Wasting Time - My Big Mistake
I tried 4 times over 5 days to write this week’s blog and…
Nothing.
Blank page after an hour of staring at the screen, every time.
I don’t normally have this problem, so the question became, what’s different this week?
Then I recorded an interview with Corey McComb for the upcoming Season 5 of the Beyond Networking podcast.
Corey is a writer and thought leader on the topic of productivity. Specifically, how to stop being productive and start being human again.
He delivered a magnificent TEDx talk last year entitled, “Productivity Is For Robots.”
And during our conversation he said this:
“It’s easy to believe that burnout stems from doing too much. But in my experience, burnout typically stems from neglecting the one or two things you know you should be doing, but aren’t.”
Ding ding ding.
It’s the first week of 2022. I just came back from an unprecedented 2-week vacation during which I did literally no work, at all.
Which meant that my first week back was overflowing. Every single day was packed with wall-to-wall coaching sessions, prospecting calls, catch-up calls with colleagues and collaborators, and endless editing.
What was missing?
Space.
Wasting Time
Corey argues in his TEDx talk that we should waste more time, and he’s right.
I usually carve out 30-60 minutes every day for “dead time” – time when I’m not doing anything in particular, or doing something mindless like playing video games, going on a walk, or just sitting on the couch, to let my mind wander.
And it’s in those moments where the subconscious gets to work, solves problems, and pieces things together.
That’s when blog ideas hit me.
It’s when new projects and programs occur.
They don’t materialize out of thin air, and they’re not sent down from the heavens. They’re in us, all the time – but they need space to become coherent in your mind.
So, as I learn this lesson out loud, I hope it also inspires you:
What are the 1 or 2 things you should be doing, but aren’t? And how can you prioritize them?
By the way, head to https://BeyondNetworkingPodcast.com and subscribe via your favorite podcast streaming service so you don’t miss Corey’s episode this season.
