I’ve developed a new habit of late, heading to one of several local coffee shops in my town when I need to write, and to do so in a concentrated, focused session. I L-O-V-E my home office (a friend and former colleague mentioned he was jealous of my office sofa – it is pretty cush), but the problem is the location. The usual distractions when working from a home office (laundry, dishes, beds to be made, mail to be checked, plants to be watered) seem to affect me more of late, and so I decided that “have laptop, will coffeeshop” could be my new mantra. With AirPods in and Noise Cancelling mode on, away I write (lately with artists ranging from De La Soul to Fila Brazillia to Sting to Metallica to Vince Guaraldi to Squeeze to Greensky Bluegrass playing along with my keyboard tapping)
I love the habits I’ve intentionally created, and I’m proud of the bad (or at least, the unhelpful) habits I’ve changed. I use a Full Focus Planner, and use the basic process advocated by the team at Full Focus – the Daily and Weekly Big 3 - have been game changers for me. I’m also a fairly regular user of the Weekly Preview incorporated into the planner, using a few minutes on Monday mornings to review and plan out my week. I find that having planned out my week, reviewing my annual and quarterly goals (both personal and professional), and identifying the key steps in my day that make up a useful routine I’m better able to accomplish the more important tasks and functions, and riff on my plans more effectively.
Except this week.
This week has been nothing special (he says, knocking on wood and crossing fingers) – no emergencies, no real chaos, no significant disruptions. In fact, I was on autopilot pretty much all week, though not in a bad way (I was fully present during meetings, handled my tasks without any performance degradation, got done what needed to get done, and done well). So on autopilot, in fact, that I totally skipped my Weekly Preview until just this morning (Thursday as I write this at The Raven’s Nest). Better late than not at all - least I took the chance to reflect on the week (without too much navel gazing!) and plan out what’s next.
Two of the elements I find most helpful are also the two I find the most challenging: the after-action review and the prompt “What will you continue or change”. I’m a HUGE advocate of the after-action review in general, and especially when it comes after significant presentations and at the conclusion of an opportunity cycle, and I’ve increasingly found it helpful to conduct on a weekly basis for myself. I take all of my daily notes by hand (despite surgeon-like incomprehensible scratchings that is my handwriting), and this becomes very useful when I’m digesting the previous week. And I do like that the planner prompts in the Weekly Preview begin by framing the after-action in terms of the week’s biggest wins. My tendency is like most, I think, in that I remember the gaffs, mistakes and fails for more readily and clearly than the successes, and the shift to the wins of the week is like wearing your watch on the other wrist to remind you of a thing – it’s jarring in a helpful way. It was the “continue or change” prompt that, well, prompted me today (sorry-not-sorry about that, I tried to resist, I promise!). I wrote down three words: Read, Write, Rest.
Read
I am a pretty voracious reader, usually with two or three books going at once (at least one of which is business or professional development related). This last week I consumed fiction exclusively, so my note to myself reminds me that I should strive to diversify my reading this week. There are some non-fiction works that I’ve Lem’d (a phrase I’ve adopted from The Sword and Laser podcast), but I’m generally happy to dive into what may appear at first glance to be an arid topic – as long as the writing is clear and the points never belabored (which is likely why I never re-read my own writing – no one beats a dead equus caballus like I can!). So, read, read widely, and make it a daily habit. I mean, it couldn’t hurt!
Write
I enjoy the writing process. When I write. Those who’ve known me for a while may have read some of my writing on corporate blog sites or on my own website in the past. And it’s been quite some time since I’ve written with any degree of consistency. Encouragement from friends and colleagues both old and new has been the spur I needed to get going again. If I plan my writing time (plan your dive, dive your plan) and hold myself accountable, I may actually become consistent. And with consistency I gain new means of digesting my thoughts and perceptions on my interactions with others and get clearer on what I need to do and I what I should do, and how. So, again, couldn’t hurt!
Rest
Now, I can take a Sunday afternoon, golf-on-tv-volume-on-low nap like it’s nobody’s business. I could have gone all-pro, and I still might make the Hall of Fame. But that’s only one form of rest, and like reading, the rest I take should be a bit more diverse. Rest can be active and extended (vacation travel, week at the beach) as well as passive (reading), and sometimes the extended time away from a thing is what’s called for. The recovery from the day-to-day and the refocused intents that can come from even a random, non-federal holiday three day weekend have been incredibly helpful to me, and if your role allows for that kind of flexibility, take full advantage of it (this is a note to myself, I’m horrible about taking time away unless it is one of the two mandatory, planned, family vacations each year).
So there you are, one of the two three-word mantras for the balance of the year (the other being “don’f f*** up”, of course). Thoughts? Mantras of your own? Comment!