This week looks different.
I don’t have client calls, but I’m working. It’s my thinking and writing week, as I call it.
I know it’s essential for me – and my business – to step back. To do the creative work.
For that to happen, I need to rip up my schedule occasionally.
Mix it up. Do things differently.
Mull over ideas and let them brew like a good cup of chai tea.
And yet, I feel guilty about it.
Allowing myself a working week not taking client calls or running the marketing machine?
I know this feeling of guilt.
Before starting university, I wanted to take a year off, but I did not. That’s not what people do!
Before starting a new job, I always wanted to take an extended time off, but I did not. Need to be productive and climb the ladder!
Then, yesterday
Carl Newports’ article “To cure burnout, embrace seasonality” dropped into my lap.
“Office buildings became virtual factories, with members of this growing class of workers metaphorically clocking in for eight-hour shifts, week after week, month after month, attempting to transform their mental capacities into valuable output with the same regularity as an assembly-line worker churning out automobiles.”
We cannot expect to produce our best work if we work like a machine.
Relentlessly on, all the time.
Of course, you know we’re not machines and can’t always be on. And yet, aren’t you?
If it is hard for me (a self-employed in charge of my own hours) to break out of the “must-sit-at-my-desk-from-9-to-6-every-day-to-be-productive” cycle … How might it be for some of you in employed roles?
The article makes suggestions for what you can try to break your routine.
- Consider taking a sabbatical for a few weeks.
- Structure your work into ‘work cycles’ to vary the pace.
- If you have hard/external deadlines to meet, take a few days after in lieu and/or keep your diary free of appointments.
- Introduce a month where you say “no” more often to avoid optional tasks (and just focus on your core responsibilities).
“The process of producing value with the human brain — the foundational activity of many knowledge sector roles — cannot be forced into a regular, unvarying schedule. Intense periods of cognition must be followed by quieter periods of mental rejuvenation. Energized creative breakthroughs must be supported by the slower incubation of new ideas.”
With that, I feel more relaxed to embrace my seasonal working week.
- Every morning, I write creatively for a couple of hours.
- I go through the minefield of notes and ideas I’ve all over the place – on my phone, notebook, and Trello board. Some will be built on, others deleted.
- I’m fleshing out ideas for a new webinar and a self-paced course. I can’t say whether (or when) I’ll bring the course into the world, but that’s not the point for this week.
- I read and listen to podcasts – my joy and way to excavate new ideas.
- I enjoy lots of white space – coffee shop exploration galore!
And to embrace more seasonality in my life, I’m consciously scheduling ahead. I block time off now for the following holidays and seasonal working weeks. Because otherwise, knowing me, it won’t happen.
How could a pinch of seasonal work look like for you?