Do these 3 easy things to help you keep going in busy times
Do you sometimes find yourself sitting at your desk, absolutely exhausted pushing forward, and thinking, “Just let me finish this! Just one more half-hour… hour, two hours. OMG! It’s 3 am – again!”? Even when you can stay focused long enough to finish that really important thing there will always be another really important next thing to get on with. I am not talking about external deadlines like bidding for work etc but those painful almost masochistic deadlines you set yourself constantly.
Have you thought about this? Do you think maybe you could be asking a bit too much of yourself? In the long run, setting healthy limits will help you avoid burnout and ultimately stop you from grinding to a halt and hitting that tree you’ve been catastrophising over at 3am when you are trying to wind down and get to sleep so you can start again bright and early. “Bright and early”!? Really? How long do you think that is going to last?
Do you remember that story? The one about the Golden Goose and someone steals the goose because the goose lays golden eggs? As time goes on the new owner of the goose grows ever impatient – they are desperate for those golden eggs!
Then one day the owner has simply had enough and wants those golden eggs so bad. They want them so bad they are prepared to do anything even cut that goose right open to take those lovely golden eggs. All of them! Every single one of those delicious inedible golden eggs that do keep coming regularly but simply just not quick enough for our golden egg lover.
But then, oops! What do you think happened? Can you guess?
Well, the goose wasn’t a magic tardis that looked pretty average in goose size on the outside but had boundless, vast caverns filled with golden eggs that went on for centuries and into other dimensions on the inside.
No. The goose simply died, and this led to the very famous formula 1x dead goose = absolutely zero eggs.
As famous as this formula really is, how often do we forget this??!!
So, here are three tips to not cut yourself wide open only to find out that’s you for the knackers yard and no more golden eggs for you (yes! in case you missed it, in this analogy you are the goose, but you are also your own owner so you are both goose and owner.)
So, do these 3 easy things to help you keep those golden eggs coming:
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PACE YOURSELF
Take a break! For goodness sake just stop!
Yes, be organised. Write those notes in the morning. Get the strategy up on the whiteboard. Get the plan for the next 3 months, get today’s to-do list up there, and make sure you stick to it, BUT, you are the one to carry this out, so for gooseness sake (not a typo!) DO NOT cut yourself down the middle trying to make it happen.
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STAY FED AND WATERED
Your need to feed the goose! Yes, you do! What comes out is representative of what has gone in so assure yourself if you are putting in all levels of piles of crap then yep! Guess what’s coming out. A golden egg?! Hah! I do not think so.
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GO FOR A WALK/GET FRESH AIR
Go for a walk or just get outside. Put on a giant raincoat if the weather’s not great – in Scotland we say, There is no such thing as bad weather only inappropriate clothing. Just get outside and get some fresh air. You owe it to yourself to get some oxygen into those lungs. The movement, light, and fresh air will work wonders for your ideas. It gives your head time to sort itself out.
So, do these 3 easy things to help you keep going in busy times:
- Pace yourself
- Stay fed and watered
- Go for a walk
And remember, you are the golden goose! Go lay some of those lovely golden eggs.
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