The year starts, and the workday starts. There is a ton of stuff to do, and by all means do not let it get ahead of you. There’s the urgent, the less urgent but still vital and the emergencies.

I got some books on how to work hard and how to work smarter. I can think about them and the systems of efficiency and order and accomplishments they preach. And yet I can barely get past my emergencies.

There is so much to do! How on earth am I supposed to find time to do it better?

I’m so sick of it all. I want to just stop.

Sit on something soft, and pet a cat.

Cats know.

Take your ease. And if a toy bounces by, wap at it. Life’s a game!

Cats play it well. A string does not get past them. Quick paw darts and pins the string. No opportunity to play is missed.

Don’t stress. Stay loose and flexible. Those chances for playing should not be missed.

Cats know.

It’s all about playing. Because for a cat, the difference between playing and work is invisible. It is a string…maybe. Or maybe it’s a mouse. Which is work? The string? The mouse?

All of it is fun. And all of it is work.

There is a better way. Not my best-selling books for getting it right and keeping it that way.

Cats know.

If I play it right, I’m working. And if I’m working right, I’m playing. All the elegance of a perfectly timed attack is in the joy. And all the inconsequence of a failed pounce is in the play.

All of it is practice. All of it can be as hard as I can make it, which is the fun of it. The fun of knowing this one is not so tight and stressful.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cat get frustrated.

Cats know.