The Timelines We Make

Hi Reader,

It's raining. Sunday afternoon. I'm working.

Have three big weeks coming up. One week at home with more work and zooms than seems reasonable. Just tomorrow I have 9 zoom sessions. Then two weeks away on a private guided trip. Amsterdam, Turkey, Tengile. Looking forward to it.

But before I get on that plane there's work to finish. Website updates. Training sessions. Planning. All of it stacked into the days I have left.

Except none of it technically has to be done before I leave. Some of it. Not all of it. I could stretch the timeline. Let some of it wait until I get back. Give myself more space.

I won't though. That's not how I work.

I create tight timelines. Make everything feel like it needs to happen now. Build pressure that probably doesn't need to exist and then work hard to meet it.

Not because external circumstances demand it. Because something about it works for me.

Getting things done keeps the bad voices at bay. The negative thoughts. The doubt that creeps in when I'm not moving forward. Action makes me feel positive. Productive. Like I'm actually building something instead of just thinking in circles.

So I work ahead. Finish things before they're due. Create margin by compressing timelines. And honestly, there are benefits to that. Less stress later. More freedom when I'm away. The satisfaction of knowing it's handled.

But I'm also aware I do this automatically now. That I default to future over present without thinking about it. That given the choice between doing something now or later, I'll almost always choose now. Get it off the list. Clear the deck. Keep moving.

Which means I'm rarely just here. Rarely in the moment without thinking about what comes next. What needs to be set up. What future version of myself will need that I should handle now.

I can switch off when I want to. Can chill as hard as I work. But when I'm in work mode, I'm in it. And right now I'm choosing to get this done before I leave even though logically I could let it slide.

What I keep noticing though is this pattern. Always choosing the future thing over the present one. Always prioritizing what needs to happen next week over what might serve me better right now.

I see this in people I work with too. They'll stack commitments. Create impossible timelines. Then work themselves into the ground meeting standards nobody else set. When you ask why the deadline is what it is, they don't have a good answer. Just that it needs to get done.

But need according to who? What actually happens if you give yourself another week?

Usually nothing. The urgency was artificial. Self-created. A way of generating pressure that keeps you moving but also keeps you from ever really arriving.

And maybe that's the point I keep missing. The work will always be there. There will always be something that could be done now instead of later. Always another reason to prioritize what's coming over what's here.

At some point you have to ask whether you're building a future you'll actually be present for or just staying perpetually ahead of a moment that never quite arrives.

There's value in preparation. In thinking ahead. In using work to quiet the noise in your head. That's real. That matters.

But there's also cost. In always being three steps ahead. In spending present energy on future problems. In using productivity to avoid sitting with yourself when things get quiet.

The rain is good. The afternoon is quiet. I could keep working. Get more done. Stay ahead of the timeline I've created. Keep the bad voices at bay for another few hours.

But I'm not going to.

I'm going to finish this newsletter and log off. Might hit a nice long cardio session. Not because I've figured out the perfect balance between future and present. Because tomorrow is coming whether I like it or not, and another few hours of work today won't change that.

The quiet is where the bad voices live. But it's also where clarity lives. Where rest lives. Where being actually present for your life lives.

You can't get to any of that if you're always working ahead. Always building for later. Always using action to avoid whatever sits in the stillness.

I'm paying attention to the pattern now. To how automatically I choose future over present. To whether I'm using productivity as progress or just as noise to drown out the quiet.

Don't have it figured out. But I'm noticing it. And right now that means closing the laptop even though there's more I could do.

The work will get done. The trip will happen. Tomorrow will arrive whether I spend tonight working or resting.

And maybe that's the point. The future I'm building for will be there either way.

Might as well be here now.

And that's it for this week.

Other things taking up space in my head: training protocols and whether I'm actually optimizing for the right outcomes. All the zooms coming up this week. Coaching clients and where they're at. The new photographers coaching program I'm building out. Immersions I'm planning. Trip logistics for my November trip. Travel arrangements that need finalizing. Peptides and recovery strategies. Funding for Greenland. Training for the 2026 crossing. Financial year end planning. And many, many more.

The usual chaos of trying to keep all the plates spinning while also remembering to actually be here for the life I'm building.

Not sure any of that connects. Some does. Not all of it. Just what's floating around on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

What thoughts have been floating around your head this week? Let me know on WhatsApp or email.

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Have a great week and stay safe.

And as always, don't forget to be awesome.

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Mindset & Performance Coach | International Expedition Leader Speaker & Presenter | Photographic Educator | Co founder of Wild Eye

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