Life is Short, So Figure Out How to Work and Play

 

This is not another post on living every moment as if it were your last.

Let’s just say this….we are all going to die.

Moving on.

People who inspire us for a living like to remind us constantly that we are wasting time. Every time we look at Facebook or Twitter someone is telling us that we should be moving toward a better goal and not wasting our precious time because life is short.

Noted.

The way I see it, life is short and should be spent in some semblance of balance. No one is capable of striving toward some large goal every minute of every day. Sometimes you just need to plop your ass down, eat ice cream and watch a bad movie.

The truth is, we are emotionally moved by those who say inspiring words, but then within minutes we revert back to our baseline habits. We nod in agreement when we read all the tips on how to be better and different and more awesome than we ever thought we could.

And then we go back to liking pictures of our friend’s kids and searching for a cute outfit to wear on our next girls’ night out. [Guys, what are you doing online?…searching for a new techie gadget, maybe? ]

This is where I sigh and take a deep breath….because…

Real life isn’t all about intensity. Your brain and body can’t focus and produce and go at full speed 24/7. It cannot.

Yet, you can probably do more than you currently are to move yourself toward your goals.

The middle ground of effective productivity is different for everyone.

Your job is to find your productivity sweet spot.

Now, as you know (or will soon know) my philosophy is that we are all different and have different talents, learning styles and needs.

There is no ‘one size fits all’ model around here.

So the well-meaning (yet lame) advice to be productive before a bus hits you, applies only insomuch that you are aware that your time matters.

You get to choose how you spend that time.

I want you to own your productivity and your slacking off.

It’s ok to do both.

How to discover your productivity sweet spot

This is not hard, but it requires you to pay attention to how you feel over the next few days.

Here’s how to find that sweet spot:

Start your day as you normally do.

Quickly get yourself into a productive groove (no Facebook check ins first thing in the morning).

Now focus….focus…..focus…until you feel like you want to drift away and do other things.

Now answer these questions:

How long were you on task?

What time is it now?

Did you get a good amount of work done?

 

When you feel like you want to drift off to another task, it’s ok to do so.

Then get back to work and answer these questions:

How long a break did you take?

What did you do?

Do you feel refreshed and ready to focus more?

 

Repeat this pattern throughout your work day for a few days in a row.

You will soon see your productivity patterns.

These patterns are hard wired into you.

You know how some folks are morning or night people? Yep, that is real and true and your brain calls the shots about when you are optimally productive.

The truth is you have to slack off.

Your brain needs you to let up on the gas so it can process and create and integrate what you are learning into it’s neurons. Your brain needs to see and do new things to stay flexible and creative. People with no imaginations don’t build viable businesses (and are boring at parties).

So, yes, I understand your time is valuable.   I agree with all the gurus that life is short. But trust me when I say, honor your time for work and for play and plain old goofing off. It’s healthy and makes life more rich in the long run.

If you want a business that allows you to work, play and goof off all while making a great living, may I suggest taking a peek at my new Holistic Business Model Video and The Complete Lifestyle Business Workbook Series? Work- Life balance doesn’t need to be hard, it just takes some thought and planning.