You might find it “morbid”, but it works;
The only way for you to know is to try.
Because if you’re like me and occasionally burn out,
It’s useful to step back and appreciate¹ life.

I know it sounds trite, I know you’ve heard it before,
But I know what it’s like to live on the edge of crying.
I, too, get lost on which path to take or product to build;
I, too, need a reminder² of my autonomy.

So when I reach a tension peak
With no end to the work in sight,
I run this pre-mortem³ thought exercise
To ground me before my nerves take flight:

Imagine if I lost my partner tomorrow?
Imagine if I lost my parents or friends?
Remember what it was like to lose my brother?
None of my To-Do’s had mattered in the end.

What would matter would be what I wouldn’t get back.
I’d miss sharing how our days went;
Like saying, “Hi, Honey! I’m home!” to an empty room,
Would these projects mean anything then?

But that is not now and they are still here,
Which means I can stop worrying today.
So let me put my feet up and embrace what I’ve got.
Remind me… what was I stressing over again?

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PS: If you want to read a captivatingly wild, bizarre, and hilarious book about life choices and crabs, I highly recommend THE WALK by Drew Magary 🦀

1. If it’s not for this, then what? — to recognise that you’ve already ‘made it’ ↩︎
2. The Won’t Do List — a cure for being buried under To-Do lists and tasks ↩︎
3. Project Pre-mortems — how to identify risks before they occur ↩︎