How to turn an unproductive day around

Let me share a quick story that my friend Angel recently shared with me.

Once upon a time a psychology professor walked around on a stage while teaching stress management principles to an auditorium filled with students. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the typical “glass half empty or glass half full” question. Instead, with a smile on her face, the professor asked, “How heavy is this glass of water I’m holding?”

Students shouted out answers ranging from eight ounces to a couple of pounds.

She replied, “From my perspective, the absolute weight of this glass doesn’t matter. It all depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute or two, it’s fairly light. If I hold it for an hour straight, its weight might make my arm ache a little. If I hold it for a day straight, my arm will likely cramp up and feel completely numb and paralyzed, forcing me to drop the glass to the floor. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it feels to me.”

As the class shook their heads in agreement, she continued, “Your stresses and worries in life are very much like this glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and you begin to ache a little. Think about them all day long, and you will feel completely numb and paralyzed — incapable of doing anything else until you drop them.”

Are you holding on to something right now that’s preventing you from being Asian Efficient?

This can come in any shape or form. Maybe it’s a fear. Maybe it’s an unresolved relationship conflict. Maybe it’s a doubt you have about an important project. Maybe it’s a negative email you got this morning.

When your mind is constantly occupied with this negative emotion it’s virtually impossible to focus. You’ll lose all motivation. You’ll get easily distracted. You’ll procrastinate more often. And you’ll never get any work done.

To turn this around, you have to let go of all worries, stress and any negative emotion. I know this is easier said than done, but the best way to go about it is externalizing all thoughts you’re having and then coming up with a solution for it.

That’s why I always tell people to journal. Especially when you’re having a bad and unproductive day. As soon as you put your thoughts down on paper and externalize it, you’ll feel a huge sense of relief. Now your brain isn’t occupied anymore with this negative emotion and it can move forward to do more important things (focusing, concentrating, processing, etc). You’ll instantly feel better.

The next thing you want to do is write down a simple step you can take to resolve this issue. Maybe it’s calling/texting someone. Maybe it’s talking to your best friend. Maybe it’s just starting on that project regardless of the situation you’re in.

Just write down what you’ll do next.

As soon as you’ve done that, it’s like you just dropped a glass of water. No more worries. No more pain. No more stress. None of that anymore.

Now you can move forward and be Asian Efficient again.

If you’re having a bad or unproductive day, chances are you’ve been holding on to a glass of water for too long.

Just drop it.

-Thanh