As a writer, editing is a must. It helps my writing to make sense. It ensures I’m correcting my errors. It perpetuates good flow between words and sentences and paragraphs. It keeps me from saying too much. It keeps me on track with my topic, lest we end up down a trail with Alice and the White Rabbit.
Last week I was listening to Glynnis Whitwer discuss her latest book, Taming the To-Do List. In the interview, she mentioned the idea of playing editor in our lives.
What does it look like to edit your life? Start by listing all of your roles. For me, that looks like mom, employee, daughter, sister, friend, writer, ex-wife, church volunteer, small group leader and freelancer. (If you’re like me, I bet you discover you have more roles than you thought!)
From there, break down your responsibilities. For example, in my job I oversee everything related to communications, including content management, social media, press releases, advertising, newsletters, website management…you get the idea.
With all of your roles and responsibilities before you, start to ask yourself some questions. What are the things you don’t have to do anymore? What can you delegate?
This includes things that maybe aren’t right for your current season of life. I have a good friend who had led a church small group for several years. She absolutely loved the group, but needed more time with children, so she stepped down from leading the group. It was a hard choice for her, but one she knew she had to make for this season of life.
Whittle your list down more by asking what are the things only you can do. Only you can parent your children. Only you run a particular meeting. Only you can be the wife to your husband. Only you can exercise for yourself (but don’t we all wish we could pay someone for that?).
But most importantly, only you can be you.
The editing process makes for better words; it can also make for better lives. We as women, often unintentionally, add on so much to ourselves. The problem is we often forget to take off those added layers, bringing so much overwhelm and exhaustion into our lives.
Editing allows us to be ourselves.
Our lives will make more sense. We will make fewer errors. We will flow smoother from our hours to our days to our months and to our years. We will avoid the overwhelm. We will stay the course.
Get out the red pen…it’s editing day.