Logistics can be a pain in the ass.

While I sometimes find filling out paperwork oddly soothing, I have a tendency to be just one signature or one form away from getting the job done. (E.g., I’m almost 100% Kate Northrup Watts except for my driver’s license because, really, who likes going to the DMV?)

But getting our logistics handled gives us the brain space and energetic freedom to focus on bigger things like following our bliss, making meaning of life, and you know, enlightenment.

Chaos in your logistical life distracts you from what really matters. (Tweet it!)

Logistical chaos – like always scrambling to pay your rent and living under a mountain of tax documents that you never seem to finish – can be a culturally acceptable form of avoidance.

The Pay-Off of Busy

Our culture worships “busy,” and logistics are great at creating “busy.”

And constant busyness is one of the best ways to avoid true intimacy with ourselves and others. It’s those moments in between busy times where the breakthroughs usually happen. And the breakthroughs often require us to feel things that are uncomfortable. So logistical chaos, while seemingly uncomfortable, actually feels better than getting our shit together.

When you pay your credit card bill on time, put money aside for your mortgage, sit down with your lawyer to create an estate plan before you think it’s entirely necessary (side note: it’s always necessary), you free yourself up to be present for your kids, for your spouse, for your family, for your friends, and most importantly, for yourself.

Learning to Love Logistics

If you’re not someone who gravitates toward being logistically organized, I recommend making logistics a spiritual practice (or at least finding ways to make them fun).

I’ve been resisting making appointments to interview potential new financial advisors for a while now. It doesn’t feel urgent. We have more important things to do. It takes time I don’t feel like spending.

But I know how powerful getting our financial house in order is as a foundation for building our dreams.

So, rather than categorize “find new financial advisor” as a task outside what I want to spend my time and energy on, I’m pulling it under the umbrella of “tasks for practical spiritual living.”

Caring for our logistics is part of caring for ourselves. (Tweet it!)

Caring for ourselves, of course, is not only a spiritual practice, but also paramount to truly caring for anyone else (as opposed to caring for them in a way that leaves us drained and resentful because we’re not caring for ourselves first or at least simultaneously).

Over to you:

So this week, what can you do to dot some i’s and cross some t’s in your logistical life? What logistical item can you handle so you free up some bandwidth for the stuff that you find the most meaningful?

I’ll be making appointments to meet new financial advisors. I’d love to hear what you’ll be doing – and how you’re going to reframe it to make you want to do it more – in the comments below!