer her email, that would have been the exact opposite of my intent. This one email could have hijacked my day and week ahead and out the window went my actual priorities.

So what did I do? I built a ‘coming soon’ webpage, responded in honesty that it will be posted in the coming weeks and sent her the link to check back soon. I will flag her email to follow up when it is posted and I am moving on. This is not my priority. I am working on regulating my whole being, this is the kind of thing that would fling me into dysfunction faster than a spinning top.

There is value to the efficiency of the ‘Touch it Once’ principle, but at what cost? Today, I want to start applying the ‘Touch it Less’ principle. I want to start examining requests with the filter of urgency and efficiency. Child’s sock that I have stepped over 5 times? Pick it up. Stack of junk mail? Recycle. Full garbage can? Emptied. I can touch these things once and will feel better on the other side.

Other bigger requests? Touch it Less. Acknowledge the task, honor the request, give a realistic timeline and respect me first.

This Week’s A Door Within:

What are tasks that I can touch once?
How can I prioritize my life to ‘Touch it less’
How will I feel when I honor the right now, and remind myself, I’ll get there soon?

♥ Ashley

touch it less

regulated**

A Door Within