How an Off Kilter Day Still Turned Out OK

CA-off day

It was a Monday. The day of the week I typically plan to be a high productivity day to power through client and personal responsibilities. But this one wasn’t starting out that way.

I got distracted by a quirk in my smart phone that I couldn’t get rid of. Because, you know, I just can’t let that irritating notification stay there. An hour or so of playing around and researching–with no solution–pushed the schedule out of whack.

Add to that a couple of important but extended conversations, a television broadcast of a favorite sporting event that had been rain delayed from Sunday, and the typical myriad of daily tasks, and I was positioned for a less-than-successful Monday.

Yet, it turned out pretty satisfying.

As I reflect on why, the following reasons come to mind:

  • I still made time for fundamentals. Despite starting my day later, I went ahead and did my whole morning routine, which included exercise and meditation/reading/writing time. I could have cut that short, but it was worth it to go ahead and do it.
  • I knocked out my least favorite household chore–vacuuming. I’d gotten slack about vacuuming, and experimented with doing it at the first of the week. Not only did it make the house neater, it felt good mentally to have it off the plate.
  • I invested in people. The two conversations gave me opportunity to give people I love some time. Using earphones for one, I was able to also do a mindless chore while keeping up the conversation, which was a win-win. Even better, some words of affirmation came to me that I could share, which really encouraged this person.
  • I chose to embrace moments of relaxation. I went ahead and watched the ending of the sporting event (I’d had it running in the background earlier.) I watched an episode of a series early in the evening.
  • I’d prepared some food ahead.  I’d already roasted cabbage and spaghetti squash on the weekend, so my meal prepping didn’t take long. I simply seasoned pork chops and put them in to bake. So the kitchen routine for the night was not long nor stressful–preparing ahead of time rescued me.

The one area of disappointment was that I did not reach my “billable hours” goal for the day for my business. However, my clients were still taken care of, which is the more important thing.

I realize now that the key to the day was way back in the beginning of it when it went off track. Since I had the flexibility to do so, going ahead and working through my normal fundamental routine re-calibrated me and prepared me for the day. Loosening my grip a bit on the work goals helped too.

And I’m choosing to live with the smartphone quirk. I still see that notification when I use power save mode. And maybe, it can serve as a good reminder to go through even Mondays in a more balanced way.

So how about you? What one routine can you use to re-group when you feel your day go off-kilter? [reminder]

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