Having an "Off" day?
The other day, I had a very early morning appointment with my ophthalmologist to follow up on a procedure that had taken place. I got out of bed early, grabbed some coffee and was on the road by 7:30 in the morning.
I got back home mid-morning, arriving at my desk with none of my usual morning ritual ( making my espresso latte, journaling, reading, creating a “TODAY” index card etc.). –And my right eye had been dilated so that it really was difficult to see things on my computer screen.
Here we are. At one of those “life interruption” moments.
If you’ve been hanging around me for any time at all, you’ve heard me say that one of the reasons that the Tiny Habits method works so well is that it actually embraces the fact that “real life” will always interrupt our desire to create new behaviors and feel more at cause in day to day life.
“Real life” can come thundering in at any time: a nasty cold; a vacation, a Doctor's Appointment - - anything that disrupts our daily pattern of living.
I instinctively switched off “productivity mode”. For me, this means switching off from things that require a lot of creativity and thinking and work on the computer - over to simple physical tasks.
I recognized what was happening and gave myself permission to switch around my intentions for the day.
I switched from a lot of mental tasks on my computer over to task or household chores mode– like cleaning my kitchen sink and putting everything away that was scattered around the kitchen.
And with each tiny chore that I finished, I gave myself some celebration.
Yay! –I made a pile of things I can take to Goodwill.
Hooray! –All the kitchen counters are clear of clutter.
Yes! –At last all that extra change has been put into a plastic bag ready to go to the change machine.
Woohoo! –I put things away from having all my children over for dinner last night.
YAAAY! I went through all the clutter on my desk, threw a bunch of papers and index cards out!
Frankly, whether we are 35 or 85, sometimes there are just days when a health issue can creep in, some big distraction arrives, or we’re just having a low energy day.
The lesson is to embrace it, instead of resisting it. Make a new decision that works for you! Choose different activities on purpose. When we live our lives from intention and purposely change direction, we can still get to the end of the day with the pride of knowing we made deliberate choices to take care of ourselves instead of sinking into negative thoughts and rumination about what we "should" have done.
The next time you have an “off” day, embrace it. Change your routine and make a different “To Do” list.
