Monday, October 8, 2012

Productivity and "Work"





Well it's Monday.  Again.  But this Monday is different.  I still have my day job so still need to spend 8 hours a day working for my daytime employers, but my approach is changing.

I'd spent a little time starting to resent the fact that I spend my days working for someone else while my dreams go around and around in my head.  It's not just that I'm working for others - a lot of people do it.  There are a whole heap of other things tied up with it that really aren't appropriate to discuss here.  I've purposely done a whole about-face on that though, and now I'm thankful.  Not just for the money, although I really am very appreciative of it.  But for the following:
  • My employers are flexible if I need to do stuff like drop my daughter down the street to an appointment because she doesn't drive
  • They've been incredibly understanding when she's been in and out of hospital for an incredibly long time in the first part of this year and allowed me to take as much time as I need to provide her with support and make the time up later on
  • I learn HEAPS while working on their businesses that I can apply to my own
  • I have two employers in two different businesses so the tasks I undertake for them are different or coming from a different angle which increases my learning curve
  • I have income to ensure I can pay my bills, put food on the table and have a little extra while my business is taking shape
  • I get to work from home and in this day and age when people are struggling to find work, let alone keep it, I am so very, very blessed to be in such a position
  • I work for others four days a week and am incredibly fortunate to have three whole days where I can do whatever I want to do - laugh, sleep, love, create, eat (not necessarily in that order!)
I've gained a whole new appreciation that "work" is only "work" when it's not something that inspires you, and there is always something that can inspire you while working for others.  Even if that inspiration is that you learn how to get your business skills down pat so that you can pull those particular things off without a hitch when you work for yourself.  I had this approach when I was younger, but somewhere along the way I seem to have lost it.  So now, I'm purposefully cultivating it again.

So I didn't "work" on the weekend.  I was productive.  A client of mine gave me the go ahead last week to create her new website and that's what I've spent 80% of my waking hours on over the weekend.  There was some stuff there that I've never even contemplated doing in the past and the learning curve was steep, but I did it.  I prospered.  I learnt and I felt goooooooooooooooood.   The other 20% I spent at a pub on a cliff overlooking the beach in one of my favourite small towns.  With my daughter, eating lunch and watching for whales.  We didn't see any but I did beat her in a game of pool afterwards!  If you knew how badly I play pool and how good she is at it, you'd understand why I'm so chuffed.

So anyway, it's Monday.  Again. I'm working for my bosses today, again.  But this week?  I'm being so incredibly productive - and it's not "work". 

How could you turn your approach to "work" around so that it's a hallmark of your productivity as opposed to something to be borne and gotten through?  What approaches have you had to work or life in the past that you've let go of and would like to reconnect with?


6 comments:

Raine said...

Great post Shan!

It is all about our attitude and perspective on things, ins't it?
Working for someone else doesn't define us at all. We are a whole, so many components and much more than the 40hrs a week working for a "follow-the-crowd-boss". Good you are detached from that! :)

I love that pub on a cliff trying to see whales! Gosh, gotta be beautiful! It is a wonderful blessing to have your daughter there to share the moment!

Shân said...

Thanks Jaci.

It's definitely all about our attitudes and perspectives on things.

The pub on the cliff is the most spectacular spot. In fact there are a few places in that particular town where it's not uncommon to see whales during their trips to and from warmer climes.

Last year (or the year before last), there was a mother and her calf hanging out in the deeper water off the beach. My daughter and I sat on the beach eating fish and chips and just enjoying watching their play for a while.

The Bega Valley is full of magickal places - we are SO blessed to live here!

Thanks for commenting :)


Donna said...

You're so right! And the more we can find the positive and the brilliant in our current situation, the better we can work, the more confident we are, the more joyous. It's win/win/win! x

Shân said...

Hi Donna,

I love your comment about the confidence and joy to be found if we stay focused on the positive in our situation. It applies to everything in life, I think!

Dominee said...

This is a wonderful post! I recently came to this revelation myself a few weeks ago and it has made my life a lot easier and happier and I am loving my day job again!
It's all in your perspective!

Shân said...

Hi Dominee, I seem to be getting that message over and over again in SO many areas of my life lately! The way I interact with people, approach my work and my budding business, my art, my finances. Then it's like a domino effect - one thing affects another. I'm loving it. Thank you for sharing. I love being able to relate to other people's stuff and vice versa :)