Have you ever had one of “those” weeks?

One of those weeks where appointments and your missed to-do’s seem to be piling up like police cars in the Blues Brothers?

That was me this week. Tasks took longer than I’d planned. Volunteer commitments piled up. Days went longer than I’d wanted.

And commitments to myself kept getting pushed back. To Tuesday. Then Wednesday. Then Thursday.

All week, I’d look at standing commitments as “expendable extras” – like the red shirted ensign in Star Trek episodes. I kept meaning to call the person and say, “There’s no need to meet” or “Let’s put off our appointment until later in the month.” But for some reason, this week I resisted that urge. (Or was too busy to act on it in time!)

Do you know what I discovered? As draining as this week was, those meetings did two things.

1. The meetings provided structure in my day. Structure that required me to keep moving forward rather than just dwell in my overwhelm.
2. The meetings reaffirmed why I do what I do. The people I talked with were doing important work. And were trying to make the world better, despite the forces against them.

Each day, I’ve been shocked by the benefit of pre-scheduled meetings. Especially yesterday’s meeting with my coach, Pam Slim. I was going to blow that off. I’m so glad I didn’t!

Shockingly, even the standing committee meetings had some redeeming factor in them.

So as you look at your schedule, consider following through with the meetings you scheduled. You might just find you’re in a better place mentally.  And each meeting might put you ahead in the other tasks or follow ups you have.

This just went out to my #FollowUpFriday subscribers. Get them in your inbox by going to http://FollowUpFriday.org/. A version was also published as an article on LinkedIn.