One of Those Days
This week I had one of those days.
You know those days where you feel like you can’t leave the computer screen because you need to smash through the to-do list before you can do anything for yourself? (Man, I hate those days.)
Did I get everything off my plate for that day? Of course not! I was in a mess of mindless busyness because my plate was pilled up with stuff that wasn’t REALLY important. Everything felt urgent. Everything felt reactive. I was (at that moment) unknowingly stuck and it’s not a fun feeling, believe me.
The next day, I woke up with a different mindset. I realised I was caught up in the burn-out hustle zone and I was determined to move myself out of it. This is what I did.
I asked myself five questions before I opened up my laptop.
- How am I feeling?
- Why am I feeling this way?
- What have I learnt about myself recently?
- Where should my attention be today?
- Why does this task need my attention today?
Taking a moment to ask myself these questions did a few things for me.
- I identified when I’m the most productive in a workday and what makes me that way
- I redirected my attention on the tasks that really mattered for the business that day
- I said ‘no’ to doing things that weren’t aligned with my priorities for that day
I instantly brought my awareness back to myself. This allowed my day to look like: boundaries, rules and better communication — with myself, my clients and team.
Working consciously is a practice. I’m forever learning how to spot the first warning signs that I’m doing too much, and learning to bring myself back from that place. It ain’t easy, but believe me when I say it’s so much better than ploughing through that giant list without checking in with yourself.
This is my mantra now. You can’t lead a business until you lead yourself.