Last week my daughter started 3 weeks of overnight camp.
As I am self employed, caring for my daughter is one of the few activities that put boundaries around my work.
If you have read any of my writing before, you know that I work hard at making values based decisions. And caring for my daughter is one of my highest priorities. So, when the reason for putting aside my work is to step into the role of parenting, it is generally easier for me to stop working.
Lack of structure
Now that I have literally no parenting responsibilities, other than writing letters to my daughter. I really lack structure and, honestly was a bit adrift for a few days.
I could do anything!
As many of you with ADD know, making decisions when there are seemingly infinite possibilities is really challenging.
“Working” too much
I found for the first few days that I was “working” more than usual. But after a certain point, I really was not doing anything productive.
Imagine a wide open plain and no fences!
I always encourage my clients to honor how they work best, and I usually follow that advice myself. My usually schedule to work from 5:00 am (that is not a misprint!) until between 2:00 pm -3:00. By that time, my brain stop working, and I become incredibly unproductive, cranky, unfocused and lose my creativity.
What is the point of working more, other than seat time? I always hated when I had to work according to someone else time schedule.
But that was what I was doing, just hanging out in my seat.
I am back to doing what I always recommend to my clients when they find themselves in this situation.
What to do?
Before working, figure out when you are most productive for the various task that you perform. For example, I usually write first thing in the morning.
Throughout the day, evaluate if you are being productive by asking yourself the following questions:
Am I doing what I planned? Look at your plan throughout the day.
If I am not doing what I planned, am I doing what is most important for me to do right now?
Do I need to create a new plan or recommit to the original plan?
What is the best thing for me to do now? Is it best to continue working or do I need to switch gears and take a break?
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