Ask yourself, when can I work?
There are times when we just have to go for it. Work really hard. There could be a deadline, a project or an unexpected change. It’s tempting to just look at the calendar and see all that time as an opportunity to get things done.
Trust me, if you try to fill your time with hard work it’s unlikely to end well.
The best of us can easily burn out if we’re not careful. Even if it doesn’t go to those extremes, there will be times you’re just sitting there on autopilot. The fire will be out and your mind just wont get in gear.
You’re going to struggle, and you can forget about innovation and great ideas. You could technically spend an hour or more engaged with a task, but you won’t really be working.
So what’s the answer? Well it’s simple, we need to pace ourselves and make sure we take meaningful breaks.
If you can, try to identify the times when you typically feel energised and ready to go throughout the day. When your natural energy bar will allow you to throw yourself into hard work.
Make notes, keep track and find those times. It will make a difference. We can still work during the low points, as we can schedule less demanding tasks. It could be when we sort things out or take on easy, less demanding activities.
The main thing is to make sure we take breaks. Time outside is ideal. We can also start blocking out our time on a calendar to help ourselves get into these good habits.
I appreciate that work is a very unique thing and that it looks different for a lot of people. With that in mind, I’ll leave it to you to work out what you can do with this.