Day 7 of 100: I Found a Loophole
Is it really that hard to follow our advice?
It’s seven days since I started a 100-day writing challenge, and today I discovered a loophole that has been causing a dent in my productivity.
It usually starts on Monday mornings.
I have no reason to hate Mondays. I enjoy Mondays. The problem is I don’t know how to come back with the same working energy after a break.
Before this writing challenge, I had no clear writing on Medium schedule, and it played a part in my carefree overall schedule.
I knew I eventually would publish something, but that was not enough to hold me accountable.
If you are an ambitious person, taking on roles you know for sure you will fail at if you don’t bring out your A-game, you want to hold yourself accountable and achieve the most you can at any given time.
Holding yourself to such standards and being irresponsible with your time management can drive you crazy.
In a terrible way! You don’t realize how irresponsible and reckless you have been until a certain period ends.
For instance, you may not realize how reckless you have been with your time allocation until the day ends, and you have items you haven’t checked off your to-do list.
Here’s what happens.
- you write down some goals
- you write down what you need to accomplish
- you may write down what to accomplish within a week and on a particular day
Sounds like a solid strategy. Doesn’t work for me.
I have a great system that ensures I remain productive, but I have to get more grounded than writing it down to accomplish something I am satisfied with at the end of the day.
I have shared two articles before derived from the book Atomic Habits that illustrated how to improve your writing habits and how to easily fix writing into your already busy schedule.
I shared these articles because those are tips that I use and that help me in my writing career.
The loophole I discovered today can easily be fixed by the tips from the second article. But, could it be easier to tackle the problem at the roots?
I do not write on Sundays.
I disconnect myself from work and focus on other things; usually Chuck Lorre comedies.
My problem is I do not know how to start the week with the same energy I had before taking a break.
I usually pick up the pace on Tuesdays, and for a full-time freelance writer, I am not content with that.
I cannot start working on Sundays because that will be a sure way of getting a burnout, so I came up with a list of things we can do to gracefully ease back into work after a weekend or a vacation.
If you have a hard time getting back to work at full potential, here are two tips I used this morning that may help you.
1. Eliminate all potential distractions
It’s easy to keep your time-out going even if you know you should get back to work.
Watching Dharma and Greg was easier for me than sending pitches this morning.
I was still in bliss, and I wanted it to last longer.
You have the choice to keep the fun going or do something that will get you closer to the goal. The former requires very little energy to get started and will make you happier at the moment.
2. Start small
Start with a task that doesn't require a lot of mental energy to complete.
By the time you finish that task, you will be hooked and be in your working mindset again. From there, you can flow throughout the day.
The 100-day writing challenge is working well so far. Today is one of those days I wouldn’t have hit that publish button.
The challenge further grounds me. I could have written this off as I didn’t get time to publish today, but it would be a lie.
The truth is I am no stranger to poor time management and I suck at following my advice.
Another truth is I am a problem solver, and I solved my loophole.
Do you experience weekend/vacation lag? How do you deal with it?
