Freedom through restrictions

There's a word that's been popping up in my head again and again this week. And that word is "boundaries". I keep hearing it in conversations. It can be a confusing word to grasp, the first thing I think of is cricket pitches and their boundaries. 

But that is a good analogy, as it’s telling you what's in play and what's out of play. What things are in the game you are playing and what are out. Ok yes you do get points for hitting the ball outside the boundary in cricket so technically the other side of the boundary is part of the game.

But it’s a clear visible marker of in and out. The protective ring around the game. So I've been thinking about this with regard to my life. What's in and what's out. Whether its time boundaries, like turning off my tech by 9pm or working in 25 minute time blocks.

Or boundaries of who or what I can physically allow myself to give my full attention to, and who and what I am not. That involves saying no to a lot of things, which of course brings its own problems, stresses and frustrations.

But what it does bring is Focus. As Steve Jobs famously said, "Focussing is about saying no, not yes". You make conscious decisions about what you are not going to do, so you can fully engage and put your energies into those things that you are going to do.

So ironically, these boundaries, or what I also like to call "restrictions", that we can create for ourselves, are intentionally placed to give us freedom. Not to restrict our freedom.

Thinking about it, I need to place that time boundary on what time I am going to finish working today, to create that freedom for some weekend activities.