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It’s been a particularly good week. Part of the reason that things turned out so well was that I treated myself like I treat my clients. I coached me.
My self-coaching session began with looking into what was my desired outcome. On Wednesday, I wanted mostly to feel “in control.” That meant knowing what I was supposed to be doing and doing it. One thing I know about myself is that when I exercise first thing in the morning, it takes the edginess off and improves my ability to focus as well as boosting my mood (particularly after listening to this song). On dark days, light therapy helps, too. I combined getting light with journaling and by the end of my Morning Pages, I identified three or four top priorities for the day.
From there, I knocked off the things that felt important and then focused on clearing some stale, nagging incompletions. I cranked widgets and the reduction in stress was amazing. Just taking these items off my list gave me a sense of freedom. I reminded myself that if it’s on the list, I deemed it important enough to do. No more excuses, then, about not having time or something not being important “right now.” Right now is all I have, so it’s all important. Right now.
One task I took on was one I’ve been resisting: creating my sales forecasts and budget for 2010. By giving myself permission to start in the smallest possible way (open the spreadsheet and quit right there if I pleased; what my clients may recognize as a “brief daily session”), I actually got going and figured out what it was about the whole process that made me feel itchy in the first place. I scratched the itch. With that handled, I was off and running, enjoying the sense of possibility and excitement that looking forward to a new year can bring.
When you find yourself feeling like I did--out of control, spinning your wheels--stop and ask yourself what in control looks like. What do you want to end the day having done? What would make this day a success? Pick three or four actions. Don’t be afraid to be brutally simplistic (e.g., “open the spreadsheet”). Then, just crank those widgets. Your results will amaze you.
Join me, The Productivity Maven, for the first in my new teleclass series on November 5, 2009 at 4 pm Eastern. To register, click here.
My self-coaching session began with looking into what was my desired outcome. On Wednesday, I wanted mostly to feel “in control.” That meant knowing what I was supposed to be doing and doing it. One thing I know about myself is that when I exercise first thing in the morning, it takes the edginess off and improves my ability to focus as well as boosting my mood (particularly after listening to this song). On dark days, light therapy helps, too. I combined getting light with journaling and by the end of my Morning Pages, I identified three or four top priorities for the day.
From there, I knocked off the things that felt important and then focused on clearing some stale, nagging incompletions. I cranked widgets and the reduction in stress was amazing. Just taking these items off my list gave me a sense of freedom. I reminded myself that if it’s on the list, I deemed it important enough to do. No more excuses, then, about not having time or something not being important “right now.” Right now is all I have, so it’s all important. Right now.
One task I took on was one I’ve been resisting: creating my sales forecasts and budget for 2010. By giving myself permission to start in the smallest possible way (open the spreadsheet and quit right there if I pleased; what my clients may recognize as a “brief daily session”), I actually got going and figured out what it was about the whole process that made me feel itchy in the first place. I scratched the itch. With that handled, I was off and running, enjoying the sense of possibility and excitement that looking forward to a new year can bring.
When you find yourself feeling like I did--out of control, spinning your wheels--stop and ask yourself what in control looks like. What do you want to end the day having done? What would make this day a success? Pick three or four actions. Don’t be afraid to be brutally simplistic (e.g., “open the spreadsheet”). Then, just crank those widgets. Your results will amaze you.
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