Ealing must be one of the best places to live in the world.
It’s got everything! Huge parks, diverse and delicious food, and an incredible local community.
But living in Ealing brings two huge challenges.
1 Watch out for the Urgent
It doesn’t take much time living in London before your perception of time changes, does it?
An 8-minute delay on the Heathrow Connect almost breaks the internet, as the whole of Ealing Broadway leaps onto the TfL website to work out if the Central line would be quicker.
Deep down we all know 8 minutes isn’t a big deal, but it is fun to live life at full throttle. The problem is, a fast-paced life comes with a massive challenge.
Lots of stuff turns out to be urgent when you’re living fast.
Without even realising it, we end up on other people’s agendas. Think about it:
- When was the last time you started a Facebook/WhatsApp message, or do you only ever find yourself replying to others?
- When was the last time you decided, entirely off your own back, to go and apply for a job you wanted, or did you feel you had to leave, or got a call from a recruiter?
- How are you doing on those New Year’s resolutions you set less than a month ago?
Urgent things distract us from what’s important in life.
2 Watch out for the Unimportant
Probably worse than what’s urgent though, is what’s unimportant.
Let me unburden myself of the things that have filled my time so far today:
- Checked Facebook
- Watched a viral video of someone singing on the tube
- Played a game on my phone
- Read opinion pieces on the Academy Awards and the Premier League
- Caught up on one and a half episodes of Jessica Jones on Netflix
- Checked Facebook
- Read the Wikipedia pages for every main character in Jessica Jones
- Tried to get a photo of my coffee cup so the background was blurry
- Checked Facebook
I also have important things in my life; holding down a job so I can afford to live in Ealing, doing my household chores, spending time with my wife, having fun with my kids…
Surprisingly enough, the important things would benefit from us saying ‘no,’ to a couple more of those unimportant bullet points.
Let’s actually do it
Reading this could very easily turn into a waste of time, so let’s commit today to not get distracted by what’s urgent or what’s unimportant!
Tweet to your friends to tell them you’re planning on doing what’s important in 2016 by clicking here!
