fighting off entropy

I keep a tight ship in my life. Calendars, agendas and to-do lists. All optimized through years of trial and error. So I know better than anyone else that any productivity system is only as good as your worst day.

That however, is a non-statement. You’re not going to be “productive” on your bad days. Nor should you really expect to. And yet I find myself on days like this wondering how to overcome that last obstacle before achieving organizational nirvana.

The law of chaos says that our universe ultimately trends to disorder. It’s often extrapolated to other systems of thought, from explaining the mechanics of the molecules that make up our reality to describing the irrational nature of human beings. Entropy is how it’s measured.

I’m a Type A person through and though. Though I would bet if you met me you’d think otherwise. That is because I plan everything meticulously behind the scenes in order to maintain an outer appearance of easygoing-ness. But I digress. I like my life organized. And yet organization, as far as the universe is concerned, is fundamentally wrong. There’s no better evidence for this than the fact that organization takes a lot of effort. And on those days when I can’t muster up the energy, the threads naturally begin to unwind…

So I let it. And let myself be a little more present in a life full of deadlines, responsibilities and stress. Just for a few days, to see what happens. I mean it’s not like those things didn’t exist before. The only difference now is the permission I grant myself to be okay with them existing around me. And if you have a better strategy than I do in the face of this unyielding chaos and entropy, please let me know.