Coffee, Chaos, and My Manager is a Cat

Notes from a Modern Girl Friday

Today, the Managerial Executive Of Work-Life Balance (or MEOW-B) for Traveling Coffee Girl celebrates her birthday! Tabitha Jane Meow, commemorates yet another year around the sun. While the hours are sporadic and her coworkers may drive her bonkers, she takes her role very seriously. She still looks and behaves like a meddlesome kitten, and constantly discovers new, innovative ways to ensure I take time away from the computer.  Here are some of the recent ways Tabitha has insisted I focus on what is important:

• She’s trained me to wake up without an alarm clock. Ms. Tabitha currently has an arrangement with a local avian choir, and each morning, just before the sun rises, the birds squall outside my window while she pats my face to remind me it’s time for morning affirmations. “I love you more than anyone in the world.”, “you are the best kitten ever”, and “it hardly hurts at all when you pummel me with your razor-mitts.”
• I’ve learned responsibility is remembering to fulfill the most important tasks in the routine first. If M’lady woke up and took two bites of her food bowl at 4:00 AM, it must be refilled before 5:00 AM. She’s not responsible for her actions when she’s starving.
• She reinforces the importance of impromptu rest and massage breaks. Studies have shown 10 minutes of petting a cat reduces stress and cortisol levels. No one can convince me that the study wasn’t actually conducted by a cat. The citations seemed fishy.
• When the work day ends, I don’t put in free overtime. While working on a grant proposal late in the day, Tabitha jumped up and positioned herself on my lap in such an awkward way, I couldn’t write on my computer or my notebook until I finally conceded and surrendered to the snuggle. The workday was over, and more important matters needed tending.

Whether they are meditating, concentrating on a scenic natural vista, studying physics on the edge of the table, or getting in their late night cardio, cats know how to make the most of every moment. They know the value of taking a much-needed nap and are always content to exist quietly with a friend. Unless it’s bath time because personal hygiene is paramount.

If you have ever been friends or roommates with a cat, you know their #1 rule: a lap for a nap remains at rest until the cat is in motion. This situation can leave one feeling blessed and chosen or trapped, depending on how much of one’s to-do list is spinning through one’s mind or how desperately I need to pee. Next time this happens, take it as a signal from the Universe and your cat, it’s time to slow down.

As an experienced Executive Assistant, I understand the importance of keeping a deadline. I also know that overextending a schedule and forgetting to rest are the professional equivalent of spinning tires in sand. There’s lots of noise and flying dirt, but solid ground is no closer. In the office, it might look like business and productivity, but projects aren’t progressing and the gap keeps widening. The first step to getting out of a busy rut begins by taking the foot off the gas:

1. Breathe. Try it right now. Do you only have one minute? Count your breaths for the entire minute. By focusing on those essential, life-giving breaths, you’re taking a moment to block out everything except for your needs. Do this regularly. Add it to your calendar or appointments like it’s something important.*
   • 1 PM – Breathe
   • 3 PM – Breathe again

* Remember not to hold your breath between appointments

2. Be Picky. Have you ever given a cat a new kind of food? Cats are professionally persnickety about almost everything. Most importantly, cats are very selective about who they give their time to. So should you. Your time and energy are your most valuable resources. Why would you waste them on things not worth your attention?
3. Fixate. Have you ever seen a cat multitask? If you have, you know it wasn’t on purpose, and it didn’t end well. A cat trying to calculate the geometry and physics of a leap from one ledge to another cannot fathom the sudden distraction of the sound of the fridge opening or a housefly careening past. If something deserves to be done, it deserves to be done well. Don’t sabotage your ascension.

Tabitha reminds me every day that balance and delegation are essential to leading smoothly. Being picky with spent time and fixating on what brings the most joy is what shifts the difference between feeling busy and creating a life. 

What could you accomplish if you claimed more of your time back? Each task you delegate is another step toward what matters most.

Visit the Traveling Coffee Girl studio or Tiny Tasks today.

Let’s accomplish your goals, together.