I’ve had a cold all last week and I’m still struggling to keep my head above my work. Every time work tries to drown me I find this reserve of energy that pushes me back up. Looking back on the week I’ve gotten almost as much done as a normal week when I’m healthy and I can breathe without blowing my nose every five minutes.

I worked on the most important stuff first and everything else waited. We’ve all heard that we need to do our most important stuff first then bother with the knick-knack crap. It actually works.

My work isn’t as high quality, as you can see from my last post. I caved in. I wrote a quick piece, hoping to create reader interaction. It sputtered and tripped over itself. I forgave myself and hopefully you’ll forgive me too.

But besides that sub par post I got a lot done and only working at about 50% capacity. Yes, I know only 50% capacity! You’re wondering how I’ve found the strength.

Focused Mindset

I’ve been forced to focus as hard as I can without letting my ADD kick in and take over. Usually it takes me ten to fifteen minutes to get started on anything. I’m the work happy now guy, not the get it done fast guy. During my cold my start-up time has been reduced to ninety seconds. I created a little exercise to help me jump right in to my work. It really helped me avoid my procrastination. I’ll explain what I did in a little bit.

My cold has bottomed out and I’m on the mend, but my strength is only at 60% and I’m still working my full time job and pumping out some entertaining and informative posts. That was a little pat on the back from myself, but that’s what I needed and I gave it to myself. You should be patting yourself on the back too. Sometimes we just don’t get it from other people, so we need to fill in the gaps ourselves.

Making sure that you stay motivated helps keep your focus on task.

You can find this “focused” mindset too. Next time your energy is waning try this little technique:

Step 1: Take sixty seconds to feel everything that is going on within yourself. Do a body scan and check for weak spots and possible pockets of hidden energy.

Step 2: Gently pull on the bottom of both earlobes for five deep breaths. Remember to keep your eyes open, otherwise this might make you sleepy. This will have a calming effect and should help softly rise that energy back up.

Step 3: Then with that last deep breath decide what you want to get done and just do it for ten minutes. Promise yourself to work for ten straight minutes before you stop.

Once I got going I didn’t want to stop.

Shout Out to My Wife

My loving wife has taken care of me during this crisis. All right it wasn’t really a crisis, but I really appreciate her love and compassion. Even though she still made me wash the dishes after dinner. Our trade was that she would edit a few of my next posts. Believe me you wouldn’t want to read my writing without her help.

Lucy

I met Lucy at Blockbuster while renting “Iron Man.” Shh. Don’t tell me what happened I’m staying in tonight and watching it with my wife. A sick man needs his rest.

Lucy was working happy at it’s best. She asked me how my day was. Complimented my movie choice and tried to offer me an up sell, but not in a pushy way.

Great Article - Rock Your Day

I read this excellent article How To Get Through Damn Near Anything from Rock Your Day. Dave has such high energy. It’s a must read if you want to get your stuff done.

Wrap-up

Still enjoying my work while having a cold is a new experience. Usually I’m a big grump. It goes to show what passion (Work Happy Now) will do to find a little energy when you thought you were drained.

Sometimes we need to have a wrench thrown in the mix to mess everything up. It shows us that we can still be happy if everything isn’t perfect. This cold gives me another piece to my happiness puzzle. The next time I’m tired from a long day of work and I still need to post an article for all of you I’m going to do my “focused mindset” relaxation then jump right into my work, no hesitation, knocking it out for all of you.

How has your week been? Anything crazy? Any little pieces to the puzzle to help you see a more clear picture of your personal development?

An Uncle, Cousin or any other Related Family Member to Productivity is Right Below:

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In your opinion, who matters more to employee happiness

CEO or the HR Manager?

This is difficult pick in my book, but I believe that one is more important to an employee’s happiness, although not every one might see it this way.

My lovely, smart, and beautiful readers…What is your opinion?

Do any of you have any experience of one being really bad?

or

Any experiences of one being really good and making the company a more enjoyable place to work?

or

Do both go hand in hand?

Let’s discuss in the comments…see you there.

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You may swig down your coffee between emails, trying to get all your tasks done, but you still can’t keep up with all your work. This hyper-active pace creates productivity gaps.

Instead of smooth transitions from one task to the next you are probably jumping around like a caffeinated dog. I’ve seen my friend’s dog drunk on coffee and it isn’t pretty.

You’re missing out on a vital need.

The time to process your thoughts from the previous task to the current one. Sure you’re getting your work done, but how do you feel at the end of the day? Do you feel energized to hang out with friends and family?

Our brains are sponges constantly soaking up information, but we need to take the time to squeeze it out every once in awhile (well, it really should be all the time) to keep ourselves healthy. Burn-out wastes more of company money than vacations. Actually people need to take more vacations in America because we are over worked. When employees take time off they are able to shake out the emotional crap that builds up throughout the year. When they come back to work they have new ideas that they can’t wait to share with their co-workers. Well…not everyone, but the ones that enjoy their job.

Wring Out Your Brain More Often

All the information builds up and like any memory drive it needs to be cleaned out or it can’t run efficiently. When you just go, go, go until you just can’t “go” any longer then it’s time to squeeze that brain out by giving it a break.

A break is always good for your health, but most of us only take short breaks in the morning and afternoon. This isn’t enough. And most of the time we are so busy worrying about work that it doesn’t even feel like a break. You need to take the time to process the emotional data that had built up over the past couple of hours.

To take an actual break that leaves you refreshed, you should take small breaks between tasks. When you finish an email, give yourself one minute to process and set up your next task. I usually make a mental note, but you may want to make a physical note when you first start (I’ll explain in the 4 step process).

My 4 Step Process to More Motivation and Less Stress

Step 1: When you finish an email then it’s time to take a moment to let out a breath. By actually being aware of this out breath you are taking the transition by the horns.  This allows you to process the email then think of what you need to do next.

Step 2: Let’s say you need to edit a three page report next. Lean back in your chair, get up and do a stretch or just take a moment to let your thoughts settle. If you need to look busy because you work in a cubicle (I’ve been there), then write down what you will do next on a little Post-it note or create a small list on your computer. This keeps you looking busy while allowing yourself to relax your mind.

Step 3: Before you dive back in to the next task I suggest a ten second inner dialog. Tell yourself what you want to accomplish in this next task and how long you expect it to take.  This helps create mental leverage.

Step 4: Then right before you start, notice how you feel before you begin your next task. This last step is most important. Why? Because it reinforces the good that you do when you take time to process, relax and set yourself up for your next task. The only way to change a bad habit and replace it with a good one is to show yourself that the new one is worth doing. If you do this once an hour, that’s only eight minutes in an eight hour work day. We can all spare eight minutes to reduce our stress and improve our productivity.

Results: Taking the time to transition between tasks will keep your motivation high and your brain functioning at an optimal level. This small reoccurring gift to yourself will allow you to relax on your breaks and during lunch. And when you get home you won’t feel as tired. This is the best part. My wife has seen such a difference in my attitude, she asked me if something changed at work.

I smiled and replied, “Yep, me.”

You have the ability to make work fit into your natural rhythms. It will take a little pig-headed determination and discipline, but believe me once it becomes a habit you won’t ever go back to rushing through your work. If you encounter any problems, just let me know in the comment section and I’ll help you find your own way to improve your happiness and productivity.

Do you have a routine that you use to transition between tasks? Let’s discuss in the comments. You probably have another idea that could help people enjoy their job just a little more.

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