Dang. Time flies when one is a sole practitioner. The past two months I have been away from my office as much as I have been home. Autumn is traditionally a busy time in the consulting business and I’ve been doing a lot of delivery which I LOVE. Still, I haven’t done all the things I’d hoped to accomplish. Bygones.
This week I am enjoying a TRUE vacation in a sunny place. ‘A little slice’ [of heaven] as my sister used to say. I am allowing myself the full luxury of reading the entire newspaper, working multiple puzzles, reading and wandering all over the internet. I may not produce a single useful thing. So there.
What I am doing is deep oscillation.
Jim Loehr, author of The Power of Full Engagement, advocates that we manage energy rather than just time. He works with some of the busiest executives in the world and helps them re-align to their priorities. He also stresses the importance of ‘oscillation’. It is possible to drive hard, with full engagement, as long as we give ourselves recovery time. As corporate athletes, it is important to give our working muscles a chance to recover.
Booyah! A legitimate reason to chill out, disengage and stay in your pajamas until noon. The trick is to engage in alternate activities that truly refresh you. TV generally saps energy. He does encourage taking some time for nature. Listening to your body. Connecting to people you care about. Best of all engaging in ‘Flow’ activities. More about ‘Flow’ later.
I recommend this book more than any other to my coaching clients. It’s not easy to get over the guilt of letting yourself pull back from work. But the payoff is even more energy to engage more fully.
