The Positive Energy Workplace

It's so easy to let life and our days happen "to" us. With the best of quiet intentions we say we want to have a good day, create a great meeting, take care of our bodies, be an awesome partner in relationship (or parent, spouse, friend, etc.), show up as a solid leader, and rock our results. And then life happens. 

We get "busy," we start our day answering emails (getting sucked into other peoples' intentions), our schedule slips, we run late, we spend big cycles trying to catch up and recover from each meeting, we have multiple demands, and we forget to be present. Before you know it, we're overwhelmed, the day is gone, it's 8 p.m. and all we can wonder is "What were my original plans?" and "Where did the day go?" and "Hand me the remote."

Last year I wrote a piece about “holding your space” in chaos. I wrote that piece sitting at a volleyball tournament rebooting between bouts of feeling tortured by “no coffee or food allowed on site,” a wicked early wake-up call on a weekend, a long-ass drive, a cold-ass gymnasium, screaming parents and whistles, and confusing scheduling. All of which resulted in my cumulative snarkiness. (I won’t even mention “their’s” ;-)).

Time is of the essence, but YOU have to make it and take it back. Here’s how.

It’s a Tuesday morning. My newly drivers’ licensed son has just taken off for school, and my daughter’s finding her way out of bed. Our dog, eyes glued to my face, begs for breakfast. My assistant will be here in an hour, and I have six meetings today, all on camera. I’m not dressed (though I’ve brushed my teeth!), and I have company coming for dinner, with no clue what to serve. A workout sometime today would be awesome. I have to pee. And I’m sitting here typing this article — with, I might add, no business typing this article. Why? No time. But “she” stood up and said, “Enough! It’s my time now.” The article—or is it my muse?—has demanded the keyboard. And if I’ve learned nothing else about writing over the last couple of years, when she “asks,” I type.

You think it’s just “time” you’ve lost, or that you need more of, but what does it really cost you?

Earlier this year in the midst of a rather intense period of time personally and professionally I started looking for "short cuts" and "hacks" to help me be more productive, more clear, more efficient, more better, more me.