I was thinking recently about how we manage our own life - not in big
philosophical terms, but in very simple things. Objects. Meetings. Walking
around the block.
And I’ve noticed something: things have become… a bit more complicated.
Since COVID, my way of managing time has slowly worsened. It used to
feel almost natural, almost precise. Now it feels heavier, fragmented. And I
don’t think I’m the only one. Many people seem to be struggling with how to
handle their own “stuff”.
In my case, just after or during the pandemic, I created new routines,
new activities, new ways of using my time. It made sense then. But now, with
in-person life fully back, everything is overlapping. What worked before is now
creating friction.
Maybe each person has a different version of this story. But the feeling
is similar: something in the way we manage our lives needs an update.
And here is the interesting part.
We don’t just manage things - we develop a way of managing them.
Almost like a personal operating system: you learn it, you refine it and
without noticing… it becomes a habit.
Like someone who walks their dogs always the same way, at the same hour,
with the same route. It works. Until one day, it doesn’t. The dogs change, the
environment changes or simply life asks for a different rhythm.
And yet, we tend to keep doing the same, ignoring the signs, avoiding to
face the new reality or because we don’t know what to do.
Reality, however, doesn’t wait. Technology shifts, social dynamics
evolve, and health, priorities, even our inner motivations… they all move.
Quietly, but constantly.
And suddenly, the way we used to manage life starts to feel outdated.
Maybe changing how we deal with things is harder than dealing
with the things themselves.
One option is to tighten control. To micromanage and try to fix
everything by paying attention to every small detail gives an interesting
sensation. And, paradoxically, this often makes things feel even more
overwhelming - as if life had become a collection of tiny, urgent fragments. Emails,
for example…
Another option is more subtle and perhaps more challenging: to shift
from management to leadership. Management is about handling tasks. Leadership
is about setting direction.
When we trust our direction, we don’t need to control every step and we
may be allowed some margin. We can make mistakes, we fail or we forget doing
something... And we flow, fixing what is needed, changing what is required and
enjoying life much more.
Of course, trusting the process doesn’t mean being careless, but to recognize
that not everything needs to be tightly held in order to work.
What really needs to change is not the number of things… but the person
who is trying to hold them all together. Me, you…
And that change, although uncomfortable, might be exactly what brings
things back into balance.
