Shifting Eggs in a Carton

Imagine five eggs in a row in an egg carton. The first space is empty. The next five spaces are full. Like this: X-O-O-O-O-O. If you scoot the row of eggs back one spot so that the first five spaces are filled and the last spot is empty, you get this: O-O-O-O-O-X. How many eggs are in the carton now? Still five, right? 

So what does this have to do with anything? In my experience, stress often comes from leaving just enough time to get things done. This is like packing the eggs in the first way. Finishing things ahead of schedule is like packing eggs in the second way. What’s funny is that many things take the same amount of time to complete—whether they’re done in advance or left until the last minute. Although the two approaches require the same amount of work, they produce dramatically different experiences. Here are a few examples from my own life: 

• paying bills

• writing The Good Leaven Letter

• doing the dishes

• preparing for a Latin lesson

• packing a suitcase

• driving to an appointment

This week, I invite you to consider: 

Where in my life would I benefit from shifting the eggs in the carton? What things would take the same amount of time to complete whether I do them in advance or at the last minute? Which of these am I committed to doing early next time they come up? 

God bless,
Dan