My neighbour handed me a book on 'Time Management', a short while back. Apt. I'd started work at DE Shaw and the noose around my already packed schedule got a little tighter. A week later, the editor of a local magazine approved a couple of my ideas and agreed to let me write a few articles, possibly a monthly column.
The following week, I met with an old friend, a concert pianist who runs a music school, affiliated with The Trinity College of Music, London. He made me an offer to teach piano to the kids at the school twice a week. That's on, starting this Thursday. I'm continuing with the three weekday Salsa classes in the evening, the workshop at Ahala on Friday night and more excitingly, the two-hour classes on the weekend at the studio.
There's space in my week for shooting Church News, Lifegroup and singer's practice on Thursday. You would be right to assume, at first, that this busy mix of activities is detrimental. For the second time in my life, I felt the beginning of an anxiety attack. If you've never had one before - you will, at some stage. Everyone suffers from anxiety attacks, however mild. My method of dealing with it is to pull out a piece of paper and plan my time. Creative people need rest. So, I had to plan my schedule around my periods of relaxation. After sacrificing a few enjoyable activities, cutting down time behind the wheel and learning the art of discipline, I seem to have landed on a series of activities which aid my goals, and allow me to contribute to the community in surprising ways.
As it turns out, all of the above are fun activities, not work. If it felt like I had to drag myself to work, this busy schedule would be cumbersome. There is nothing I'm doing now that I would rather not do. That's not to say that I'm closed to new things. No, the only way forward is to constantly re-model, re-shape, accept new responsibilities, take risks and be open to opportunities. The biggest challenge for the next three months is striking a healthy balance between the personal, private and public aspects of my life.
