The Upside: Moving, Mattresses and Math

Move is to displace a thing from one place to another. That simplified meaning mocks me. Were it that simple, I’d be packed and done in 2 days,* Fueled with Dr Pepper and Lay’s sour cream and onion chips (family sized bag) I can power through mechanical tasks like painting a room, cleaning a house or raking leaves.  The word “move” with its simplicity masks an intellectual and emotional challenge that literally keeps me up at night. For example, I spent 3 days, measuring furniture, drafting floor plans and pursing wall beds trying to figure out how I could fit both an office and a guest room into a 10 ft. x 9 ft. space finally concluding only one will be possible. But which one? Currently I have both and I use both. Enter logical friend Trina.

Trina: How many times do you have guests?

Me: Hmm, maybe once a month

Trina: You work from home, how many days do you work in your home office?

Me: Easy, 5 or 6 days a week and if you add working on the blog, I use my office just about every day.

Trina: There is your answer; do you make space for something that happens 12 times a year orsomething that happens almost every day?

OK, no guest bedroom. It’s interesting, many people have offered to help and I think in terms of physical help. However, the help I needed was a reality check. When I’m working with clients on strategy and change projects, I always ask, what keeps you up at night. This question shifts the focus to “the big things” that make a difference. I often surprised at how thoughtful people are when asked this question and to their surprise, can articulate a response and within a few minutes of discussion, we can formulate a plan to move forward. I now know that feeling of clarity and relief that comes with a plan to move forward.

Office versus guest room was literally keeping me up at night. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise, that once I could name the big issue, someone else could ask the right questions to enable me to move forward.  With the office versus guest room issue solved, I’m ready to start packing and preparing for the movers on Saturday. I think next week’s blog post may simply say, done.

*Packing 60 boxes at 15 minutes per box would be 15 hours—with breaks- 2 days. However, now that I have started,  I think I’m going to have more than 60 boxes.