Ever had one of those days where you just can’t seem to get motivated to get anything done, despite the fact that your to-do list is about a thousand miles long? That’s my day today in a nutshell. My Productivity Planner is staring me down and I’m actually wishing that today was a day when I was on somebody else’s payroll so that I could feel less guilt about ‘slacking off’. And then it hit me… I’m being a slave to my to-do list and haven’t been paying attention to my energy level!!! Damn…hate it when then happens.
You see, being self employed is a bit of a double edged sword. Sure, you have lots of freedom but you also feel lots of guilt if you don’t use your time effectively. Especially when you have other people on your payroll and you have a mountain of things to do.
Today, I had two appointments cancel so found myself with a big amount of found time…but couldn’t get motivated to do anything with it. So, I spent a chunk of time today surfing emails and generally avoiding some less pleasant things I have to get off my plate (budgeting, legal stuff and prospecting). Blech. I watched the trailer for the movie Friends (couldn’t follow it), watched Alec Baldwin’s latest stint on SNL, and organized my email in basket (aka reacted to other people’s agenda’s).
And the guilt of all these shenanigans was setting in good and heavy. ‘I should be using this time more productively! I have clients to reach out to! Sales to close! People to connect with! Work work work work work!!!’ The more I nagged myself, the less motivated I started to get. I actually felt myself getting bummed out.
And then I thought: Fuck.That.Shit. It’s time for a kick in the pants but rather than powering through my to-do list, I decided to do something fun. I made a Facebook live post of our #12DaysofBizRAK campaign. Then I wrote this blog. And I realized that, sometimes, to get yourself out of a funk, you need to reenergize yourself with things that you actually like to do.
So, now that I’m feeling more plugged in, I’m going to get back to my prospecting.
Next time you’re in a motivational funk, ignore your to-do list and do something that makes you happy instead. It might just give you the energy you need to do the stuff that’s less interesting.
Happy leading!
