Oh, hi friends!
Do you have spaces, places, or things that you tolerate?
Here's a super basic example that haunted me for months. The closet with all my clothes turned…chaotic? I never swapped out items for the winter, or reorganized it to accommodate my running stuff, so every time I opened the doors to grab a shirt or pair of jeans…
I HATED IT.
Truly.
It stressed me out! Felt like a to-do item I'd never get around to. Because you look in the closet in the morning but then move on with your day. That kind of task never rises to "urgent" status.
So you tolerate it.
And yes, there are plenty of spaces, places, or things that we can and do tolerate. Some things will never rise to a higher level of urgency. We cannot refine every aspect of our lives.
But we also shouldn't underestimate the effect of tolerating.
You may tolerate a messy inbox, but that prevents you from getting around to important emails.
You may tolerate a disorganized system for your meaningful projects, but you're missing out the extra momentum that arrives with clarity.
There are lots of layers to this. It’s also not only about organization.
But you know what's better than tolerating?
Not tolerating.
When I came back from vacation and opened that closet door, I knew I could no longer tolerate the small buzz of chaos in the mornings.
It was a Monday. I had other things to do. It wasn't urgent. But tolerating this space over and over again felt, well, really annoying.
So I pulled out clothes and moved things around and refolded sweaters and of course it took all of 45 minutes.
A task I put off for four months.
Forty-five minutes!
Now each morning is a little bit better. Easier. Smoother.
What will you stop tolerating today?
I was tolerating three different inboxes and calendars for my work, personal, and a project I'm working on. After a year, I finally sat down for an hour to watching videos on how to combine them all into one interface and I can't believe it took me this long to do it. :)
I have the exact same closet...but not for long.