- Get real, you are going to multitask!
- Get real, you are going to have struggles with procrastination!
- Get real, you are going to get a cold or flu and can’t keep focus on the 57 tasks you have marked as urgent for … this morning!
- Get real, your productivity will, does, fluctuate.
And here’s the big bit of relief, all the above is normal, it’s a part of life, it’s ok!
You need the down time so the up productive times are truly rewarding. You need the down time so that you are able to cope fully for the intense productive times. You need the down time so you don’t burn out from being kept at 100% intense, productive, flat out.
UP: Intense Work balances out with the DOWN: Easy going, mind calming (numbing) ‘stuff’.
Confession of a human being:
YES: I have scrolled up and down my Facebook timeline, not reading, just scrolling too fast to read, just scrolling. That’s right, actual finger on mouse scrolling and up and down, wasting time. It took me quite a few minutes to catch myself doing it, but I was doing it.
YES: I have cleaned the fridge, and I don’t mean a quick wipe of the fingers prints off the door. I mean, pulled all the food out and washed all the door and fridge shelves as a, what I’d like to call, a ‘pre-task-thinking-strategy’. Who am I kidding, right?
YES: I have attended to urgent Officeworks (stationery store) shopping matters because, well, isn’t all stationery shopping urgent? Oh hang on, I think I may have fun mixed up with urgent 
There, I’ve said it, I too have wasted time. I too am normal.
Cut yourself some slack. The only time you should sweat this small stuff is when it’s happening all day, every day. And if that’s happening then it’s not ‘small stuff’, we have a bigger issue to look into. If that’s you, call me. However you’re reading this blog post, so you’re professional, you’re smart, and you know not to waste every hour in every day. The down time is often a good head clearing time, it can be a break away from the more intense work. Give yourself permission to take some breaks. If you spend those breaks doing activities that you later regret, learn from it and change the activities, choose different easy going, mind clearing, non-demanding activities for your breaks.
In your role, you are paid to think, to be strategic, and not everyone just sits and thinks. Not everyone feels they can take a slice of time to think, let alone sit and think. Thinking happens while decluttering your desk, while doing some filing, while searching for topics and trends on the internet or reputable news or journal sites. When you are fully engaged in an important or higher-level task (writing a report, performance review meeting, staff meeting, etc.) that requires you to also be productive and effective yet your thinking is directed and is task focused. You need to be present, your mind should be wondering off. When you’re cleaning your desk, as an example, you can afford for your mind to wonder off giving you some space to think about how your work and team are performing, what opportunities could you be taking, etc.
I posted this related article on LinkedIn and thought I’d refer to it again. I didn’t realise it at first but cleaning my desk is my way of taking a moment of pause, a moment to collect some calm. Check out how clean this desk is:
