Sometimes it’s just a grind

[00:00:00] You are listening to the Daily Five, an experimental podcast by Aurooba, where I talk about something for five minutes. So let's get to it, shall we? So we talk a lot about moderation, deliberateness, systems, and schedules on this podcast. And consistency. We talk a lot about consistency. Heck, this whole podcast is a practice in consistency– in creating it, in listening to it.

[00:00:38] If you listen to it daily, I mean, talk about a commitment, hey? But sometimes you can't stay within your schedule. Sometimes you can't be moderate in how you tackle all the various compartments of your life. Sometimes you need to turn the dial up way high on that one burner. Sometimes it is just a grind.

[00:01:04] It is just a hustle. I think because of the prevalence of hustle culture and the over glorifying of sacrificing everything for your work, many of us, including me, have developed a distaste for anything that even remotely connects to the concept of hustling. But like all things, there's a nugget of truth in there, right?

[00:01:31] Sometimes in order to get something to the finish line, you just have to hustle a little bit and when done very occasionally for good reason, that is okay. More than okay. I would say that this week is a week of hustle for me. It's a week where a lot of things have come together all at once and need a lot of my attention.

[00:01:55] I need to make solid progress on the little course I'm working on. I need to bring my A+ friend game to a friend's baby shower. I have to push a bunch of code for work. I need to have my best foot forward for multiple podcast episode recordings this week for my other podcast with my co-host. And you know, also maybe get some sleep so that I remain human?

[00:02:20] So I'm working a bit longer and a bit later with the understanding that after this week, assuming I can grind it out and get ahead on some of these things that are nagging at me, I can relax back into my systems and schedules. Moderation isn't always about staying moderate. It's about staying moderate.

[00:02:45] Hmm. Moderately. If we insisted on only following set schedules and weren't willing to do the occasional longer workday or the occasional shorter workday, we'd actually be on an extreme, right, because by definition, or at least by definition according to me, moderation requires a degree of flexibility and the ability to bend a little in either direction.

[00:03:11] Really, or in multiple directions. Did I bend your mind with that phrasing in that last little bit? Here's another one. Moderation means sometimes veering off the middle path. I'm a little tired if you couldn't tell, but anyway, the point is I'm working a little harder than usual this week so I can get ahead on a few things that are concerning me.

[00:03:38] Staying behind isn't a great place to be in and if you need to sweat it out a little bit to give your future self some peace of mind, it can be worth it. If you know anything about me, you know I'm a list maker. I have lists upon lists, upon lists. Sometimes those lists are just so that I can remember them because when you write something down, you remember it better, and sometimes they're there to literally track my progress.

[00:04:03] But either way, I have a lot of lists. In fact, right now I have seven different lists related to this week. Some that I'm diligently crossing things off of, and some that are just there for me to glance at as I plow through a bunch of work. Whatever works, really. When you're in grind mode, you just have to do the, the simplest thing that works.

[00:04:26] You know, it's quick and dirty. Well, maybe it's not quick or not even dirty, but it's not really a time for perfect systems, you know? so yeah, that is where I am at today.

[00:04:45] Thanks for listening. Talk to you tomorrow.