Tiny Wins

An article in the The New York Times caught my eye recently about the importance of accomplishing small tasks and goals in every day life: "Feeling Overwhelmed? Try Tallying Your Tiny Wins" by Jancee Dunn.¹

The article resonated with me because I seem to always have trouble recognizing and appreciating my own "tiny wins."

Self-confidence and motivation are a struggle

Most of the time, I feel like I'm far from winning at anything in life, and I beat myself up for not getting enough accomplished. Yet, reflecting on small accomplishments, no matter how tiny, can make a positive difference in one's self-confidence, energy, focus, drive, and motivation.

I do experience this sometimes, but I often have difficulty keeping my self-confidence and motivation up for very long, always worrying about gigantic future goals that I can never seem to meet. Then, I invariably revert back to avoidance, procrastination, fear of failure, distraction, and exhaustion.

Doing anything can feel virtually impossible

Living with a painful chronic illness such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can also have a major impact on energy, motivation, and the persistence needed to accomplish goals. RA fatigue alone can easily overwhelm and derail the best-intended plans on a good day, never mind the days spent suffering excruciating flare-ups in one's joints. Throw in an ADHD diagnosis on top of RA pain and sickness, which I have, and sometimes it can feel virtually impossible to do anything.

Difficulty finding stability and structure

I know that I'm not alone in the RA and chronic illness communities when it comes to feeling overwhelmed and helpless when trying to manage everyday life. The unpredictability of RA and everything that goes along with it (staying on top of medical appointments, prescriptions, therapies, and treatments) make it difficult to have stability and structure in one's life. When maintaining your health is your top priority and full-time job (unpaid!), it's easy to let other work, projects, and goals fall into chaos and neglect.

Adding to a metaphorical 'penny jar'

Despite my own challenges with motivation and productivity, I really like the anecdote Dunn gives about when she first joined the The New York Times as a columnist after not working in an office for over 20 years. Feeling overwhelmed and needing help with her computer one day, she spoke with the "IT guy" over the phone, who offered her some valuable advice she wasn't expecting to receive.

Noticing her anxiety over the phone, he told her to imagine a jar and to add a metaphorical penny to it each time she achieved something — even a tiny task. He assured her that over time, she will fill up the jar and she'll see that she's moving forward in life, even if it feels like she's not.

Real pennies work, too

Or, if imaginary/invisible pennies don't work, Dunn suggests using a real jar with real pennies. She also notes in the article that this penny-jar tip can work for all areas of life and not just work-related things.

Dunn writes, "My friend’s father died recently, and she was so grief-stricken that she struggled to complete the simplest tasks. I told her about the jar, and now she uses the method. Get out of bed? One penny. Manage to brush your teeth? Two pennies. Even that, she said, gives her momentum."¹

Even getting out of bed is worth celebrating

Right now, I think I'm at the point of feeling overwhelmed enough where I should probably use a real jar and real pennies, if I really want to make this mindset a habit. And I do. I'm ready to find and use positive, healthy skills to try to combat the constant struggle I feel of never getting enough done and not being a "productive enough" member of society.

Just reminding myself that getting out of bed in the morning is a task worthy of acknowledging and even celebrating — especially when struggling with chronic pain.