Last updated Thursday 17 June 2004 09:16 PM

An old skipper gave me a great tip one time, when I had my own sailboat. "If someone's about to hurl, give `em the helm."  When you feel motion sickness, a good thing to do is focus on the horizon. It's even better to grab the wheel. I've never known anyone get carsick who was driving. A much deeper level of equilibrium is accessed when you actually take charge of a moving vessel.

The main reason you will feel much better when you implement the methods of workflow mastery is not because it creates less to do, or even that you realize you will get more done in less time. It's really because it automatically puts you back in the driver's seat, at the center of your universe. You become cause instead of effect.

Overwhelm and over-commitment, though they seem to be the source of much of the stress these days, are not the real culprits. Many times you will actually thrive in those situations in which you are "against all odds."  Try single-handed sailing out into the deep blue ocean. Or just getting out of bed, some mornings!

The angst arises when you let loose the reins, when you stop directing your own energy. Indeed, we are all at the mercy of things bigger than us.

And at some point we all learn that surrendering to some greater and larger aspect of the universe and ourselves is the real game. But that kind of letting go is actually a positive and highly directed energy, and not at all the kind of caved-in experience of being victimized by the voluminous details of your life.

Avoiding things demanding your attention is like trying to stop the boat from rocking. Answering "What's your desired outcome?" and "What's the next action?" - even about the pieces of paper in your in-tray - puts you back at the helm.

"Drive thy business, or it will drive thee."

 Benjamin Franklin

"What makes a river so restful to people is that it doesn't have any doubt -- it is sure where it is going, and it doesn't want to go anywhere else."

Hal Boyle

Many thanks (again) to Tricia Luker for this contribution!