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Rocks in a basket
A metaphor for managing your mental load
We all have things we need to do — keep a roof over our heads and food on the table, have relationships, keep healthy. There are things we want to do — hobbies, goals, dreams. And every single one of these things is a rock in a basket that we carry with us through life.
If you have a partner, the two of you should be carrying the basket together. There will be more rocks — after all, there are two of you — but you bear the load together. Except sometimes you may realise when you abstract everything in life down to a load of rocks that one of you is letting your side drag, or the rocks are all piled to one side of the basket, or maybe one of you has let go entirely. Maybe your basket feels light, but that’s because there’s a hole in the bottom and things are falling out.
The rocks are many things. They are work, school, family. Cleaning your house, cooking a meal. Catching up with friends. Chasing a dream, achieving a goal. And yes, sometimes they are more abstract things as well — keeping you schedule in order, remembering to take the dog to the vet, exercising the right amount, supporting a loved one, taking care of your own mental health.
There’s something freeing about reducing all these things to rocks and throwing them all in that basket together. Once they’re in…
