We’re making progress on getting our house ready. “Things are getting done,” we often say to each other. That’s not to say that things are getting themselves done. We are decidedly doing our part and working hard. What we’re not doing, however, is spending a lot of time measuring and evaluating our progress. We keep our attention focused on the present moment and the task at hand. In this way we are conserving our energy and dedicating it to the actual work, rather than spending it on worrying that things are going too slow or we’re not going to be able to get people to show up to help us — or even more immaterial to our work in this moment: “Will we be able to sell the house?”

Instead we focus on what is best for us to try to make progress on today and focus on what is in front of us. Then when we lift up our heads we are surprised to see our progress. Things are getting done.