We seem to be smack bang in the middle of a few four-day weeks! Its quite amazing how much we can accomplish in four days when we set our mind to it and commit to that intention.
It’s pretty much the same with any holiday, I’ve noticed. In the lead up to Christmas people are far more productive and get a lot more done and in the lead up to an annual holiday.
When we have that deadline in sight our prioritisation skills are a lot more effective. We focus on completing important tasks and are happy to just leave the ones that aren’t important or delegate them to someone else.
We also find it easier to switch off once we reach the deadline and return to work feeling a lot more refreshed, whether it has been a four day break or a two week break.
Its almost as if, when we close the door at work we are sending a message to our unconscious mind of completion, regardless off what we have left uncompleted. And, when we come back to work, we are opening a new door and having a fresh start.
When we do this our mind is able to let go, so we can relax and come back feeling energized and refreshed. This makes us work to a much more optimum level and achieve a lot more.
So what if we were to do that every weekend or better still every evening? How much more energized and refreshed would we feel everyday?
This is something I have been practicing for a while now and I reckon I’ve pretty much got it down pat.
Take responsibility for how you manage yourself around time
We all have 24 hours in a day, yet some people seem to achieve far more than others and why is that?
First of all they take responsibility for how they manage themselves around time.
So many people spend so much time just being busy and not really achieving very much at all. They put off important things like strategies to achieve goals and things with deadlines, until they become urgent; then they put on their fireman’s hats and jump in ready for action.
When you do this it creates excitement and your adrenaline pumps, you possibly find it fun. But repeatedly doing this means that you can find it difficult to switch off.
So start noticing and being honest with yourself about how you use your time. Take responsibility for where you use it well and for where you waste it doing things that aren’t important. Acknowledge the results for both and make a commitment to change what isn’t working well for you.
Plan and prioritise
I know, you’ve possibly heard and read this many times. But how often do you implement it? Knowledge is a wonderful thing, but until you implement it, it’s quite useless to you.
There are many unforeseen things that happen in a week and even in a day, so planning and prioritizing can be seen as challenging and I get that. The thing is, if you don’t have a prioritized plan to follow, then after the urgent matters have been dealt with you will have difficulty getting back on track. This is because you are in that charged adrenaline state and will most likely just do the things that most excite or please you in that moment.
When you have a prioritized plan you will have a track to stick to. And, because its prioritized you will do the most important things first and that means there will be less urgent matters to deal with.
So, make a commitment to create a plan for the week ahead before it starts. Prioritize the important things and allow areas for flexibility.
Close the door and let go
I work the majority of my time from my home office, so it’s very easy for me to just sit here for hours and work well into the night finding lots of different things to do, but I don’t. There are times when I coach evening clients due to time differences or their other commitments, but I decide on the time I will finish and that is the time I close my computer and close the door.
When I see the door close, it is an anchor to me that my workday is complete. My mind is then clear to get on with enjoying my evening and relax. I can do this because I know I have completed the important things on my plan first. Nothing is overdue or urgent, and that’s because I plan well and stick to it as much as possible instead of doing other things that look like more fun or are easier.
When you create a well prioritized plan for the week ahead it enables you to be more flexible to deal with the un-foreseen that come up and to then close the door at the weekend, feeling that sense of completion.
Create an anchor or a signal that means work is finished. It will help you let go, relax and come back to work the following day feeling really refreshed and energised. For me, closing the computer and the door is my anchor for completion; I take a deep breath and let go.
Improving your life is always about developing awareness. It’s about noticing how you do things, improving on what works and changing what doesn’t, so you can have the life that you want.