The Busy Fool….. in Lockdown

The busy fool is as you can imagine, always busy and working from home during a lockdown is no different. In this article I will talk about how to work with your busy fool and how to tap into inspiration and flow in order to make changes and achieve.

The busy fool starts the day checking e-mails, social media and of course the news, which is terribly important right now. All this eats into the morning and takes a lot of focus, energy and that elusive uncontrollable thing called time.
The fool then launches into tasks with no thought to structure, or priorities… some fools actually fool themselves, they have lists and spreadsheets and believe that this will save them from losing time and magically achieve results.

Yet still they somehow manage to end the day feeling some or all of the following burnt out, stressed, overwhelmed by the tasks they haven’t done and ready to slump with some unhealthy food in front of the TV. Always of course vowing tomorrow will be different, after all they have the spreadsheet, the task list, and they are determined.

When we believe determination and a spreadsheet or task list will get us through, we are quite often missing something. The missing variable is us, and the fool will not see that, instead the fool will continue to believe that all will be fine.
the lockdown comes the perfect opportunity to see how we really operate. If you are working from home then you may have saved up to an hour in commuting time, so if it has dawned on you that you are still are getting nowhere fast, with an extra hour in the day, this awareness may be calling you to notice something deeper. Awareness is everything so two words…’pay attention’.

Once we are aware and ready to make changes how do we start? I have listed below some of the key areas the busy fool may be tripping up over, if you manage to make one or two changes that can be all it takes, you topple one change and like dominoes they all eventually begin to fall.

Structure during the lockdown is a stabilising force, get up at the same time and be ready and at your desk at your normal time. How you begin your day is how you will continue it. Structure.

Break habits that hold you back. Don’t start the day with e-mails, social media and world news. E-mails will ideally be tackled as and when required, read, action, delete. Social media will eat your time with a tiny amount of payback, and the world news will be there later in the day, in fact you can go a few days without the news and nothing much will have changed. Try it, go for 2 days without the news, and I guarantee when you put the TV/radio on you will likely say.’oh are we still here?’

If you do have a spreadsheet/task list, then the old saying ‘eat your frog’ has never been more important. Get rid of the task on the list hat you would rather eat frog than complete. Once the frog is gone then all the other tasks will feel like a breeze.

Set the timer on your phone for 25 minutes and follow the Pomodoro time management method. It is amazing what you can achieve, this is a way of working that I have been using for a while now and it really works. Our brains really can focus much more sharply when time is limited. If you don’t believe me think about all those quiz shows that allow a time limit. We love absolutely them. We are by nature solution focused, and restricting time ensures that we tap into that peak creativity and output. Trust me and give it a go.

Finally, and most importantly tap into inspiration and flow. My brain works on the task, reward, pleasure principle. If I see a huge list of tasks, I can feel overwhelmed by the dullness of it all. To overcome this, I have devised a template that splits the tasks into categories, I am a visual learner, and this works best for me as a box format.
Inspiration and Flow…

The boxes are as follows: box 1 - Business, all the tasks related to my business development, my client work, box 2 - life laundry, all the bills, car insurance, household stuff, box 3 - Joy, the things I really want to create time to do, in this box may be simple stuff like potting plants, writing my novel, taking time for an online course, yoga, running etc. Box 4 - Spiritual, working on my personal development, meditation, deep breathing, intention setting.
We tap into inspiration when we see the joy in the day, separating tasks into categories helps us to choose a range of things to tackle. So, if I eat the frog in the business box and tick off 3 tasks then I can spend 25 minutes doing yoga. Task, reward, pleasure, allows me to get into my flow even on the toughest days.

We are hard wired for love, joy and connection. The lockdown has taken away our ability to connect with those we love, and our ability to socially connect at work. Staying sane, getting through this and achieving so we can return to work on top not behind is something we can all do.

If you recognise yourself a busy fool, take heart, awareness is the first step to change. If you would like to work at a deeper level with the 5 key areas, I have set out then please contact me, I offer a free 20-minute coaching consultation to help you get started.

From busy fool to happy achiever, the time is now. Call me on: 07799341300 or email me on: cbebb1@yahoo.co.uk .
Christina