What can I say it's been 23 days since my last post and I has said that I wanted to try to post every week. So I owe a few weeks of posting 6 posts including this one (which will make 7) will have me caught up. I guess the first thing I should address is the effect that personal tragedy will have on your pursuits. Obviously I have had a recent death. While the person that died was not an actual family member it feels the same.
The two main things I have to say about this are
(1)- I had to give myself space and time too deal with this by MYSELF!
(2)- Under no circumstances must I allow myself "ANY" excuse to not re-engage my career. Bad stuff happens, always. It will always happen, dealing with it is what defines your success or failure in many ways.
Moving on:
Getting back in the grind after a unforeseen but necessary break can be some what daunting. I find myself falling into bad habits instead of the old good habits I had before the break. There are some important things to remember about this the least of which is to recognize your own patterns.
Know the things that you should do and kind of keep a mental tally of what you have been doing. Your sub-conscious mind knows anyway so why keep lying to yourself. If they do not match up it is time to evaluate what is going on.
Step #1 "Assessment"
Using [Break Downs]
(1)- Break down your day,
what are the things you did(use actual days not averages)yesterday and so far today? This helps give an realistic idea of what is actually happening in your life right now.
(2)- Break down your week,
start with last Friday and go till next Monday. Friday is the last day to get business done and Monday is the first. So looking at those days helps contrast against what you did over the weekend. Also, the long time-frame leaves you with enough time to plan for next Monday, what every hap pend you always get to start fresh on Monday.
Your weekend has a HUGE effect on productivity and general attitude during the week. Every weekend you have to give yourself a "Me" day. That does not include drinking and party type events. It does not mean you can't do that just minimise it from what you would do. Only do 1/3 of the drinking you want to do, or forgo it totally until you have gotten back on track.
(Break Down Note)- The actually break down of a day does not mean that you take four hours to write everything that you actually did every hour. What where the big event's of the day? Did you;exercise, read, take a shower and get dressed like you where going to a meeting(even if you had none"fake it till you make it"), did you watch TV(only if it was the primary activity, I watch the news in the morning but that does not go into my breakdown)? If you did something dramatically effected your day it needs to go into a breakdown.
Step #2 "Lists'",
making a list of the things you want to get done in that day(the day your in) is the best way to stop the ineffective cycle. It's like a firm reality check. I often do "Break Downs" in my head and then sit down and write the list out. The break downs help me realize there is an actual problem(many times I will tell myself I am doing OK but, not as much seems to be getting done this is usually my big clue).The list helps break the cycle, and organize your thoughts in a way that will carry on to the next day if you make lists for one or two days in addition to the one you make for today.
Step #3 "Execute",
Go get the list done. No matter what it is, if it's laundry then do laundry. If it's cold calling don't get off the phone till it's done. Be a slave to that list and see if your productivity improves. Then reward yourself by doing it again, for the next day and updating your plans for the next week.
Step #4 "Repeat",
Do as often in a month as is needed. Some times the whole "Break Down" assessment tool I use more than once a week.
The two main things I have to say about this are
(1)- I had to give myself space and time too deal with this by MYSELF!
(2)- Under no circumstances must I allow myself "ANY" excuse to not re-engage my career. Bad stuff happens, always. It will always happen, dealing with it is what defines your success or failure in many ways.
Moving on:
Getting back in the grind after a unforeseen but necessary break can be some what daunting. I find myself falling into bad habits instead of the old good habits I had before the break. There are some important things to remember about this the least of which is to recognize your own patterns.
Know the things that you should do and kind of keep a mental tally of what you have been doing. Your sub-conscious mind knows anyway so why keep lying to yourself. If they do not match up it is time to evaluate what is going on.
Step #1 "Assessment"
Using [Break Downs]
(1)- Break down your day,
what are the things you did(use actual days not averages)yesterday and so far today? This helps give an realistic idea of what is actually happening in your life right now.
(2)- Break down your week,
start with last Friday and go till next Monday. Friday is the last day to get business done and Monday is the first. So looking at those days helps contrast against what you did over the weekend. Also, the long time-frame leaves you with enough time to plan for next Monday, what every hap pend you always get to start fresh on Monday.
Your weekend has a HUGE effect on productivity and general attitude during the week. Every weekend you have to give yourself a "Me" day. That does not include drinking and party type events. It does not mean you can't do that just minimise it from what you would do. Only do 1/3 of the drinking you want to do, or forgo it totally until you have gotten back on track.
(Break Down Note)- The actually break down of a day does not mean that you take four hours to write everything that you actually did every hour. What where the big event's of the day? Did you;exercise, read, take a shower and get dressed like you where going to a meeting(even if you had none"fake it till you make it"), did you watch TV(only if it was the primary activity, I watch the news in the morning but that does not go into my breakdown)? If you did something dramatically effected your day it needs to go into a breakdown.
Step #2 "Lists'",
making a list of the things you want to get done in that day(the day your in) is the best way to stop the ineffective cycle. It's like a firm reality check. I often do "Break Downs" in my head and then sit down and write the list out. The break downs help me realize there is an actual problem(many times I will tell myself I am doing OK but, not as much seems to be getting done this is usually my big clue).The list helps break the cycle, and organize your thoughts in a way that will carry on to the next day if you make lists for one or two days in addition to the one you make for today.
Step #3 "Execute",
Go get the list done. No matter what it is, if it's laundry then do laundry. If it's cold calling don't get off the phone till it's done. Be a slave to that list and see if your productivity improves. Then reward yourself by doing it again, for the next day and updating your plans for the next week.
Step #4 "Repeat",
Do as often in a month as is needed. Some times the whole "Break Down" assessment tool I use more than once a week.
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