The Right Kind of Intermission

Think back to yesterday. Did you take a break to relieve tension or stress? If so, did it involve using a different part of your brain? If not, you probably didn't take full advantage of the time spent.

If many of your recent tasks have been highly mental and you need a break, take on a task that is highly physical. If your work is physical, take on a mental task. You'll be surprised how one nourishes the other.

Choose Your Intermission Wisely

According to a statistics article in the Harvard Business Review, undergraduate students who took a 10 minute Internet break after a tedious task were 16% more productive after the break than those who did non-web activities like talking on the phone or texting. According to the researchers, "Browsing the web serves an important restorative function."



We could spend lots of time discussing the ages of the undergraduates and how if older people would have been involved in the study, the results would have been different. There is a deeper question about why spending time on the Internet held more value than connecting (or trying to connect) with people via phone call or text, but you can have that discussion in your office.



The big "aha!" for me is simply that each of us have different things that give us the renewal we need to get our most important things done. Too often, we don't take the time to engage in one of these activities (mental or physical) during our brief intermission, and lack the focus for our "next half."



Today, why not make a list of 7-10 activities that help restore your energy and sense of purpose that require 10 minutes or less? Then the next time you are ready for a break-you have a better list of acts to bring into your lineup.

Is It Temporary?

A program participant came up after a keynote and said, "When I saw the three rings, I was immediately depressed." When I inquired as to why, she said, "Because it's my self ring that's being neglected." I immediately responded, "And will it still be that way in 30 days?" Her response was, "I don't know." I then replied, "Well, I think you have a good reason to be concerned."

As we have said many times in our blogs and in our programs, the circus is frequently unbalanced. There is more action in one ring than another and one ring may even be vacant. But look again in a few minutes and the ring that was vacant is now full of activity, while the others will have changed in intensity as well. When the performance is over, there will have been quality acts in all 3 rings.

If your circus is out of balance at the moment, don't panic. That's normal. But if it's been that way so long that the audience members around that ring (include yourself) are feeling neglected or frustrated, it's probably time to change your lineup. And if you can't quickly determine when the imbalance can change, you need an intermission to get yourself back on track.

Back to the Basics

Some days, weeks, months seem to be busier than others. For instance, if you add to an already full schedule a major project at work or an number of additional acts in your relationship ring, your life can seem overwhelming. It is at times like these that you need to be reminded of the importance of the basics of time management. Consider a few key strategies to help you through the busy season:

• You can't "juggle elephants". You have to pick and choose. Prioritize those "acts" that are most important and make sure that they get done first. Let the less important things slide or not get done


• Remove distractions so that you can focus. It might take turning off the phone and closing the door to your office to allow you the time you need to accomplish your tasks


• Write things down. When your schedule is full and maybe your brain is too, it is easy to forget commitments, new ideas or to pick up a gallon of milk on your way home. Write things down and refer to the list often so things don't fall through the cracks


• Have a plan. Consider this thought by Victor Hugo, "Where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incident, chaos will soon reign." When you are overwhelmed, the last thing you need is more chaos. Take 15 minutes each day to plan what your are going to get done and then execute on that plan.

Managing your time is always a good idea. But when your managing a busier than normal "3 ring circus" it becomes a critical survival skill.

"Me Time"

After a program last week we had a participant write on their feedback form: "Today I learned that it's okay to take "me time." We so often neglect ourselves and wonder why we feel less than engaged at work or not as connected in our relationships.

To help you more often take some time for yourself, why not make a "Me Time List" that you keep on a note card on your desk, in a location that you see often or even on an electronic note on your smart phone. We so often neglect our "self ring" because it doesn't command our attention (until something goes wrong) like the other areas of our lives.

Make sure the list includes things that can be done in as little as 5 minutes and also ones that take a day or two.

As we say in Juggling Elephants, A successful circus has quality acts in all 3 rings.