Winning on ‘bitty’ days
So, today is one of those days. The ones you know are going to be ‘bitty’. I had to shepherd everyone out of the house early, take my husband to hospital, take my son to school, put his spiderman costume on in the car, take his spiderman costume off again halfway to school, go back to the hospital, and I'm now waiting in the car park for my husband's procedure to be complete. When I've dropped him home I have to take the car to the garage for its hour-long MOT, and then it will be back to school to pick up my son, then stick some tea in front of him while I have a 5pm meeting with Seth Godin's Akimbo crew (I help them out with their amazing workshops for freelancers and entrepreneurs). When you’re working in humanitarian emergencies, bitty days involve less spiderman costumes (more’s the pity), and more coordination meetings, travel, waiting in ministries, waiting for cars…
Whatever they look like, bitty days can be so frustrating - it can be hard to focus, and if it's hard to focus, it's hard to get anything done.
So what to do?
I've got four strategies for you.
1. Don’t have bitty days in the first place
Bitty days are the enemy of productivity, so try your best not to have them at all. Anything that requires you to travel, or to wait for someone/something, has the potential to be highly disruptive. Ask yourself if it will be more efficient to group some of these things together, or to spread them out over your week. Which option will give you the biggest blocks of uninterrupted time?
2. Anticipate your bitty days
If you can’t prevent a bitty day, recognise it, accept it and plan for it.
3. Decide what winning is
We often write ourselves far-fetched…I mean, aspirational to-do lists at the best of times.
Bitty days are not the best of times.
Save yourself the inevitable disappointment by setting your bar really low. What could winning look like on this day?
For today, I decided to write a blog post (hello!), and then spend any extra time I have on my upcoming, free productivity mini-course. I haven’t given myself a target for how much I’ll do - doing anything on it whatsoever will be winning. I decided all this yesterday, which brings me to my next strategy…
4. Get prepared
Bitty days are usually characterised by a general sense of chaos. Do yourself a favour and prepare as much as you can the day before, even if that’s not your usual M.O. (being ultra-organised is certainly not mine). Decide what winning is, and get together what you need to do it. Get ahead on any little tasks which will take time and mental effort the next day (I’m talking, lay the table for breakfast; get the whole family to choose what they’re wearing tomorrow and get it together so you’re not looking for school socks in the laundry basket 2 minutes after you were supposed to leave; pack your bag; charge your laptop and your phone…you get the idea).
And a bonus strategy…
5. Bring coffee
I have not done this today, and let me tell you, I am deeply regretting it. Don’t be me.
What might winning look like for you today?
