BALLS.

Duckpin bowling alley. Portland, Maine.

A few years ago when I went to visit my nephew, my brother and his family took me Duck Pin Bowling for the first time. If you aren't familiar, it's like regular bowling, but the balls are smaller - bigger than a softball, maybe the size of a cantaloupe or muskmelon depending on where you are from. Anyway, it's pretty fun.

But my point here isn't about going bowling to relieve stress during your doctoral experience (though you could do that). My point is that we talk all the time about trying to keep multiple balls in the air. The truth is, there are lots of ways to organize balls. I know there are some jokes to be made here, I'll leave that to each of you to do on your own time.

I'm saying that in duckpin and other bowling, the balls come one at a time and you pick up yours or the one that comes next when you're ready to go. In tennis they are in your pocket or a can or a basket or a machine that shoots them at you. In baseball they are in a glove or in a machine that shoots them at you. In golf they are in your hand, in a box in your golf bag, or in the hole, on the green, on the tee, in the sand or the rough... You get the idea.

Manage the balls - the tasks in your life in the way that makes sense to you. Just know you don't have to keep everything in the air at once. You have other options.

Now, get back to work.