Each morning when I stroll into work and switch on my computer, I am reminded with a pleasant chiming bell of the meetings and commitments I have throughout the day. My favorite reminder of all comes at 12:45pm when my little electronic assistant reminds me that an hour refuge is just around the corner. I like to think that if personified, my outlook calendar would be a sassy little assistant who didn't bring me documents, but rather soul rocking music suggestions and my own personalized play list to get me through the day. He would be edgy but with a sense of balance for calm on hectic days and he would never bring me coffee because he would know me well enough to know that being served would make my skin crawl. I digress.
On my drive this evening, I thought about how handy calendar reminders are. How I am anal enough to remember things on my own but love the assuredness that comes with the automatic, built-it, fail safe chiming of my computer.
How much better, I thought, would it be to have an internal outlook calendar that reminded me of the things that truly matter. Sure meetings are important to the functionality of the workplace but in the grand scheme of things, I feel like software developers are missing out on a market that would have dividends for one and all alike. Maybe the reminders could come as swiftly and clearly as those few moments of clarity we all have that hit us like thunderbolts, reeling for days afterward. Or maybe we could visualize the reminders pictorially from somewhere directly behind the retina (if this be the case, I prefer mine to be of the old film variety with haziness and glitches providing character and nostalgia).
And to all the software geniuses out there, here are a list of the internal reminders you can begin working on immediately. I would like them often, daily perhaps or just when the stress and ridiculousness threshold seems to be reaching critical levels (tempo has reached critical levels, tempo has reached critical levels).
Reminder One: Productivity is not your master. If a day (or two) passes in which you allow the dishes to pile up and the laundry to go unfinished, the world will not stop turing on its axis. Productivity is relative and lady, you need to re-evaluate the meaning of this word.
Reminder Two: A day spent relaxing with friends, unexpectedly is not a road block to the rat race, rather a reprieve from the laps you've been running in attempt to catch the rabbit. Soak it in sweetheart because afternoons that turn into evenings that turn into night fall where the conversation flows as freely as the wine are, in their own right, alters to be bowed at.
Reminder Three: Intensity is exhausting. While it has its merits and rightfully placed can be a pivotal element to life, intensity burns out quickly and leaves little return on investment if thrown wildly into the world without reason.
Reminder Four: Clear the mind and the heart on a regular basis. Leave the trash at the curb and walk away confidently with an understanding that trash is trash and you're not obligated to compost anything.
Reminder Five: Trust yourself and the decisions you make. Stop questioning, apologizing, second guessing and twisting your insides over miniscule matters that mean absolutely nothing.
Reminder Six: Live. Breath deeply. Exhale fully. Click the memory stick every now and then when you feel yourself in a moment that may not define you but will certainly shape you. Let things tangle up your insides if they must. Walls down. Buildings burning. Protection lost. Sand in your sheets kind of living.
Let it all go, my friend. You're the only one still holding tight to the arbitrary demands you've placed upon your sinking shoulders.
