Not got time to read ’cause you’re having a ‘day’? Here’s 5 Quick Tips:
- Working alone does not equal being alone: change your state, talk, make a call, anything!
- It’s okay to raise a white flag no matter who you are or what you ‘do’. Cut yourself some slack.
- It’s okay to have a ‘day of rest’ or ‘not going to plan’! Oh, I think that means we’re human!
- Connection, connection, connection is KEY. Vital. Enough said.
- Hang out with people who don’t ‘rescue’ you.
When was the last time you had a non productive day?
What do you mean you’ve never had one? You, you, you…saint!
I’ve just had one. Today.
I had great plans. Cultivated and seeded in writing before shuteye last night. Pretty little ‘get done’ list it was, handwritten too.
Woke up raring to go. Champing at the bit to get started.
But.
Today totally bombed. It was siphoned away from me, doing loads, but doing nothing.
The Teeny Weeny Problem With Plans
Please, no advice such as ‘why didn’t you just follow the plan’. I thought I was!
Plans are awesome, but surprise surprise, they they don’t work, when the person working them isn’t in top working order!
Funny, because I was reading Made to Stick (a great book on why some ideas stick and why some don’t, it’s in our bookstore: look under the category creativity, click here)
Authors Dan and Chip Heath discussed how armies plan, plan, plan, plan and plan some more. But when it comes to the crunch the army knows ‘No plan survives contact with the enemy’.
In the past (during perfectionism days) I would plod, today at 3pm I waved my white flag.
The enemy? Just me.
How do you manage your ‘off’ days?
I turned to a lovely group of extremely (cough cough) understanding peeps and said ‘I need a serious kick up the a*se, I have accomplished nada today’.
Being ever so caring and empathic, in a funnykindasorta way, they listened (well read) and replied:
- Have you had your coffee? (Which made me laugh)
- What is your preferred method of getting nothing done?
My what?!!
Preferred methods of getting nothing done
Huh?
Do you not just LOVE that?
I soooooooo did! No guilt, no beating myself up, no screaming or kicking myself at the waste of time.
My Well Thought Out Equation…
Laugher + Completely Different Perspective On Situation = Instant State Change
A quick break, cuppa and zippity back to it.
On reflection, do you know what I needed today the most?
Connection
That was all?
Yep.
Exactly what I say to you. We all need to feel part of, to belong, to feel connected.
Today, I just wasn’t feeling it. I needed to walk my talk.
And that applies to everyone, including solo business owners, I mean we aren’t Orangutans! We need connections.
(Apparently Orangutans like to live and work alone, but hermit crabs don’t, that’s a myth, they bury themselves hence the hermit part! I did have hermit crabs, but double checked and apparently Orangutans come out tops with not needing any connection!)
When I replied to the ‘preferred method of getting nothing done’, I was actually stunned at what I had achieved but hadn’t planned to ‘get done’ today.
So, how can I help you today? Do you need to connect?
Your Turn
How do you manage your ‘off’ days? Tips, techniques and silliness welcomed in the comments below, keep it clean though.
Photo credit again the lovely Hiking Artist
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